Roaming Computing System (Windows Edition) 3.5 - Server Setup
Hardware
These recommendations are from providing servers for an average of ten concurrent users. Many more users may well be accomodated in the same hardware but hasn't been tested. If double or quadruple the concurrent users are required to be supported then the only aspect that would likely need upgrading is tha amount of RAM for the mail server.
We standardise upon the following server hardware:
- Hewlett Packard (HP) servers as they're numerous on eBay and thus easy to find at reasonable cost; and because Hewlett Packard are supportive of Linux.
- 64bit (Intel Xeon or AMD Opteron) CPUs
- Linux software RAID rather than on-board hardware RAID because that way the one RAID technology can be standardised upon across all servers and because to rely on hardware RAID is a reliance upon a particular hardware component that makes for a lock-in of the server's data to that particular card or series of cards. Also, Linux software RAID is usually superior to the cheap IDE (pseudo hardware), RAID controllers; and also superior to 'fakeraid' controllers such as Adaptec's 'HostRaid'.
- SATA hard disks
- Minimum 2GB DDR2 RAM - DDR2 is currently much cheaper than DDR so worth buying a newer machine that uses DDR2. Samba, alone, on this server for ten concurrent users could live with possibly more than 512MB RAM. If the mail server is to be used by ten concurrent users each with a single mailbox open then 2GB RAM is suitable. If the mail server is more heavily used (for example ten concurrent users each with five mailboxes connected) then you will want to increase that RAM to 4GB.
Software
The server runs the Debian GNU/Linux operating system, version 4.0 'Etch', freely available from debian.org. This server is setup using techniques described in a couple of our documents.
Follow 'Server Setup with Debian 4.0 Etch' to setup the server in the following ways:
- Manually do these:
- Linux RAID 1 array (requires at least 2 hard disks; use even if server has true hardware RAID, so all servers are setup identically and if it breaks the disks can be moved more easily to another server)
- LVM (Logical Volume Management)
- Debian Etch-and-a-half's Linux kernel 2.6.24
- Install Twix in root's home directory by following the instructions at thegoldenear.org/toolbox/unices/twix/.
- Use Twix to setup the following features:
- SSH server
- General Configuration
- NTP - Set The Time From An Internet Time Server
- MySQL - database server
- Mail server
- Fetchmail mail retrieval
- Printing (optional, if you have only a few workstations it may be worth the simplicity of printing direct to the printer(s))
- Webmin - web browser-based system administration
- UPS - Uninterruptible Power Supply Monitoring (optional, depending on whether or not you have a UPS)
Use 'Setting up a Samba 3 primary domain controller and file/print/software deployment server, using Debian 4.0 Etch' to setup:
- Samba domain
- User accounts
- Printing (optional)
- Windows administration area, setting up WPKG specifically using:
- WPKG ('server') 1.0.2
- WPKG Client 1.2.1
- Versions of packages.xml, profiles.xml and hosts.xml, specific to this RCS
- Various application installers, specific to this RCS
- Save wpkg-client-settings.xml to \\server\windows-admin\wpkg\WPKG Client\ and insert this system's specific winuser password by installing WPKG Client onto one workstation, loading this file into it, adding the password manually then re-exporting the configuration over the copy of the file on the server. This will be manually loaded into WPKG Client during other workstation setup.
- Save ultravnc-program-settings.reg and ultravnc-installer-settings.inf to \\server\windows-admin\wpkg\packages\ultravnc\. Insert this system's specific UltraVNC password into ultravnc-program-settings.reg. The WPKG Client running on workstations will auto load this as it installs.
Setup the backup to USB-attached hard disk(s) using 'Auto backup a server to a hotswap USB disk'.