lets see.. im going to be getting rid of my DSL router in favor of another machine to handle routing, im going with a cellery 800 running win2000 server setup as a multi-homed system to handle the routing, to speed up surfing, im going to run my own DNS on it also.. gonna configure DHCP to provide all ip's including DNS servers, gateways, etc so when i have a lan, all you need to is plug into my network and automatically obtain all info. also the server will be running sql and a webserver to host my new site.. connectivity is made thru a SMC tigerstack 5312TX 12 port managed hub. now, how far overboard have i gone for a home network? way overboard, good thats what i wanted.. -scoob8000
thats not that overboard. I have a similar setup running on a linux box. Granted its more then most people do, buts thats cus most don't know better That shouldn't take you long to set up at all, most of it would be taken care of during install of the OS. -Nesbit
I think we should start running a server at home! We have 5 desktop comps, laptop and some PDA's. The problem is the ammount of routers one needs to connect them all We have 3 to count, integrating DHCP, Wireless Bridge and a ADSL modem. Makes it really confusing
okay, if its not overboard, what else should i do to make it overboard? the goal im going for is functionality and when people come over they say, holy carp, why do you need all this.. guess im probably going to publish quake updates/maps etc with a group policy for the lans too -scoob8000
I'll join the crowd of people saying "Yeah, my Linux box does that already" and it's only a P166 When you say "run your own DNS" do you mean a caching resolver for your internal clients, or do you mean you're actually going to host your own public real-world honest-to-god Internet DNS zone? You should probably include a WINS server in there, and specify it in the DHCP config that's handed out to clients. Perhaps an anonymous FTP server and some NetBIOS/samba shares. How about an Edonkey or Morpheus server too so that people can file share easily during the LAN party? Publishing things via group policy is probably not a great idea because you'll need the client machines to be a member of the AD domain before they can have the GPO applied. Maybe put a window in the side too Kata
its kind of hard to go overboard whith networking serving. None of the components (in a home network environment) take up enough resources to demand their own server. If you wanted to max your bandwidth and create lots of lag on your network and those on it you could run a few dedicated gaming servers on it. That would do it fine -Nesbit
lol, true about needing to be a member of the AD, but they also need 2000/xp, which just about every gamer i know IRL has already.. i did consider a FTP and web servage too.. on the web half, im working on a screenshot project for helpin ISP techsupport guys, kinda like chasms.com.. as for DNS, just a caching resolver.. that box is also going to be a file/print server for my other machines.. i dunno, im just doing it to give me something new to play with.. i suppose i could run good ol' UD cancer to make use of the cpu cycles..
Explain more about the screenshot tech support help - I'm intrigued. You should also consider running Terminal Services in remote administration mode, so the box won't need a keyboard, monitor or rodent. I used to run a 2k box doing all of that stuff - firewall, DNS, DHCP, game servers etc, but it was a bugger in terms of power use and noise. Switching it all to a single Linux box was great because it uses sod all power and it's much quieter. It was also a *big* learning experience, which was fine but the GF was unable to use the net for a few days which caused some agitation when her assignments were due in Cheers Kata
linux box is doing the firewalling/dhcp/proxy/gateway at my house.. win2k as file server, and ftp server...
Find an old PC, you'll want a Pentium 100 or better, preferably with 32-64Mb of RAM and 1-2Gb of disk space. Oh, and 2 network cards (or 1 network and 1 DSL/modem/whatever card). Pick a linux distro - Debian is good at server stuff, but perhaps not for the linux newbie. Download the ISO (CD image) file for the linux distro you want and write it to CD, then boot from the CD and install Linux. Do a bit of reading on how to set up a Linux firewall, and just add bits on as you want to. Most Linux users are quite happy to help out if someone's a newbie and struggling to get something going Cheers Kata
i have the basics of linux i have installed redhat mandrake but how do i set it up as a router and image/page cacher
lol.. man, i lack the knowledge of unix for this one.. and the next closest box i have i could use for that is a old 486-100 with 1mb on board cache, and 64mb of ram, would that suffice? as for terminal services, i was just going to use a KVM on it with my main system.. -scoob8000
Scoob: fair call man. As a certain famous writer of web browsing software once said, Linux is only free if your time has no value Give TS a try, it's pretty nice and makes for significantly less cables than a KVM switch. Drastik: If you've got Linux already installed, you can use a freeware firewall program to enable you to use it as a router/firewall. I use Shorewall because it's powerful and free. Other people here are proponents of IpCop and Smoothwall. Smoothwall apparently has a nifty web-based configuration, abut I haven't used it so I can't comment. To cache web traffic, you need a proxy server. Squid is the de-facto standard Linux proxy. It's also free. Generally, go find the homepage for the product your after, download and install it, and then read up on how to configure it. Ask (here or on a mailinglist for the product) if you get stuck. Cheers Kata
ohh i like that one.. <jots it down> i might putz around with TS.. im looking at this nice heavy duty steel rack from target to shelve my pcs, ups's, hubs, printer, etc, etc.. i suppose i would have a spare shelf on the unit to fit a small monitor, and it just so happens i have a old 14"er thats just collecting dust.. so, we'll see what kinda magic i can martha stewart up.. lol -scoob8000