Hello

I did a search for Linux and Windows XP, but everything that came up was people with just two or three computers to share resources.

My question is a bit different. I'm an IT technician for a company that is currently running a peer-to-peer Windows XP network inside of a building with a larger Windows network. I'm not sure what servers the other network has. We just use the DHCP from them.

We are in the process of purchasing our own server so that we can have a firewall and Internet content filtering for the company. Normally I would purchase Windows Server 2003 so it would have native support for the Windows XP Professional clients. However, I have Linux at home and I would really like to try it on the new server here at work.

Here's what I need to know.
1) How easy would it be to set up the server software from say, RedHat. Is there a special distribution of Linux just for servers, what should I be looking for?

2) Will the Linux server be compatible with my Windows XP clients?

3) The server needs to be able to do the following with Windows XP Pro (NTFS): provide network disk space for backups; offer (possibly 3rd party) software to enable print queuing; offer firewall protection for the network; offer (3rd party OK) Internet content filtering. Also it would be beneficial if the Linux server could be the DHCP server too, although I guess Active Directory is out of the question.

I already know that Microsoft Windows Server 2003 can do all these things with 3rd party software that runs on it. Can I do this with Linux. Even though I have Linux at home and use it frequently, Im a GUI addict and a Linux idiot.

Thanks for any assistance.

Lessee.... Samba for network disk space, general filesharing and printer sharing. iptables ships with linux and will do your firewall protection and ip forwarding if needed. Linux can certainly do DHCP for the network. Dunnno about the content filtering, but there is probably something for Linux. As for the distro, any of them will ship with what you need. I don't want to start another distro war, but I like Suse over the others right now.

SME server might be worth a look-at, everything's controlled via your browser.

Are you saying that any Linux installation can be a server? (I ask this from a Windows person perspective, where for instance, Windows 98 or even NT workstation can not act like a server.) I am surprised that there are not separate version for workstation and server.

Has anyone heard of content filtering software? ie to filter out porn and such? you can get it for Windows servers I know.

What about print queue pooling?

Thanks!!!

Go to www.freshmeat.net and look up content filtering.

Samba can be used for file sharing, print queuing and as a PDC for Windows.

Iptables can be used for a firewall.

Squid can be used for a proxy or caching proxy.

DHCPD can be used for a DHCP server.

Bind for DNS.

Webmin can be used for server configuration. Really should check this out.

TWIG can be used for webmail. Check out TWIG.

All are included with Linux or are freeware. Red Hat offers a strickly server OS that is named Red Hat Open Server of something.

Yes. Some of the distros let you choose to install a workstation vs a server, the difference being the default software that gets installed. Either way the base linux install is the same and has the exact same capabilities. The only difference is the software that is installed.

any dist will do as a server cause thay all have the same kernel redhat lets you choose to install or workstation but the only diffrence is when you select workstation you will not have apache(web server) installed default you can add later. in windows microsoft configures the os for you what progs will be installed and the gui that comes with it but in linux you add all those to base system. fi you want to use it ass a workstation you can add a desktop manager and a office suit but if you want to use it as a server you wont need x and office suit. the only difference between installation s is the progs that install.

You might also wanna check out Snort.org , Good luck on your decison.

Honestly, be very careful with what you are doing. It is obvious your new to linux, and it is entirely different than Windows to set up and operate. I would not recommend you try out linux as a server in a work environment where downtime is money. If you don't know how to fix a problem quickly because you are still learning, you may end up with no job as they find you've been experimenting with a production box. I would suggest getting more experience setting up linux servers in a more forgiving environment first. Perhaps set up a linux server at home first and try out using with WinXP at home. I learned a great deal about samba when I set up a linux box as a samba server for my personal Win2k box. If it goes down, it's no loss as I'm the only one that uses it.

Avatar--
I am also new to the world of Linux and am very GUI dependent. I am setting up a Linux based network (RH 9) at home using several Windows XP clients, several Linux (RH 9) clients, and probably 1 M$ Exchange server. The goal is to learn as much as I can before doing this in the real world for my own business. In searching for simlar answers I came across some software that may fill your needs for content filtering on the Internet. It's called DansGuardian ( http://dansguardian.org/ ). I hope this helps and good luck.

Avatar,

I don't know how large your network is, but moving essential services to a platform you are not fully familiar with is a potentially dangerous road to travel.

You haven't stated whether you are running Active Directory services or not; are you running a mixed mode domain?

If you are planning on a migration of essential services such as the PDC emulator, DHCP, DNS etc, do so in a test environment with a proper feasibility study first.

I would probably start with a non-essential file/print server first, initially on a non-production test LAN. You can run your backups on this server.

Then maybe DHCP. Win2k active directory networks will happily support non MS DHCP and DNS (as long as it supports dynamic updates).

As for the firewall, there is no substitute for a hardware firewall, but the next best thing is a freesco box (See freesco.org). This utilises an old PC with a couple of NICS and will provide firewall/router/DHCP/Print Services in one small package!

Hope my ramblings are of some assistance to you!

Richard