Web Server Question

[Olimits7]

Hello,

About myself: I just graduated from college with MIS/Finance degree. Im not fully experienced in handling such a project described below, but I do feel that it is a great opportunity to gain some experience in the industry.

My friend is starting up his own business, and Im gonna help him set up all the networking, web servers, etc... I have a couple of questions I was wondering if you could help me out with before I get started.

- Do you think it would be better to set up a personal web server at the office, or to just use a web hosting company like "wazoo.com" to set up a website & email? I would like to try to set up a personal web server because it seems more challenging. I know I will have more control over the server & faster speeds.

- If I go with setting up a personal web server, I'll probably run Win 2000 server w/ Apache. Would I need two servers? One to run the web server (email & website) & one to run network drives for files (xls, docs, etc...)? Or is just one server sufficient to run both aspects of the two server? Because I was talking to a friend and he told two servers is the way to go, but I am also on a budget.

- Last question. After the website is running lets say at '

http://www.domain.com'.

To set up the email accounts on the client computers would all I have to do is set up POP3 & SMTP on let's say Outlook for all the clients? Or do I need special software on the Server to allow me to do this?

Thank you for your help I really appreciate it,

Olimits7

 

[ashpp]

> - Do you think it would be better to set up a personal >web server at the office, or to just use a web hosting >company like "wazoo.com" to set up a website & email? I >would like to try to set up a personal web server because >it seems more challenging. I know I will have more >control over the server & faster speeds.

The main advantage of hosting your own site is for e-commerence etc. (you link the server up to databases of stock etc).

> I know I will have more >control over the server

You can get a lot of control with most major ISPs. There systems are usually more hack proof/robost and can handle power outages, etc.

> faster speeds.

Very doubtful.

My advice - stick with normal webhosting for the time being. Migrate to using your own server if you need - no harm in learning how to set it up and secure whilst you still have a 'live' system.

> - If I go with setting up a personal web server, I'll >probably run Win 2000 server w/ Apache. Would I need two >servers?

No you don't need two servers. It depends on how secure you can make 1 - and how fast they are. Too many variables to answer your question.

> - Last question. After the website is running lets say >at '

http://www.domain.com'.

To set up the email accounts on the >client computers would all I have to do is set up POP3 & >SMTP on let's say Outlook for all the clients? Or do I >need special software on the Server to allow me to do this?

Depends where you host your email. If you ISP host it then you just need to access your isps server if you host it (ie. exchange) then you just access your server.
The main advantage of having a server is to allow for emails to be sent locally without them needing.

If you have a email server onsite your ISP can still happily host the email - your email server will simply contact the ISPs for sending/receiving.

Ash.

 

[jonwilbanks]

I agreee with Ash using an ISP to host your site is easier and safer. You can always setup an intranet web server if you want to practice.
When you look at email servers don't forget, Exchange is not the only one. There are quite a few out there that are cheaper and even some free ones.
I would try real hard to find a way to get two servers. Redundancy is worth saying again.

Good Luck,
Jon

 

[OUCATS]

A question in response to the web server posts...
Since it would be safer and less headaches I would be interested in using an ISP to host my site. On this site I would like to have a app/ASP page that would collect data to a database on their server. What would be the best way to transfer VERY sensitive database info back from their servers to my network? Would a VPN tunnel be the only secure way to do this??

THANKS!!

 

[doomhamur]

acctually you would want an ssl encrypted file transfer. most major ISP's already have a way to do this and dont offer vpn connections, just ask them.

as for email, if you want to host it yourself i would use red hat linux with sendmail and use squirrel mail for web access to your email account. windows and exchange are expensive and require alot of time to learn how to do it right.

Doomhamur
Network Engineer
"Certifications? we dont need no stinking certifiaction."
yahoo IM handle: greater_vortex