which linux servers knowledge is essential?

i am quiet comfortable with linux installation,command line,etc.

now i want to build a home network so that i can experiment with different server technologies used in a linux/unix based network.

My aim is to become a system/network admin.

a few i think will be useful are

Apache
Samba

what do you guys think which other servers should i experiment with.also give links to information if u can.

also an example of ur current network(big or small) will be great

i have another question when would i install a LDAP server???

Quote:

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Originally Posted by focussys

i am quiet comfortable with linux installation,command line,etc.

now i want to build a home network so that i can experiment with different server technologies used in a linux/unix based network.

My aim is to become a system/network admin.

a few i think will be useful are

Apache
Samba

what do you guys think which other servers should i experiment with.also give links to information if u can.

also an example of ur current network(big or small) will be great

i have another question when would i install a LDAP server???

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Beign a unix admin user (someone who calls Unix Admins to fix my Unix problems when Im programming, I probably submit the toughest requirements from these guys)

so here goes.

Make a machine with raid 5 or 6... Try expanding the array... take out a drive a low level format it on another machine, then rebuild...

Back up a machine, log into root... and oops, delete the entire file system... reboot and recover from the backup.

Set up MySQL, Apache, and then create a site with access to the DB and create a connection string! Learn .htaccess! Download Oracle trial and install it; again create a connection string!

When a error occurs or might occurs you would want to know... But your probably not looking at every log at every second... lucky for you, error messages are stored in a email type system in the file system! Now use send mail to redirect these to an outside SMTP and send them to your email account you use all the time.

SAMBA

crontabs... echo check >> /etc/mdx/.... also run a backup once a week!

I would recommend setting up a machine using a Gentoo type distro, where you have to start by compiling a custom kernel, and then add each element you need... Gentoo has amazing documentation and the community is great! Fedora is very easy to setup but its not a very slim setup.

Setup a SMTP, POP, ADAP mail server.

Create a firewall and router.

Create a FTP server, and create a SAMBA server with limits on how much space each user gets.

Create a cluster...

I think thats everything... though I am certain I am missing something.

Add a module to the kernel )usually needed when you add new hardware not supported by red hat). Rebuild the kernel from scratch.

I know Im missing something....

edit: OOH! I forgot the most important part! Send me a phone card so I can call you every 20 minutes while you are trying to work on the above and "submit tickets" that need to be done ASAP... then let me call you ever hour wondering why things are not done... I will get increasingly frustrated with you, until I start yelling at you and call you names... *****ing and moaning.. then I will break down in tears, and blame you for the death of my last dog.

GJ

Ohhh... Things that I need as a web developer... Set up sub domains, extensions for dream weaver (and other Adobe products), Zend Studio Extensions. Make sure I can only access some databases and websites while preventing me from accessing other projects (setup a security audit and policy). Install PostNuke. MySQL Admin access and permissions for specific users on specific databases. Setup security permissions for users of my web tools to make sure that my administration tools are only accessed by certain "departments". Make sure that some websites will get past the firewalls for the Internet, while limiting certain websites to the Intra net. Setup multiple version control software where I get to log out files and log in them when I'm done (dream weaver has one, Microsoft has version control software, and others). Setup basic SAP and other enterprise wide systems (you may not be able to do this due to the cost)! Provide ODBC, ADO, and other network based SQL communication applications (this will allow me to access a DB located on one system while programming on another). Allow me as a developer to send email through my web pages to users (contact us pages). Web Statistics applications, and load balancing. Provide me a version of the website from a backup you created from X period of time. Change passwords when I get fired so that I don't get angry and delete my work!

Set up a subnet, grant some users access to online net based printers while limiting others. In fact, do this for all possible network resources.

Thanx greenjelly for ur reply

i am just starting out ,so all that stuff really looks tough to me and i use IDE drives so cant do the raid stuff.

can u pls tell me where to start

i have started with APACHE and SAMBA already running on my network.

what should i add next.

some links would be great.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GreenJelly

I think thats everything... though I am certain I am missing something.

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Yeah, you forgot DNS server! ;)

I cant tell you were to start... were ever you want...

And PATA, USB, and SATA drives can all be used in RAID arrays. Start with one drive, then convert it to RAID-1, then add another and make it RAID-5... that will test allot of knowledge. Forums and IRC are great.

Do what I did, start a file server, set up SAMBA, Grub to command prompt, then sendmail the root mail (which will be a combination of all messages associated with operation of the OS) to a mailbox were you can monitor it.

Try setting up multiple copies of PostNuke and other OS open source applications on your server, with each copy controlled by a single user. Prevent other users from accessing the site. Set up the extensions to the web server. Then go down the list..

Try a Gento installation. If you can get through that you will learn aton on your way. The Gentoo IRC channel is amazing, very helpfull people, with no experiences of flame or other theatrics.

When asking for help, first Google, then man the topic, read, read, read... buy a book and read it... then buy another book and read that...

I too am triing to set up a Send mail service to deliver my mail to my private email account for easy access, I will be posting a forum thread on this because of the complexity of the issues Im having, and the lack of the basic understanding of what questions to even ask... I will probably be buying some books myself on linux.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by focussys

what do you guys think which other servers should i experiment with.also give links to information if u can.

also an example of ur current network(big or small) will be great

i have another question when would i install a LDAP server???

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Nope, you're going about this all wrong. Don't set things up hoping to learn what is needed by doing it, you'll remember bugger all.

It's far more effective if you address your own network needs - that way you'll have a vested interest in making it work right. And you'll remember a lot more. And you'll find it a lot easier because the goal will be something you want.

Start by thinking about the type of network you want to provide.

Do you want a centralised log-in server, with one set of accounts and one block of user space across your lan for each user? If so, set up NIS or LDAP and plug it into Samba (if you have windows clients) and NFS (if you have Linux clients other than the server).

Do you want to share music and/or movie files across the network between users? If so, set up Samba and NFS to provide shared storage space with controlled/read-only access and, maybe, proper backups.

So you have stuff to say, publish frequently or just keep your users updated? Look at setting up a web server, but be careful here - HTML is easy, the hard bit is writing the content for your web space. Maybe your users have a bit to say too, so you could help by setting up a wiki extension to your web?

Does everyone use email, do you have your own domain name? You could set up an email MTA (such as postfix or sendmail) and put a pop3/imap front end over it - maybe expand it with a web interface such as squirrelmail.

Would your users make use of a database? If your users like to chat, maybe you could set up an IM server (look for a good Jabber server)? Maybe they play the same games; perhaps you could set up a counterstrike or neverwinter nights server?