Which (RH or MDK) for bare http server?

[Matthew G. Copple]

I have had really good luck with a distribution called e-smith that is based
on Red Hat 7.0. Very little configuration is required...essentially, you pop
the CD in the drive and it takes over from there. It installs QMAIL, an http
server, MySQL database server, an LDAP directory application and an IMAP
web-based mail client, as well as POP3 and IMAP servers. It can be used as
an internet gateway, as well, with very little configuration.

It uses a custom web-based management interface that is available only to
your internal network. However, you can set it up to allow telnet or SSH
access as well (although both are disabled by default).

There are some things to be aware of, though. It does not install with a
compiler (for security reasons), so any software you install must be done so
with RPMs. In addition, if you make permanent configuration changes outside
of the web-based interface, you have to do some mucking around with Perl
scripts (it uses Perl scripts and cron jobs to set configuration options for
the various services).

The company, E-Smith, offers the product as an open source alternative to M$
Small Business Server. It is GPL'd, and an ISO is available for download
from e-smith.org; however, they make their money off of annual support
subscriptions.

I am a HUGE fan of e-smith. I don't have a problem with mucking around in
Linux, but I am a minimalist. I despise the tendency of RH, Mandrake and
Suse to attempt to put tons of unneeded software on my machine (along with
the attendant security risks). I am not a patient person, and I do not enjoy
spending an hour going through a list of packages and deselecting them in a
custom installation. Therefore, E-Smith is a good choice for me, because it
puts just what I need for my home office and nothing more. It is highly
configurable, relatively secure and easy to manage.

It also works very well as a headless server. If anyone is looking for a
strong home office or small office (less than 50 users) package, this is it!

Matthew Copple
mcopple at kcosc.com

>-----Original Message-----
>From: Taylor, Kirk [mailto:Kirk.Taylor at qwest.com]
>Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2001 8:34 AM
>To: 'mohoel at bigfoot.com'; kclug at kclug.org
>Subject: RE: Which (RH or MDK) for bare http server?
>
>
>
>This sounds very similar to something I'm going to be settin up here very
>shortly... except the box I'll be using will need to be a little
>more robust
>(ie, email server, ftp server, etc).
>
>Essentially, I want to build a box that I can drop in a location
>that serves
>pages, email, ftp, etc. without the need of a monitor/mouse after the
>initial setup. (Think of an all-in-one type appliance that provides all the
>essentials for a small business or group of users.)
>
>Perhaps we can spec out a common install/equipment list, as I know quite a
>few other people that could use something like this.
>
>Thoughts?
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: The Hoelschers [mailto:mohoel at telocity.com]
>> Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2001 6:38 AM
>> To: kclug at kclug.org
>> Subject: Which (RH or MDK) for bare http server?
>>
>>
>> Looking for any info regarding the merits of using one over
>> the other -
>> Red Hat 7.1 or Mandrake 7.2 - for a system that will be used as a bare
>> HTTP: server.
>>
>> I have an old P75 that I plan to use, but don't intend to use
>> X on it at
>> all (since the mouse port is trash and the ISA slots are only good for
>> destroying ISA cards).  I intend to install (text mode) and
>> then remove
>> keyboard & monitor, and do all config through Webmin or Telnet.
>>
>> Will run:
>> Apache
>> NFS
>> Telnet server
>> (maybe) FTP server
>> (maybe) Interchange (RH's "shopping cart/catalog" pkg, I know it works
>> on MDK, assume it works on RH ;) )
>>
>> I don't intend to run any email server, nor SAMBA, CUPS, etc.
>> All my web
>> page development will be done elsewhere, and just dropped here for
>> serving.
>>
>> Thanks for your opinions, and let the flames begin!
>>
>> Chris.
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Check it out!  Special rates with Qwest!  And No Minimum!
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>> ======
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>> booking business!
>>
>>
>> majordomo at kclug.org
>>
>
>