Re: Linux Internet Server Project

[Ricky Bryce <nedra@mcleodusa.net>]

Tim,

I am sure many others on this discussion group are more qualified to 
answer your question, but I will tell you what I am doing, and you can 
decide if your set up is similar.  I am not exactly clear as to what kind 
of data you are acquiring from the win98 machines....  Here is what I am 
doing:

I have a total of 7 machines on a network.  Two of these machines run 
Windows, and the other Linux.  

One of the machines is what I call the Server.  It has Red Hat linux 7.2.  
I use it to store files, share printers, and share the internet.  This 
server machine has a firewall set up.  If you only have one IP address 
provided by your ISP, then you can use masquerading.  You can set the 
firwall up to trust eth0 devices (devices on the LAN).  You can also open 
the ssh (secure shell) port up to the internet.  For administering 
purposes, SSH would be similar to TELNET, except is a secure protocol.  
(You can roughly choose a security level for your firewall when you 
install RedHat) I dont know what level of security you are looking for....  
On my system, I am using a standard dialup modem instead 
of a cable modem (We are just hicks who live in the sticks with the tics).  
You will want to talk to someone who knows about cable modems, but I think 
the procedure for setting up ipforwarding would be similar.

As far as gathering Data from the win98 machines...  What kind of data is 
this going to be?  Is the user going to enter data on the windows 98 
terminal, and that data is logged to an SQL database?  If that is the 
case, you can do it with web pages.  The RedHat machine would run a web 
server such as Apache, and you can use PHP and MySQL to write data into 
the MySQL database (Or run database queries).  If the Windows 98 machines 
are going to simply store files on the RedHat machine, then you will want 
to check into SaMBa server.  SaMBa will allow the Red Hat machine to show 
up in Network Neighborhood on the Windows 98 clients.  The Windows 98 
clients could then access shares on the Red Hat machine.  ( As if you had 
an NT mahine set up and right clicked and shared a folder on the C: 
drive ).

I looks like you are also wanting customers from the INTERNET to be able 
to access the APACHE server also, so when you set up your firewall, you 
will want to allow internet connections to port 80.  

I dont consider myself to be an expert with Linux (YET) but that might 
give you a few things to think about.  I am sure there are others in this 
discussion group who can give you better security tips.  You might want to 
let us know exactly what kind of data you are needing to get from the 
windows machines, and how you plan to get that data into the apache web 
server. 

You can have a program running that is pulling data from the windows 
machines, build a string from this information which contains html codes, 
and then write this string as a file with an html extension into a folder 
that the Apache server can access.  Your program might pull data at 
intervals of 5 minutes, 30 minutes, or whatever you specify.  If the data 
changes quickly, you might want to put a tag in the html code which causes 
the page to refresh every 60 seconds (or again... whatever interval you 
specify).

I hope this makes sense to you.  I dont think you will have much of a 
probblem, but if you are not familiar with Linux, and you are the one 
working on the project, you might want to take an older machine to load 
Linux on it, and see if you can get it to do what you are wanting, and 
then you might feel more confident about the equipment you purchase.

Others might even recommend a totally different distribution of Linux...  
I am just speaking from my own experience.

Good Luck!

Ricky Bryce


On Mon, 11 Feb 2002, Tim McDonough wrote:

> I want to put a secure server on the Internet so customers can access
> remote monitoring data which our company collects on their behalf. I'm
> looking advice on where to look for decent documentation on setting up
> the system. The results from searching "Linux" topics is just a little
> overwhelming.
> 
> In the past I've worked with various sorts of computers (Vax, Ultrix,
> Linux (5+ years ago), Windows) and networking gear (modems, DEC
> routers) so I'm not totally a fish out of water. Here's a little more
> background on my goal to help with narrowing your recommendations...
> 
> - Low bandwidth requirements, there will probably never be more than
> 25 customers.
> 
> - The current ISP can provide the server location with a fixed IP
> address, etc.
> 
> - The server will need to get data from a couple of other local
> machines that are running Windows 98.
> 
> - We need to have a firewall to protect the Windows machines from the
> outside world but the users (about 5 total) do need to get to the web,
> receive email via the ISP, etc.
> 
> - I would like to be able to remotely administer the server.
> 
> - The only existing equipment to consider is the Win98 machines that
> are presently using a small router/hub that attaches to a cable modem.
> 
> - There's not a "blank check" for the project but it is well funded.
> 
> Any advice on where to start? Opinions on which distribution to use?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Tim
> 
> 
> 
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