Grim
Group: Members
Posts: 284
Joined: Mar. 2004 |
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Posted: Sep. 10 2004,19:28 |
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For a FTP server... ProFTPd. Hands down, no question about it. Rock solid FTP server. I've had a ProFTPd server running for two years with no problems at work. Set it up and forget about it, it's that reliable. And since DSL is a Debian cousin, you can apt-get it and configure it pretty quickly.
However, FTP is a security risk and if only you or a couple of your friends are going to be accessing the server, it would be better to set up a SSH server and scp everything in lieu of FTP. DSL already comes with SSH server and it would take just a little effort on your and your users parts to learn to use WinSCP or an equivalent proggie.
Email server? This is tricky. If you're on a dynamic IP block, most ISP's will block all email orginating from your server. That being said, * Qpopper will work just dandy for your POP3 mail needs, but it won't send email, it just allows your users to access their mail from a POP3 client. In order to send mail from your machine, you'll still need to install a MTA such as...
* Exim, Qmail, Sendmail or smail. Qmail is probably the best among these (better security than sendmail and it's scalable) although I use exim (it came with Debian, and I happen to like it just fine).
*Collecting mail from various email server for various users is a task suited for fetchmail/procmail. Fetchmail can pull email from various email accounts (it's pulling three accounts for me now). When fetchmail is piped through procmail, procmail will separate mail, based on rulesets you specify, to send mail to the right users mailboxes.
Running a mailserver is almost the biggest pain in the ass you can undertake as an admin. Make sure, whatever MTA you choose to implement, that you don't run it as an open relay. Spammers will flood your system quicker than you can say "Buy cheap V1agra through u s."
And if you're just looking to run a solid firewall, try http://www.coyotelinux.com/ It runs from a floppy without the need for a hard drive. You can use that hard drive in your FTP server in case warez kiddies ever hack it and use it for a fileserver. If you're really serious about running a solid firewall, I'd suggest installing OpenBSD and learning to appreciate pf.
-------------- No good deed goes unpunished...
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