Ok, now my two cents....
First, I don't recommend using XSAS for a production server. It's designed as a development tool, not a production environment. If you must use a quick setup program, I recommend
easyphp; it's better suited for your particular application and it has a lower overhead.
Of course, I strongly recommend that you look into learning how to setup the standard versions of Apache, MySQL, and PHP. To administer your web server effectively, you need to know how the server works in order to keep it running stable and secure. XSAS, easyphp, and the like are nice for a quick, temporary solution, but they are terribly insecure by default. Also, you would be much better off to run a dedicated Linux box for your web server (I recommend
SimplyMEPIS); however, XP will do in a pinch.
Now, all that being said... Unless I overlooked it, there are a couple of things that must be done in order for the outside world to access your machine. (I wil be using easyphp in this example) The following is by no means a comprehensive tutorial; it's just a little intro. Do a little homework on the subject and you'll be much more prepared.
Partition your drive so that you have adequate room for your server. For an average site, 100MB is more than enough. Format the partition using NTFS if you'll be using XP. Only put your hosted site and server files on this partition!
Install easyphp on the partition you just created. Install the english support files if needed.
As mentioned before, you need to make sure your OS, routing equipment, and ISP are configured to accept trafics on the ports you want to use. [80-http / 25-smtp / 110-pop3]
Set your file and folder level permissions appropriately. Start off paranoid and back the permissions down where needed to allow for functionality.
Now, fire up easyphp and set your MySQL permissions through PHPMyAdmin. [http://127.0.0.1/mysql/] Password protect the root account!!!
After you've selected your DNS service, you'll need to associate Apache [easyphp] with that domain name. This is done through x:\serverroot\apache\conf\httpd.conf [see
Apache.org for more details]
After you've setup your database accounts, configured Apache to associate with your domain, and configured Apache to allow traffic from all, you're ready to install Xoops. Just remember to install XOOPS like it is on a remote web server [i.e.,
http://yourdomainname.com/ NOT
http://localhost] otherwise you'll have some real problems.
Once your site is installed, phone a friend and have them try to access it. If all goes well, you're in business. If not, well.... start troubleshooting. There's plenty of documentation out there.
Now, if you want to extend your site to run FTP and Mail, you'll need to install a couple more programs. For FTP, I recommend
BulletProof FTP Server. It's fast and really easy to use. For a mail server.... well, let's just say I don't recommend it. You'd be better off to use a seperately hosted POP3 service. You can setup your own mail server for free using a myriad of different products, but securing it so that spammers don't capitalize on it is an entirely different story.
Well, I wish I could have been more help, but my fingers got tired.
Basically, I just wanted to express that running a public web server is a LOT more complex than just installing a program and opening a few ports. You need to take several factors into consideration and you need to do your homework on the subject. There's a lot of nasty people out there who love running accross unsecured servers. Trust me!
Best of luck on your project.
