linux server confusion

[jolan_lars]

i plan to use red hat linux as my server in my small network(10 PCs). my client's are all windows. I would like Linux to function as a DHCP server, proxy/firewall server, internal file/ftp server & mail server. can i put all servers in one machine or do i have to use separate linux machines for each? what packages are recommended? what is the minimum hardware requirement on each machine/s?

i would appreciate your help in this...thanks in advance

[IsaacKuo]

You can put all of them on one machine, or all in separate machines in any combination. I'm a newbie so I used a hardware router rather than deal with setting up a software router. (They're cheap, easy to use, and cheap&easy to replace in case of failure!)

In addition to those services, you'll probably want to run a Domain Name Server. Not only will this decrease your dependence on your Isp (no longer relying on their DNS), but you'll be able to give your local machines meaningful internal network names.

As a newbie, I don't really know just what the hardware requirements are, but the one thing I'd concentrate on is the RAM requirements. The more, the better! Because of the file serving and proxy requirements, I wouldn't want less than 128mbytes RAM.

[kZahradnik]

Well, I wouldn't put the router/firewall/proxy and the dhcp onto the same machine. I would use a single machine with 2 network cards for the firewall/router/proxy and put the rest onto another machine.

But then again, I wouldn't use a proxy....don't like them, never have....never will...:D

[nunder]

If it helps, right now I've got an old Packard Bell (I know, but it's all that we had) with a 200MHz Cyrix processor, 32 MB RAM, and a 4G drive that I'm using for a webserver, DNS, MySQL, DHCP, and samba, and I've got about 30 users. The DNS, DHCP, and Samba are for my internal users, and the MySQL database is the backend for a production website. No lag so far. :-)

[jolan_lars]

"But then again, I wouldn't use a proxy....don't like them, never have....never will..."

why wouldn't you advise a proxy server? what is its disadvantage? I only need to share my Internet connection on my 10 clients and Do network address translation (NAT) do i still need a proxy server or just a router/firewall?

[kZahradnik]

In your case you don't need a proxy. See, what a proxy does, is to store requested pages. So, whenever somebody in this LAN requests a page, the proxy looks in his cache, and if he has it there, gives the client this page, if he doesn't he downloads it from the Internet and then gives it to the client.

Of course you can set how 'old' pages in the cache can be before he checks in the internet if the content changed.

I am a webdeveloper, and I don't like proxys. I know they have advantages, like saving bandwith, but also have downsides, like (maybe) showing old content.

Well, and of course they use loads of HDD space if you let them.

A router and firewall config will do fine for your needs.

<edit>
But don't take my word for it. Wait a little and see what other people have to say abut this. Then build your own opinion. ;)
</edit>

[jolan_lars]

well, i think i understand now. 'the fact that u said what a proxy server does made everything clear to me now.
so it's just like copying the webpages that the clients frequently visit so that u don't have to go out and waste bandwidth.

well, thank you very much i really appreciated that.

thanks buddy....

[miteycasey]

I worked for a company that was doing all you wanted, except for the proxy, on a PII with 128 meg ram. Xwindows was a dog but other than that it performed well.

[jolan_lars]

tnx for the hardware specs dude...