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Re: [TCLUG:11868] Corprate Server Suggestions



On Mon, 3 Jan 2000, Jonathan Kline wrote:

> Linux Grus:
>         For School and teh School Organization, We(My Boss and I), will be
> constructing 2 Identical Setup Corprate servers.  The Main Tasks of these
> boxen will to be to provide corprate internet Email via POP3, web
> pages(Virtual Hosts), and Oracle Databases to the Network, One will Be
> located here and the other in the Middle East we think.
Sounds like fun.  :)

>         Power and Price are Factors:  I convinced My Boss to run Linux or
> BSD, Either wayt the OS has to be Free and Unix Like.
>         Question 1:  How does one figure out limits/quotas for each users'
> home directory and mail spool?  We may have upwards of 10k users, What would
> be a reasonable space requirement per user for each directory(Mail and
> Home).  Something Like 10MB's a piece?  Is there a mathematical formula to
> figure this out?
Depends what your users are doing. If it's just generic e-mail, why even
give them a home directory? Give us more details if you can.

>         Question 2:  Applications:
>                 Apache or Other (One Primary Host and Several Virtual Hosts)
IMO, Apache. All the way. If it's a heavy loaded server, don't run any
modules you don't absolutely need.

>                 Sendmail or Other? (Once again virtual hosts with
> overlapping users)
I prefer sendmail, but that's just me.

>                 Which Distro?  Has to be compatible with oracle.... RH?
> Mandrake? Slack? *BSD?
I'd probably go Linux... RedHat or Debian personally. In the words of the
great Bob Tanner, "Linux is Linux". As long as you know what you're doing,
it'll be secure and work fine.

>          Question Three: Hardware:
>                 SCSII or  IDE 66mbps?
For a server? SCSI. All the way.

>                 Are AMD processors good?  I think So!
I'd stick with Intel for a high-load server though.. SMP is important.

>                 How Much RAM?  256?
512 or a gig, I'd say.

>                 What about backup Medium?  18+GB Has to fit on one unit,
> Noone is availbe to switch media half way through
> operation.
DLT probably. Other people will know better than I do.

>                 Which Netcard?  3Com?  Brand and Model Any1?
Netgear or Intel IMHO.


I'd really look at going with VA Boxes. Sure, they are overpriced, but
it's a great contribution to the Linux community, and they are NICE
machines. You won't find a more solid platform to run Linux on.

---
nate carlson
the infinite loop
natecars@infiniteloop.com