Use Websites service to publish custom websites that you created (or someone has created for you) using website development software. You can restrict access to each website to a specific group or restrict parts of the website to specific groups. You can also specify each website’s IP address, an access port, and the folder where website files are stored on the server. A custom website is also called a virtual host.
If you want to allow Internet access to your websites and you have a cable router, DSL router, or other network router, your router must have port forwarding (port mapping) configured for web services. If your local network has a separate firewall device, ask the firewall administrator to open the firewall for the ports that Websites service uses. If you add custom websites that use access port numbers other than 80, configure port forwarding for those ports as well.
Websites service shares Apache, an open source HTTP web server, with other services such as Wiki and Profile Manager service. In addition to the standard plug-in modules distributed with Apache, OS X Server provides an expanded set of modules, which support PHP, Python, and directory-based authentication, including Kerberos. For information about customizing Apache settings, enter man webapp.plist in Terminal.