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I'm interested in running my own webserver, and recently acquired a free .tk domain name.

The option which seems best to me is their url forwarding option, which allows you to make the registered domain name simply open a web page with an iframe that points to another url.

This option has its downsides, because I'd have to host a server from my own computer, the ip address of which I obviously don't want to be public knowledge.

I'm wondering if there is a way to hide my ip address by perhaps configuring a Tor relay network with an endpoint at myself, or whether this is all indeed a very bad idea.

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    Well, you can run a Tor "hidden service", but that requires that your visitors must be using a Tor browser.
    – Greg Hewgill
    Commented Aug 17, 2016 at 23:12
  • @GregHewgill That looks perfect! But is it completely impossible to do a similar thing which also allows normal users to connect? Without being forced to use Tor?
    – user14025
    Commented Aug 18, 2016 at 7:35
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    The whole point of a hidden service is that it is hidden. You can't use Tor and not use Tor at the same time. Of course, you could try using Tor2Web: onion.to
    – SuperSluether
    Commented Aug 19, 2016 at 1:57
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    Using a hidden service is how you can redirect traffic to your IP without revealing it, but that requires your clients to connect through Tor. There's no other way of doing that, unless your clients use Tor2Web or the Tor Browser.
    – SuperSluether
    Commented Aug 19, 2016 at 23:23

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If I'm reading correctly, you aren't actually interested in anonymity; what you want is to run a personal webserver but not expose your home internet ip to the world.

The most direct thing to do is to rent a server (if you search for "low end vps" you'll find a number that are very cheap). Not only will this bypass your problem, but it also provides a much better network pipe and a service with hopefully better reliability (from things like redundant power supplies). Additionally, running a webserver is against the ToS of many home internet providers. If you want to run a server, do it on a server.

You may also want to reconsider why you're hesitant about sharing your home ip. What specific risks are you worried about?

If you're really set on this path, Cloudflare provides free CDN capabilities that will cloak the backend servers' ip from users. I know that many people in the tor community dislike Cloudflare, but this is quite a useful service, and you can turn down the security options so it doesn't bother tor-using visitors.

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It highly depends on what exactly is running on your website. Basically - if your site makes no leaks - it's possible and OK(in a full-static website case, for example), but you need to double-check all your active content. The checks scheme is a reverse proxy screinario: from the website hosting point of view Tor relays will be a reverse proxy for your website.

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