Hopefully this will be an easy question for the Server wizards...

I want to run a webserver and a localserver on the same machine, so first off I know I need 2 NIC's in the box but one private and one public but I'm a little confused on how to setup /etc/hosts, /etc/hostname, DNS and the firewall, I think that's all I'd need to modify...

Does anyone have any guidelines I could follow or suggestions that would help get this going?

Thanks,

why do you need two nics? what do you even want to actually provide? you'd only have two nics if you wish to route traffic through the box normally, which is not what a server does normally.

I'm used to a windows enviroment so I made the assumption it was needed...

So, this is what I would like to do, host virtual websites, no mail, FTP, SAMBA and keep my local secure form the outside world...

Thanks,

what kind of internet connection are you using? if you've got an adsl router or similar then that is the device with the public ip, and the server would architecturally just connect like any other pc on the network.

Static IP via DSL...

yeah but what kind of device is this terminated on?

It's on a Linksys Router...

right, so as above, only one nic, connects like a bog standard pc.

"how to setup /etc/hosts, /etc/hostname, DNS and the firewall..."

So, now that that's out of the way any insight or thoughts on how to achieve the setup as in the original question?

Thanks,

well there's nothgin in particular you need to configure. if you setup apache and port forward to it on your adsl router then it'll be globably reachable by default and such like.

That seems to easy... can it really be that easy?

How about security issues? I mean out the box has to be wide open, are there any good guides for a newb such as myself looking to learn but not wanting to read a manual full of details and intracacies and fall into all the pitfalls of newbness?

Thanks,

well it's only as wide open as the services you're running on it, and if you 1) don't run services you are not interested in and 2) don't expose unnecessary services to the internet (i.e. don't port forward them) then they can't be exploited. naturally it's good practise to firewall the individual server with iptables, but if attacks from places you don't trust can't reach that machine it's laregly just a best practise affair. now if you don't trust your own lan, then certainly a server specific firewall would be the order of the day.