[Techtalk] Re: [Grrls-only] Re: Setting up a server

[jennyw]

Are you suggesting setting up WebDAV? I've never tried that on Apache ... 
does it make it behave like a file server? Otherwise you wouldn't be able 
to edit files.

Personally, I'd just go with Samba, as Jenn suggested, since you can setup
login screens for the Windows boxes that could help them map a drive.  
Then they just need to click on my computer and access the file server
like they would a local disk.

As for security, you might check the device that came with the DSL
connection. If it's a router, it may have a firewall on it, or at least
NAT.  This could be the first level of defense. Then you could
additionally setup the file server with firewall software, but this may
not be necessary.  Personally, I prefer single-function firewalls to keep
things simpler (meaning another box as a firewall or something like a
SonicWall appliance), but, as Jenn suggested, you could have the file 
server sit between the Windows computers and the router and filter packets 
in addition to serving files.  If you do some firewall stuff, consider 
signing up for linuxchix-courses, where Raven is conducting a security 
class.

You may also consider setting up DHCP to autoconfigure IP settings for 
clients.  This can save a lot of headaches later on. Of course, there's a 
chance that the router is doing this already ... I'd suggest a good first 
step is to check out the router's capabilities and, if you don't have it, 
get the login info for it.

Jen

On Thu, May 16, 2002 at 12:16:11AM -0700, Dave North wrote:
> 	All that said, if I were doing it (and this is coming from a SuSE
> point of view) I'd consider setting up apache and serving files as a local
> website.