What is Apache?

Can I set up a directory so my step-daughter can store her music and pictures on her own directory here at home? Her computer is running out of hard drive space.

Apache is web server software but in order to use it you have to have a dedicated web server. You can set one up on a home network but Apache is probably overkill for that. I've never played with Apache so I don't know if you can run it along side your normal desktop. My initial thought is no, but I could be wrong.

For a more simple approach to serving web content from home check out webfs http://linux.bytesex.org/misc/webfs.html. I have set this up before and it's pretty simple. You will probably also need to set up a dynamic dns address so that when and if you IP changes you will still be able to access your web site http://www.dyndns.com/.

Webfs is available in the normal ubuntu repos. You can install it with a standard

sudo apt-get install webfs

You will also have to configure your router to do the proper port forwarding for it to work.

You can run Apache on a home computer but like Jim Hutchinson said, you will have to configure your router and get a DNS entry if you don't want to type in the IP address.

You would be better off using a file sharing system for sharing a directory over the Internet, as Apache is mainly designed for publishing data for the public.

Apache is also rather difficult to administer for most people. There are simpler solutions.

Yea, it looks like a real headache, I think I'll pass on it and perhaps uninstall it.