Running your Web App on a Local Server Network
Sometimes we build apps specifically meant to be run on a local network. There are various apps that might come to mind here, some of which include a computer based mock test, electronic voting etc. At least this was the case when i initially built VoteSmart. I was having a conversation with a student that was charged with building a mock cbt exam software and he was mentioning buying wires and getting routers.
Lol. Yeah, i was shocked too.
The first thing that came to my mind was, why not use Connectify… Connectify is a Windows software that allows you turn PC into a Wi-Fi Hotspot and share Internet with all your devices. Although this may come off as sounding easier than it really is, it actually is almost just as easy.
There are basically a few things to take note of.
- A web server of course — In this case i’ll assume WAMP or XAMPP
- Connectify
- And finally, gadgets and other PCs you’d want to run the web app on
Configuring your local server — Allowing external access
First you have to configure your web server to allow external connections. This is fairly easy to do and a quick and detailed explanation on how to do this for WAMP can be found here http://stackoverflow.com/a/24011132/1945274. Should almost be the same steps for XAMPP.
Configuring Connectify — Setting up hotspot
Next is configuring your connectify app to share the hotspot. This is quite easy and straightforward. However, if you face any difficulty, you can head here http://www.wikihow.com/Use-Connectify-Hotspot.
Connect
Connect your gadgets to the network and access via your PC name e.g ARIS-PC or whatever you named your PC. You can find this under System Properties.
Remember to structure your URLs properly… As sad as it sounds, some of us still hard code http://localhost as root url.
Hope this helps. Okay Bye!
Originally published at Abati Adewale.
