Topic: Setting up a web server

[Nathan]

I am new to Linux and am trying to setup a web server.  I was going to use Vector Linux but someone on the vector forums told me that SME server would work better.

I got SME server installed and running. I don't want any gateway features so I chose Server-Only during setup.  I want to use dyndns.org with the server, but I can't figure out how.  I also want to setup wireless with ndiswrapper.

Thanks.

[CharlieBrady]

I got SME server installed and running. I don't want any gateway features so I chose Server-Only during setup.  I want to use dyndns.org with the server, but I can't figure out how.

Server-Only is not designed for direct connection to the Internet, so doesn't provide any dyndns support, as the server doesn't know the externally visible IP address on your gateway.

[Nathan]

I only have one NIC and a wireless card in my machine, I thought that to use gateway mode you need more than one NIC.

[arthurhanlon]

Nathan, pleased to see you've come over to investigate. Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of Vector Linux but like many other distros it needs a lot of work to get it up and useable as a server, SME works straight out of the box.

My advice to you would be to bang another NIC into that box, they're pretty cheap. My setup is as follows :

Motorola SurfBoard Cable Modem to cheap as chips router then my 2 desktops behind router along with my SME box. I did have my SME box on the DMZ at one point but that was more hassle than it was worth. I am forwarding first 2000 ports to the SME Server as I'm confident that it can look after itself so security not an issue and that pretty much sums it up.

It now hosts my domain and all mail for that domain and is my local fileserver for my LAN. VPN access and everything work 100% fine.

Your wireless requirements may be a problem but I can't say as haven't used wireless yet. You could do a little search through these forums for anyone else that has used wireless and see what they have experienced. I just though that this would be a better bet for you as it's very easy to setup and administer.

Hope this helps,

Arthur

[CharlieBrady]

My setup is as follows :

Motorola SurfBoard Cable Modem to cheap as chips router then my 2 desktops behind router along with my SME box.

Why do you bother with the router? It probably reduces the reliability and security of your setup.

[Nathan]

Okay, I put in another NIC and set it to Server and Gateway. I have a DSL modem connected to the router and my two computers plus the server conected to it.  Now what?

[arthurhanlon]

Charlie,

Yes, router probably does reduce reliability but as my server is in my spare room, I must turn it off when we have guests staying   and the router can keep my IP address for me as it's dynamic  

For a while I did have it setup as you suggested with SME as gateway but obviously I stumbled upon the whole "guests staying" scenario so opted for a cheap little router for the purpose.

Damn those friends that want to stay over!!

Arthur

[bbarrons]

Hi Nathan,
 I setup my sme server as a server only and put it behind my linksys router. I used port forwarding on the linksys and forwarded all ftp, email, ( iamp and smtp)  and web requests to the internal ip of the sme box. I then setup a family web page along with email services. All is working fine. I have no problems accessing my web page from outside the lan, and email has been working since day one. The only problem I had was when sending email I have to send thru my dsl smtp rather than thru sme. I also use dyndns. I had setup the router to connect to dyn dns but they kicked me off after a week because the router was requesting an update all the time. I have since installed dyndns software on my xp machine and that has not been a problem. I too setup the sme server as server only beacuse I didnt have a spare nic in the house when I was testing everything. I hope this helps.
 Bill