Okay - serious help needed chaps - full installation

Hi all,

Okay (deep breath). I've set up a few Linux servers in the past (with the full works - you know, mySQL, Apache, Samba, PHP, phpMyAdmin, SSL etc). Now I got a slightly bigger task and would be greatful if someone could point me in the direction of some HELP!

Setup needed: Office LAN with multiple Windows clients, main server a Windows 2k server running the full works (Exchange server, SQL Server etc). What I need to do is introduce a Linux server to act as a web host (Apache, mySQL, PHP, SSL etc). This needs to be seen by the 2k Server (and therefore allow the Windows clients to access and develope on the web server) but is not the Host to these Windows clients.

There's also the little point of a new leased line. This needs to be available for the whole LAN (e-mails, Internet access etc for the clients controlled by the 2k server) and also act as an always on line for the Linux Web Server.

I'm at heart a coder ;) - and slightly out of my envelope here - any ideas?

Thanks, J

Do you have a stand-alone router or will the Win2KServer box also act as a router?

The windows 2k server will act - unless there is a reason why it shouldn't ;) - like I say, me and the team here are slightly out of our depth (flying by the seat of our pants comes to mind ) - so any info is really greatfully recieved!

Thanks xs0, J

Unless you need machines other than the two servers visible to the outside, the easiest way is to put all the computers on internal IPs (say 10.0.0.*) and enable Internet Connection Sharing on the Win2k server. It will probably try to change it's IP - just let it do so, and change it back later. On all other machines, just set the gateway address to the server's internal IP. This will allow all clients to use most web services (FTP needs to be passive, etc., but most work without any problems whatsoever).

Then, install Apache on the same server to act as a proxy to the real web server - this actually improves performance (at least it did in my case). If you'll need virtual web servers, use double DNS entries to tell them apart. For example, give www.something.com the external IP of the Win2k server, and set up the proxy to forward it to realwww.something.com, which has the internal webserver's address.

Because all the other services will run on Win2k, this should about be it.. OTOH, if you want all the machines visible to the outside, I'd really suggest buying a real router (even if not, it's better - it really never needs restarting, unlike windows ;) well, at least mine doesn't (Intel something))

Another option would be to use the Linux box as a router, which is probably more secure than Win2k. Linux has really neat routing facilities, if you take the time to configure it. You can do things like bandwidth allocation to different services, masquerading, port forwarding, very flexible firewalling, etc.

In any case, don't forget about security - a good idea is to block all ports below 1024, except those that should be public (DNS, e-mail, WWW). Win boxes have been known to be pretty stupid about leaking information to anywhere...

Hope that helps

Wait for it, wait for it... engaging sponge brain... yep - that's it! The info has sunk in!

Okay, this seems to make sense (seriously BIG thankyou for the in-depth e-mail). I can get away with doing what I want to the Linux server, but I think we are going to have to have IIS on the Win2k server... will this pose a problem with the proxy and virtual hosts?

J