sundance-communications.com/forum Forums Computers & Programming Computers, Software, Accessories server ?s

I just got DSL: dance: now I would like to setup server with manuals and customer info that I can access from anywhere. I am very familiar with DOS, Windows 95,98+XP and a little Linux. What OS should I use ? I want some files to be public, some with passwords and others very secure. It would be nice to be able to setup a private folder for each customer if not to complicated.

How many static IP's do you have. I think you may want to look into hosted web sites. DSL may not be fast enough or stable enough to do it.

Remote desktop and dynip if you don't have static ip's.

I am getting static IP address and only intend to have very little downloading so I don't need web hosting just space for about 150Gig of files so I can have access while on the road

I'm running my company's secure download area on a Win2k Server, with the Apache (pre-compiled for windows) as the http server. Some parts are secured with passwords, some aren't. Never had any problems, and I don't have to deal with the Linux learning curve.

Were it me, I'd opt for a limited Linux install on an old PC. I'd disable all unnecessary services and just run an FTP server.

It's a little involved, but once set up, you can create accounts that only allow access to certain parts of the FTP directories. Works well for multiple users where you only want people to have limited access.

Personally, the idea of running Windows as a server on the public internet scares the daylights out of me.. While Windows has improved a lot in the last few years, I still don't trust the "security" of anything coming out of redmond..

In theory, Windows can be secured.. But do you feel confident enough to know that you have closed all the holes? Do you trust that there are not more new holes waiting to be exploited?

I would go for one of the open-source unix/linux distributions, such as FreeBSD, NetBSD, Fedora, Debian, etc..

I use FreeBSD almost exclusively, and have for many years, including in a high-risk/full_time_cracker_target environment (IRC server), with very few problems.

You might want to look at the sme server. It will do what you want and more. I personally use it at home for my gateway and have set up secured web access and vpn capability. It can be found at https://contribs.org

Thanks for the advice :thumb:

johnp I have the sme downloading now, I think that may be just what I want. Ann Arbor is a nice place had friends from there

tantivy -

While I wouldn't put a Windows system directly on the internet, I never said to do that. I have it behind my regular office firewall, and only opened a non-standard port for the Apache.

I would venture that while Linux is slightly more secure out of the box than Windows. It still requires a significant dedication to keeping it up-to-date, just like Windows. And as a suggestion for metelcom, he started off saying Linux was not his forte.

I must admit I'm more of a IT guy than a phone guy. I've been doing a lot of Linux installations recently, as my company is playing with Asterisk. And I have never had a smooth-running Linux install. There's always some package missing or lack of good documentation on some feature.. or SOMETHING. Linux is not for everyone, but I don't want to turn this into the usual MS vs *X debate.

My point is, that if all metelcom needs is a simple way to access his own library of software, docs and tools, then any basic Windows system BEHIND a quality firewall, running a NON-MS server should be perfectly safe and fairly reliable.

How do you make Windows reliable? Simple - don't use the system for anything EXCEPT as the server. Example: I perform sound effects for a community theater. The previous technical director refused to use a computer, because he didn't believe it would be reliable. So instead he used a CD player and attempted to cue the sounds and get them to play at the right time. The result was RELIABLEY HORRIBLE. WHen I took over, I built a dedicated sound machine, out of spare parts. Loaded up Win2k and only enough drivers and other software to run my custom-built sound playback app. It has never crashed, and my performances have been praised by critics.

I also agree that maybe instead of Apache, an FTP daemon would be more appropriate. There are a number of solid FTP servers for windows, which again, shouldn't be directly exposed.