need help setting up a new box

[adapa]

hi all,

I am quite a fresher to Linux. I have an IBM xSeries 236 server with Single Intel Xeon, 3.0GHz, 2 MB cache, 3GB RAM and 420 GB disk space (but 140 GB is occupied by RAID config - only 280 GB is available).

I am planning to install a web server(APACHE), a secured FTP server (initially 20-30 users will be logging in) and a database server (MySQL - it would be primarily used for storing images) on this machine.

Can any one please tell me,

1. The ideal configuration of partitioning for my setup - how many partitions and how much diskspace for each partition?

2. How about SWAP parition - should I allocate 6 GB as it has 3GB RAM?

3. What software should I unstall (equivalent to Terminal Services in Windows) in order for me to work on the server remotely? What would be the most secured & sophisticated way?

I would greatly appreciate your time and help,

Thanks,

-adapa

[Smither]

1. I'd keep /home (or wherever will be storing users data) on one partition. Possibly a 100mb one for /boot. As much (and a little bigger) of what you think you'll need for / and the rest for /home.

2. That's what I'd go with.

3. OpenSSH.

[adapa]

1. I'd keep /home (or wherever will be storing users data) on one partition. Possibly a 100mb one for /boot. As much (and a little bigger) of what you think you'll need for / and the rest for /home.

So, I will have to make four partitions....

first.....is "/" (I am assuming ...this is root??? (Is this where I will be installing my Secured FTP server, Web Server & DB Server??? or do they go under /home.......please pardon my ignorance here...as I don't anticipate any shortage for diskspace what would be a fair size for this partition???

second..../boot ---100 MB

third ...is /SWAP ---6 GB

fourth....is /home ---rest of the space


Don't I have to create separate partitions for DB server, FTP server and WebServer each???

Can you please suggest me a free Secured FTP server software too?

Thanks again for time and help,

-adapa

[Smither]

/ is root. most of the executables you're going to install will go in /usr/bin and various libraries and stuff in other places... They will be installed onto the partition with lable '/' so I guess a simple answer is yes.

I would set it out like /boot, swap, /, /home.

You don't need any more partitions than you want - it would work fine with just / and swap. I just find it easier to manage to keep some directorys seperate.

If you need an ftp server, proftp is a pretty secure one. FTP as a protocol is pretty insecure though - if your users dont *need* it you could maybe look at using sftp which is part of ssh - you shouldn't need to configure it much.

[adapa]

YOU ARE THE BEST...You have been quite helpful...I will go ahead and set up the partitions as you suggested..

have a good night!

best wishes,

-adapa