Can anyone recommend personally a reputable computer engineer. I wish to setup a server that can act as a website host, mail host and file server. When complete i will require some assistance in setting up firewalls etc etc.
I am assuming that it will need to be windows based as it is windows based pc’s / laptops that will connect to it from the file server aspect.
If anyone has any other suggestions for configuration would be only to glad to hear them.
Whilst not a PC idiot, i feel this is beyond me, and not sure i have the time to trial and error setup.
[quote=“Traveller”]Can anyone recommend personally a reputable computer engineer. I wish to setup a server that can act as a website host, mail host and file server. When complete I will require some assistance in setting up firewalls etc etc.
I am assuming that it will need to be windows based as it is windows based pc’s / laptops that will connect to it from the file server aspect.[/quote]
Sounds like you want it for a LAN, in which case it might be easier to use a Windows server, but it is certainly not necessary. You could also use a Linux box.
As for web service, I like Apache. But IIS is also good (though make sure you update it with the latest security patches).
well, you have to pay for everything you want to use when it comes to microsoft, client licences, firewalls, mail servers, etc…
i use freebsd(open source platform) personally, you then hook it up with samba, apache, firewall, it becomes a perfect solution for a small office home office, through in a mail server, you now can start charging people to host their mails… off the topic…
What SW do I need for a mail server? Currently all our company mail is hosted at the ISP and downloaded to the individual PCs, so when sending mails to a colleague it goes to the ISP (via ADSL) and back.
I have a PC here running on Windows2000 (Pro) that acts as a file server and the harddisc should be big enough. We have less than 10 users/clients.
as i proposed to traveller:
a freebsd platform, free
postfix mail server, free
antivirus, free
and the process setting it up, priceless
jokes aside, you’ll need a very knowledgeable person to configure a mail server, as this is not your everyday computer task, besides, a badly configured mail server is going to give you more hassels than the isp
Traveller: I think you’ve figured out that you’re way out of your comfort zone on this. I recommend that you think your business needs through before you start on this.
Do you have the need to maintain your own server? (ie Why can’t you just buy web and email hosting from someone?)
Do you have the personnel to maintain the server? (Servers require almost daily attention with security patches and what not)
Do you have the budget to set up a dedicated server? (including software and maintenance)
My recommendation would be to find some reputable web/email host and use their services (you pay for making sure that their servers are up) and find someone to set up a windows computer to act as a file server (this part is real easy and cheap). If you want to go cheap (and run the risk of downtime when you have problems), you can use an existing computer.
Hosting shouldn’t be much more than USD 100 a year (depending on how much space you want.) And a file server will cost under 40K NT for a computer with oodles of RAM and a large hot-swap RAID 1 (or maybe even RAID 5) array.
Setting up your own web server is recipe for disaster…especially if you’re planning to store sensitive files on it too. Not to mention your 1.5/64k DSL line will choke if anyone tries to download pictures from it.
You can do all of those things with Linux – the fileserver stuff gets taken care of by a package called Samba. It’s not difficult.
OpenBSD openbsd.org/ has a good reputation for being secure by default. However, once you start opening things up – especially as a fileserver – you also open vulnerabilities.
What is your need for storing sensitive information on an otherwise-open server? I would avoid putting anything out there that you want to keep safe, whether it’s personally-created porn or your financial records.
OK, the file server i already have, as people say this is easy to set up and it has oodles of disk space.
As for why i want to host myself, that is simple, i want the control, have been with an email hosting service for a three or four years and there have been to many times when my email is not available, do not want the same as and when i put my website together.
Would not be averse to doing what i want across two machines, so at least the file server is kept secure.
Yeah, that’s what I heard. Is there any cheap(er) solution for Windows?
Don’t want to become a system administrator and I am not sure if my colleagues can deal with Linux, so something that I install on top of the existing platform would be preferred.
I still strongly recommend outsourcing the web/email portion to a much more reliable hosting provider. Setting up your own web/email server is pretty much only for Linux enthusiasts (who have time to tweak their machines) or good-sized corporations (who have the staff).
My dad wanted to do something similar about a year ago and I talked him out of it after pointing out the costs and time involved.
Just a snapshot of what you’ll have to do in order to set up your mail server.
1)Switch your DSL to 2MB, sign up for static IP
2)Change your MX, A and etc records at your domain name registrar.
3)Choose a mail software package
4)Set up a server
5)Install a spam filtering solution
6)Pray
7)Maintain the server
One of the prime reasons why not to run your own mail server is that many mail servers around the world reject email coming from hinet.net IP addresses because of spam. That means that your email will mysteriously never reach its destination and you’ll never know.
Also, when you have someone else host, you can bitch at them if something goes wrong. If something happens on your computer, you’re on your own.
FYI: Exchange costs $700 for the server software and then $67 per user.
OK, so who has what recommendations for hosting services, approx costs and that sort of thing? How easy is it to transfer my domain from the current host to this new one?
Depending on the traffic you will be generating from the website, email and file server, this configuration is not a smart one. If because of budgetary constraints, I understand, but you should seriously consider splitting out up the web and mail services. The reason for that is because in case of a catastrophic event to one of the services, you’re not totally fubarred.
It depends on whether you want to be a do-it-your-selfer or find someone else to manage it for you. If you are the former, then I would say a Windows platform would not be the best solution, especially if you’re running Exchange.
If you want a home built system instead of “renting” a server, then you must insist on a RAID configuration. Anything less with what you’re trying to do, is not a good use of your $ resources and time.
Hosting services will gladly help you transfer domains and from one service to another. That’s the least of your worries.
The dollar question is trickier because a lot of hosting companies do ala carte pricing and makes it hard to do an apples to apples comparison. To help you figure out how much it’ll cost you, you’ll need to do a detailed report for yourself when you send out your request for quote to the hosting companies.
[quote=“Traveller”]OK, the file server i already have, as people say this is easy to set up and it has oodles of disk space.
As for why I want to host myself, that is simple, I want the control, have been with an email hosting service for a three or four years and there have been to many times when my email is not available, do not want the same as and when i put my website together.
[/quote]
You really don’t want to do this. Unless you can find and retain an experienced System Administrator, your ‘control’ will be a nightmare for you. Your email wil almost certainly be less secure and reliable than it is now.
What you need to do is find a better hosting service.
So accepting the advice given so far, mail and web should be hosted externally, anyone got hosting services that they can recommend, the traffic for both the web and mail is not likely to be high. Mail is likely to be 50 mails a day in and out combined, the web site would not get many hits as it will be a personal website for family and friends to get the latest family news form Taiwan type thing, though they would be viewing small film clips etc.
