5 steps to run a webserver in your home computer, using Opera unite

Opera Unite is a new technology that has been introduced as a beta version in Opera browser 10. Opera Unite technology turns any computer as a web server where Opera Unite is running. By far, most of us would be hosting our websites in a third party hosting providers. But, Opera Unite redefines this by allowing us to host our files in our own system and to share the files to the rest of the world. Apart from simple file serving, Opera Unite’s initial release comes with some example application to illustrate the use of this new technology. The example applications include a juke box, a photo sharing app and a few more. This article explains how to run a browser in Opera Unite.

5 Steps to run a web server using Opera Unite

1. First, download Opera version 10, which comes with the Opera Unite feature installed with it. Please note that this feature is available only in the beta version of the browser.
2. After downloading, run the browser. Opera Unite panel can be opened by clicking on the unite icon on the panels sidebar. You can see the Unite panel in below image and a initial list of services offered by Opera Unite, such as Web Server, Media Player, Fridge, etc.
   
3. Inorder to use Opera Unite, first we need to create a Opera account. To do so, select any service and click start. Since no account is configured now, Opera will ask you to create a new account, or to use existing Opera account. In the account creation window, a new Opera account can be created.
   
4. After the account has been created, next step would be selecting a name for your computer. This name will be used to identify your computer in the web. Be default it provides some options such as, home, work, notebook, etc. But anyname can be given here.
   
5. Once the above step is done, now your computer is almost ready to be turned into a web server. Now, go to the Opera Unite panel, select the ‘Web Server’ service and click on start. It will ask you to choose a folder to share. Select any folder from your machine and click OK. Now the folder contents will be served by Opera Unite’s web server service. Anybody can access the files present in the shared folder.
   

Apart from sharing your files, you can also set access control to them. After starting the ‘Web server’ service, double click on the ‘Web Server’, which will open the admin panel. From this admin panel you can see all the files that are shared, the URL to access them and the access levels. Currently there are three access levels.

• Public – anybody can access your files.
• Limited – files are password protected. Only the people who knows the password, can access the files.
• Private – Only you can access the files.

Once the shared folder is created and the access levels are set, send the URL to your friends, family to share your files with them.