Planning to set up a server to manage all my files, email etc and am wondering the best way to go about doing all the stuff i need. So far i'm going to use Ubuntu Server. It'll be running on my old Dell (so glad i don't use it for gaming) which has got the specs Core 2 Duo E4300 1.8Ghz 3Gb Ram I'm going to install two 1Tb HDD What i want it to do is to be able to use it as my file server for home using my netbook (more on this later), Windows PC & Xbox 360. (That's the simple part) I also want it to be able to use it for my new email address i'm going to set up soon with a custom domain. My next big thing is being able to access all my files remotely but with them being secure making sure only i can access them. This would be done on my netbook which quite often is used in airports access points. I also woulnd't mind being able to have a simple version of linux on a USB stick which i can boot from on any PC and it can access all my files like it's a local HDD (although i know it'll be slower but they won't be big) What would be the best way about going to do this. One prob i can see is that my IP address is Dynamic but i was planning to use DynDNS.com as my router has it on it. I was also thinking about later on i may want to use it as my firewall and AV as well. Would this be possible so i could have it with the internet going in and it coming out on the safe side with my network. If i was to have a AV like this would it mean that i wouldn't have to use one on my PC inside the network. Thanks in advance guys and i look forward to joining what seems such a great forum.
http://www.bit-tech.net/bits/2007/06/05/build_your_own_server/1 ^^ Did you check that out? That's what I based mine on.
hey plainmad, use the link evilrusk provided for the server part. Setting up a mail server on your end is a little bit more challenging and depending on your ISPs TOS, it could breach that, so check on that. If your going to do it regardless, go for it. Make sure you set your IP to static on the server box, so when you do use DynDNS if your lease on your internal ip expires your domain doesnt redirect to your personal pc... as far as using the server as the server, a firewall and AV, I would not reccomend doing it, because mixing them can cause certian things to go wrong, and if that computer some how becomes corrupted, your SOL if your data goes on the fritz. Look into a Mini ITX board or smaller with either 2 LAN ports or a LAN port and a PCI slot. You could use a Mini-ITX board to be a firewall between the internet and your home network. And depending on the hardware/software combo, Im sure you could drop in a wireless g or n card and use it as an access point as well. I know you can do this with the server, not sure about the firewall. If you want to access your data from abroad (away from home) look into VPN connections. Thats something you can also setup with the server... Graph of home network Server---Firewall---Modem---Internet Server---Switch---Firewall---Modem---Internet Server---Router---Modem---Internet If you have a router (not a switch, there is a difference) then you dont really need to worry about having a firewall unless your like me and are paranoid about your data or stuff getting hacked... think of a firewall behind a router like wearing a condom over a condom... Harder to get in and kinda redundant... Hope this helps... If you need any help PM me or Glider... I recently did a LAMP server for my house, and Glider is the resident Linux Guru... --Ninja-- Forgot about the Netbook thing... There are some distros that you can put on USB drive... You should be able to do Ubuntu on one... An alternate would be loading Ubuntu MID on your netbook (Mobile Internet Device). Its aimed at netbooks and other smaller electronics (PSPs, iPod Touch/iPhone, etc) that need a smaller and lighter OS... If you want to go for a regular distro and have the space, go for a lxde or xfce based distro, as those will be lighter on the cpu. Might not be as eye appealing as Gnome or KDE, but wont kill your netbook... Also, Server - You can use OpenSuse 11.1 and install under the Minimal text (server) and do it that way, or if your willing to get your hands dirty, go Debian. Debian has a LOT of options as far as servers go. OpenSuse's server mode, is a bit more noob friendly, provided you can manuver the menus. Google "Perfect Server Guide <OS>" and replace <OS> with Debian, OpenSuse, and Ubuntu... Those should help A LOT, considering your wanting to do a file and mail server. Those guides cover practically everything...
Thanks guys. My networkwould be set up like so Internet>>>Modem/router/switch/access point (with built in firewall)>>>Server Belkin F5D7632-4 V6 I guess like you said i don't really need/should put a firewall on the same one as my server incase it goes wrong. But i would still be interested in using a AV on a seperate pc (if that possible) espically if it means i don't need it on PC's inside the network. so Modem---AV PC---Switch+Access point---Rest of network. From the sound of it mail server may not be worthwhile so i'll give that a miss. Something that did come to mind was to use freenas but i don't think that you can set up a VPN on it.
ok so networking will be Internet---Modem---Router ---Switch ---access point Am i right? Ok when you say your using an AV on a seperate PC, are you talking something like Norton, McAffe, etc or something hardware based? Need to be a little specific on that... Mail servers arent that hard to do, and I have one at home. Personally, setting up a home server actually voids my TOS with my ISP, but I void my TOS on a daily basis and they are none the wiser. You should look into what your bandwidth allotments are for the internet package you have, and do some math as to if your going to be going over it or not... If you have something like Verizon's FiOS service (Fiber Optic Internet Service), then you dont really have to worry about bandwidth and can do pretty much anything server-wise... If your going to do a firewall (hardware based "AV") it needs to go between the Modem and Router/switch Internet---Firewall---Router/Switch FreeNAS is only a NAS (Network Attached Storage) OS. Its aimed at those who dont want to get their hands dirty with CLI in linux. As far as Im aware, you cant setup VPN with FreeNAS, but im not 100% sure on that. look up those guides i mentioned and try them out in a virtual machine (VM Ware, Virtualbox, etc) and see how to do it... Its not that hard to do. I was a total linux noob when I set up my home server and now only about 2 months later, im pretty knowledgeable on it, granted i still have more to learn, but its one of those things, it takes time... dont just give up cause it sounds hard... jump head first and go for it!
It's sort of everything rolled into one as i'm in the UK i have a ADSL through the phone line. I know that if i was to get a pc dedicated for anti virus it would have to go between the modem and router so i'd have to buy seperates but that doesn't bother me. When you say about hardware or software i didn't know if you could get differnet ones as i only just heard it in passing a while ago. Ideally i'd like it to scan internet traffic as it goes in so i can run my pc's inside without an anti virus giving them a speed boost but that isn't a pirority. As for giving linux a try i'm doing that now (waiting for it to install) in virtual box.
Just bear in mind one general rule of thumb: for a firewall to be good at its job, it should be as dedicated to that job as possible, so if you want to use your server as a firewall/content filter it should ONLY be used for that job. The more services you expose on it, the greater the attack vectors, and less secure it becomes. If you're interested in looking at "proper" firewalls you may find it better to buy a small firewall appliance like a NetScreen or SonicWall or a cheap Cisco PIX. Older models on Ebay aren't expensive at all. If you're just interested in screwing around with linux to find out what it can do, consider something like Smoothwall, IPCop, or similar, which is a hardened firewall distro, but will ONLY be a firewall, and that's that. If you prefer however to go all out and give it a go as you've specified above, consider ClarkConnect. I've used it before, and it does what you want, and you have the advantage that its supported and therefore someone has generally thought about the issues I raise about security etc and mitigated it in some manner. Let us know how you get on
good point on the firewall... Personally, for a linux based firewall, I would go with IPCop or pfsense... ClarkConnect is alright, but I dont think that will work for a mail server... So OP, what are you going to do?
ClarkConnect insists it does all of that and everything else ... personally I'm always concerned about mixing two things together that normally shouldn't eg a firewall and a server, and agree that it would likely end up a jack of all trades, master of none.
Personally, ClarkConnect might be able to do both firewall and server, but it would be the same as me running Windows Server 200* and using Norton for an AV. My server has the option to do a firewall, but its just software under linux... The server should have a firewall (either a firewall-specific distro or a hardware based firewall), just to ensure data security... I just think thats safer than relying on some software under linux. Granted linux is a bit more secure than Winblows, but even Linux can get hacked...
i tried ClarkConnect as well although i wasnt satified witht he QoS options. Hell i think i tried just about every distro and in the end i compiled my own version of debian! fresh install of debian (etch r4) with Mastershaper following THIS website then i based all the little things off THIS website had my system running for months now and im finally happy with the implimentiation of QoS. I found out years ago that a good QoS saves a network and saves you money too! - aka no need to shell out for more bandwidth if you can use the stuff you have more efficently EDIT:: mastershaper is from what ive found the only software out there that works for me, its a shame the development is stagnent at v0.44 and its not n00b friendly, but then again it is free!
heh, Debian ft.w.! I looked at Clarkconnect, and instantly said no. Ive got Ubuntu 8.10 headless doing Samba, VNC, VPN, Print, and soon to be doing some web and mail again...
i decided against using ubuntu, as it was going to be headless no point in running kde or gnome and sucking up the cpu cycles. That and the guide was written for Debian and it was my first time compiling the kernel in the end tho ive got the QoS (layer 7) shaping that i wanted, Apache, Samba, LAMP server, usenet downloader, Torrent downloader (that i dont use but its nice to have it running), firewall, dhcp/dns and SSH. The SSH with a dynDNS as it allows me to bypass the restricted internet's of the office and country im in and surf the net like i was at home! They cant keep me from using MSN....muuuuhahahaha
If you manage to get the 360 working with it I'd be interested in knowing how, I've tried pretty much everything I can find via google and in the end gave up on it. I ended up using my vista machine's wmp11 with my smb share as the library to be able to stream to the bloody thing.
umm, this should be a no-brainer, and if not you will be forever bit*hslapped, but you have heard of Ubuntu Server edition, no? Its CLI only... Ubuntu = Gnome Kubuntu = KDE Xubuntu = XFCE Ubuntu Server = CLI ONLY
Ah well, i didnt think its was CLI only thanks for the info. although i went for etch as i wasnt happy with the other stuff thats lumped along with ubuntu. This could be different for the Server edition mind. Plus that guide for Mastershaper layer 7 QoS was written for debian and at the time i was looking for a very easy to follow guide (first time compiling and didnt want to have any suprises)! I run Ubuntu on one of the laptops at home and Xubuntu on my ancient laptop as its the only GUI that can work with it!
I like with Debian that you can download the 180mb install CD and it doesn't take up much diskspace to then add the base stuff to it for a small efficient server. Having said that, I'm also reading Linux From Scratch so god help me :|
I think for your AV scanning/firewall/intrusion detection you could use an Astaro box. You can use it at home for free and there's even a virtual machine image you can download for free and try out. I think the options are buy a box (looks just like a router), install it yourseld or use the VM. www.astaro.com if you wanna check it out.
