File/E-mail/Web Server project!

[Poontos]

First off, I am comfortable with FreeBSD and all the Windows OSes, so I am open to platform suggestions. Although, I haven`t had an extra PC or access (several production, but not "test" boxes) to a FreeBSD server for several months, so I want to get back on one.

Before I choose which router I want to go, I have a few questions:

1.) If an Exchange 2000 server was setup, can the logon process (done through a web browser) to access your e-mail on the server, be done via SSL (secure connection) instead of plain text?

2.) Would it be possible to have this server setup, point a domain to it (including my MX), and use the dynamic DNS (dyndns.org or something) since my IP isn`t totally static (it can change, but it stays the same most of the time)? Is Win2K Srv ok with this? I know FreeBSD is coo wit' it.

3.) I want to somehow setup a file server accessible through the web via secure logon, to upload and download files while in the school labs or on a laptop at school. Any suggestions? This is the main reason I am doing this. I want to avoid floppies and be able to access my files from any Internet accessible computer. I want avoid FTP, cause it's cumbersome and some machines will not allow you to install any Apps, but they all of course have IE.


I think that's it!


I appreciate all your feedback!

 

[blstriker]

Q1. I dunno

Q2. Yes, you can have full domain name functionality using a dynamic domain name service like the one at ZoneEdit.com.

Q3. In w2k server you can accomplish this by setting up a VPN (virutal private network) with your server or you can use terminal services which is a pretty secure connection.

 

[Poontos]

<< Q1. I dunno

Q2. Yes, you can have full domain name functionality using a dynamic domain name service like the one at ZoneEdit.com.

Q3. In w2k server you can accomplish this by setting up a VPN (virutal private network) with your server or you can use terminal services which is a pretty secure connection. >>


Thanks for the response. Re: Q3. -- Wouldn`t I need to setup all the VPN software (most are NT 4.0 Wrkstn) on any lab machine I was on, etc.?

 

[kt]

regarding uploading files thru the web.. why don't you just write your own little script to handle that? if looks doesn't matter, you probably could put that together fairly easily with either ASP, PHP, or Javascript.

 

[Poontos]

<< regarding uploading files thru the web.. why don't you just write your own little script to handle that? if looks doesn't matter, you probably could put that together fairly easily with either ASP, PHP, or Javascript. >>


I might do that, but first off, I don`t know ASP, PHP, or Javascript. Secondly, I need a platform and a server to run the script on, specfically one that will allow SSL connections via IE.

I also need access to exsisting files. But, FTP is pretty much out of the question.

Thanks for the feeback, keep `em coming!

 

[Poontos]

^^

 

[guaraguao]

Windows Terminal Services (and Citrix), with the right plugins will allow you to run from within a browser without having to install anything on the client computer. If you want an example, go to www.citrix.com and check out their demo.

about the file-trading: I've thought about this myself, but I stick with ftp... if most of the time you'll just be downloading from yourself (my case), than go ahead and setup a webserver, and maybe a password-protected directory that you can roam through.

btw, zonedit.com is awesome. highly recommended, I use it for my domains.

edit: you can also setup the TS/Citrix clients to map drives on the client to the remote computer. Example: You log in from your school to your home via terminal services in your web browser, and than map the drive C of your client computer to drive X of your home computer. You can than copy files over to drive X, and it'll be there on the client. I know the citrix ICA client will let you do that.

 

[cchan]

In response to Q3 - install a WebDAV compliant web server. I believe MS IIS 5.0 supports WebDAV, or else you can get Apache mod_dav

 

[kt]

<<

<< regarding uploading files thru the web.. why don't you just write your own little script to handle that? if looks doesn't matter, you probably could put that together fairly easily with either ASP, PHP, or Javascript. >>


I might do that, but first off, I don`t know ASP, PHP, or Javascript. Secondly, I need a platform and a server to run the script on, specfically one that will allow SSL connections via IE.

I also need access to exsisting files. But, FTP is pretty much out of the question.

Thanks for the feeback, keep `em coming! >>


Platform and server is pretty much up to you and depends on what you are going with. If ASP, then Windows platform with IIS. PHP, then Linux platform.. although it's possible to install PHP on a Windows platform. Go to www.hotscripts.com and pick up a file system script of your choice if you are not too familiar with any of the scripting languages. They are fairly easy to install. Why would you need SSL connections? Don't see to what purpose you would need one.

 

[Poontos]

<< Platform and server is pretty much up to you and depends on what you are going with. If ASP, then Windows platform with IIS. PHP, then Linux platform.. although it's possible to install PHP on a Windows platform. Go to www.hotscripts.com and pick up a file system script of your choice if you are not too familiar with any of the scripting languages. They are fairly easy to install. Why would you need SSL connections? Don't see to what purpose you would need one. >>



Thanks for the link.

I need SSL because I want SSL, it's not up for debate. SSL being IIS's version of encrypted authentication on a unix machine, if I am using the wrong terminology.

 

[Abzstrak]

windows has supported exchange via SSL for a while, since it requires IIS... If you want a windows platform I would suggest win2k small business server since it includes everything you could possibly want like iis, exchange2k, sql, ISA, etc... Not to mention it is INCREDIBLY easy to setup and use. I personally would run linux or freebsd just cause I dislike MS, but considering your a student and probably don't have all the spare time in the world to learn how to get all this done, win2k SBS would be ideal.

Also, to enable SSL for exchange via IIS look at http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q175/4/39.ASP

 

[flawedecision]

1.) If an Exchange 2000 server was setup, can the logon process (done through a web browser) to access your e-mail on the server, be done via SSL (secure connection) instead of plain text?

Are you referring to Outlook Web Access 2000? You can run OWA over https. That's about as secure as I know how to access exchange 2000 mailboxes via the web.

2.) Would it be possible to have this server setup, point a domain to it (including my MX), and use the dynamic DNS (dyndns.org or something) since my IP isn`t totally static (it can change, but it stays the same most of the time)? Is Win2K Srv ok with this? I know FreeBSD is coo wit' it.

Yes

3.) I want to somehow setup a file server accessible through the web via secure logon, to upload and download files while in the school labs or on a laptop at school. Any suggestions? This is the main reason I am doing this. I want to avoid floppies and be able to access my files from any Internet accessible computer. I want avoid FTP, cause it's cumbersome and some machines will not allow you to install any Apps, but they all of course have IE.

Apache and PHP. Consider them your new found friends.

 

[Poontos]

Thanks flawed-ecsion !

"Are you referring to Outlook Web Access 2000? You can run OWA over https. That's about as secure as I know how to access exchange 2000 mailboxes via the web."

Sounds about right. Any special features or what-have-you to get that going on Exchange 2000? Certain version? How do I get it to run https in IIS?

Now if I were to go to my "two new friends" , how would I implement PHP and is there heavy coding required?

Thanks!

 

[flawedecision]

Sounds about right. Any special features or what-have-you to get that going on Exchange 2000? Certain version? How do I get it to run https in IIS?

It is my understanding that Outlook Web Access 2000 requires Exchange Enterprise 2000. Basically what you need is a Windows 2000 server with IIS 5 installed. Install Exchange Enterprise, then install OWA 2k. OWA will integrate itself with IIS. Regarding https... you need the security certificate. This KB should help: http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q248/1/07.ASP

Now if I were to go to my "two new friends" , how would I implement PHP and is there heavy coding required?




I've primarily dealt with PHP using servers hosted by other companies... but php is not a difficult scripting language to pick up.

Basically how it works is... the script in your .php file is interpreted by your webserver which spits it out as html. There are a TON of already written php scripts on the net. Just do a search for php scripts on google and the best sites will appear.

For your situation I would recommend some basic authentication either by text file or mySQL database... you can encrypt it with the database option... writing an authentication script with php is a snap... webmonkey.com has a great tutorial for that.... the rest is up to you. You can do just about anything with web scripting.


edit: btw this is a great PHP reference. Make sure to bookmark this. http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/programming/php/

 

[Poontos]

Thanks mon!