Lordbyron (.RiverCityCanada.com)

This computer is partially exposed to the Internet. It's an AMD K6 II 300 MHz system with 128 MB of RAM and an 8 GB HD, or otherwise just the bare essentials. It doesn't have a sound card or CD. It main purpose is name server and web server for DigitalMapping.sk.ca. This computer actually has several names and sits on the fence as far as exposure to the Internet. Externally it goes by lordbyron and a dozen or so aliases for the web sites it services. Internally we know it simply as gainsbery.

Windows 2000 Server

This server is running with a bare bones Windows 2000 Server installation. It's the master DNS for the domains I administer, plus it has several virtual web servers running. After reading about wysenburg and the glowing endorsement of Linux, you are probably thinking I'm a turncoat here. In all fairness, I choose Windows 2000 mostly because of the support for Frontpage extensions and the virtual web servers. That's all this computer does, serve up web pages. Since it was a commercial enterprise, I spent a few bucks on the software.

Otherwise I put it together from used parts, same as wysenburg, but they were a little more pricey then what I used for the Linux system. First it required twice the memory and a faster CPU. It also has a larger HD but that was because of what was available rather than what was needed.

It does little on the internal LAN. While it has the master resource records for the domain zones I administer, I use wysenburg as the second name server for my workstations. Darkstar also has DNS and Active Directory and is the primary name server for the internal LAN. That's a little tricky as DigitalMapping.sk.ca is the external domain, and local.DigitalMapping.sk.ca is the internal domain the LAN participates in. The two domains are unrelated otherwise the internal network would be exposed to the Internet as a subdomain. It's an Active Directory thing and I'm not sure I have it working right just yet. There is more on Active Directory in the darkstar page.

Gainsbery participates in the internal network and shares it's drive. It also registers itself in Active Directory as a host in local.DigitalMapping.sk.ca. The three services (ftp is the third) it provides are routed through the firewall.

Overall Observations and Comments

It looks like lordbyron is sitting on the firewall, with services internally as well as externally. It's actually a lot simpler than that. The computer is fully within the firewall, it just routes a couple of ports through the firewall under the lordbyron name. The firewall's name is lordbyron if you want to get technical.

The Windows 2000 software is probably as robust as Linux. The difference is the missing POP3 server and the fact you have to shut down the system to upgrade the software. Besides the few reboots required to install the system, it needed one more when I installed the service pac. Otherwise, like the Linux system, it just runs until the next power outage. The administration time is nearly the same. I might be fooling myself thinking I'm OK when I fiddle with the settings, but in the long run, I do just as much reading as is required for Linux. Usually it's in a panic, because I've been fiddling with the settings. Darkstar is due for a fresh install to clean up some of the mess caused by fiddling with the settings.

An interesting thing is the cooperation between Microsoft DNS and BIND running on Linux, While DNS is the master of most of the zones and BIND a slave server, I had it switched at one time. Works well either way. I'm also pretty sure that you could use BIND as a slave server for an Active Directory DNS zone. 

 

Last updated: Sunday, September 03, 2006 Visits since October, 2000: 1918