RE: Explaining Linux

[David Mitchell <nospam [at] fdgroup.co.uk>]

> A SIMPLE linux server is easier and quicker to set up than NT.

On one of the projects I'm involved in, we had to set up approx
20 linux proxy servers/firewall/DCHP server/NAT etc boxes to go
at various sites around Sheffield. I hadn't used Linux properly before,
although I've been using Solaris for several years. It took me about a week
to learn how to do the install properly and set up all the stuff
like Squid, Apache, DHCP server and so on, beef up security, and all the
miscellanea required for a box that is going to be left unattended for
months or years at a time (eg log rotation).
By the end of that week, I had a master disk which we just ghosted onto
the 19 other disks, then ran a simple configuration perl script on each
machine that asks for just an IP address and hostname, and bingo we have 20
servers. If one of them dies, we just clone another disk, rerun the Perl
script, and off we go again.

Admittedly we require each machine to have similar hardware, but even so,
I was very pleased how simple (and reliable!) it all turned out to be.


* Dave Mitchell, Operations Manager,
* Fretwell-Downing Facilities Ltd, UK.  Dave.Mitchell [at] fdgroup.com
* Tel: +44 114 281 6113.                The usual disclaimers....
*
* Standards (n). Battle insignia or tribal totems


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