Final Blog Post LSS

This is the last post that will be shown about the server install and security team. There were a few unexpected stages in the installation that we were not ready for that held us back. Otherwise, the final product is something that we are proud of. We all learned to manage tasks and duties throughout the coarse of the project. Basically the project took just about the same time of less time then I had expected. I learned that if you set checkpoints that are contained within the project scope, a majority of the time large scale projects can be completed.

I found my knowledge of Linux exceedingly beneficial in the initiation of the Linux server installation. I needed to know many things about scripting, the Unix environment, and networking to get everything finished in time. The project has helped me become a better professional in many ways and is going to aid in me getting a high paying job in the future. Here are a few other tasks to be completed in the future by new interns. They are as follows:

• RJ-45 cables have to be run into the room that the servers will be residing in.

• Power cables are needed in the back room where the servers will be in.

• The Linux server is to be put at the front of the network to do DHCP ip address assigning.

• Proper ventilation should be provided for the servers to operate properly.

Those are the basic conditions to be satisfied for the network as as whole to be more secure and manageable. Thank you for every one's hard work and dedication in the deployment of this system.

Handing off the opportunity for future students

I've felt that the team at LSS has learned much about Server Administration and Networking during the coarse of the project. With all of the services that have been set up on that network, this should give another project team a chance to do something beneficial for the Lutheran Social Services organization. At the same time this should give other students the opportunity to become better Information Technology professionals.

Tying up of the loose ends

The network is configured so that the router is doing the DHCP ip address assigning. Both of the servers have static ip addresses but through the NAT it's become difficult to share a connection with either of the two severs because of the block that the router puts on the network. We went into the routers configuration settings and allowed port forwarding which enables us to access the servers vis ssh on their unique ip addresses. Besides just setting up the servers to be accessible to the outside there was a request for making the Linux server a DHCP provider instead of the router. With lack of time and resources we have felt that this is not within the scope of the installation. Therefore, we as a team have decided not to follow through with the setting up of a DHCP server at LSS.

Final Project Plan Submission and Project Presentation

After the project plan is typed up and all of the documentation is finished then this install should be complete. There is a meeting Monday at 2 pm about all of the documented work. There will also be a clinic on how to use and maintain the new equipment.

Nearing the End of Server Deployment

Iptables firewall settings have yet to be implemented but most other features have been configured and installed in the CentOS server. Development packages are installed along with text editing and office suites, i.e. Open-Office suite, gcc, javax, emacs, vi and other updates are a majority of the default installation. Here are the remaining obstacles to overcome before the server is installed into the desired location.

- 2 Ethernet cables need to be run from the ceiling in order for both servers to have a constant internet connection.

- Outlet power needs to be run to the servers through the ceiling into the back room.

-A decision needs to be made about if the Linux Server is going to be used as a DHCP server for the network before the project comes to a close.

-IPtables needs to be set to the highest default setting so that only certain needed services will be used in order to provide the highest possible security.

I'm not one to condone the Linux Box as being a DHCP server because the router is already doing DHCP for the network. I have other aspirations with the project like installing LAMP, and other development tools and services. There is about a month left in the project and our team should be able to handle the rest of the milestones within the next few weeks.

RAID and OS configured and Installed

RAID 5 has been installed utilizing software counterpart instead of hardware. Having software raid on the system will give some unneeded overhead but this is the solution that we had to come up with lack of funds. The OS that was installed is CentOS-4.5. There is clear documentation online about the chosen OS and instructions on how to configure, maintain, and operate the system. The documentation that is going to be provided for this particular instance will be held on the Lutheran Social Services Wiki at 'lss.projectsparta.org'. There are still more packages that need to be installed and configured. This server is going to be specifically used as a file server basically. It was installed with ssh, ftp, and development tools. If there is need for more specific information then refer to the wiki.

Server Implementation and discretion

Basically as a group we have most of our work thought out and most of the solutions that we are proposing are not subject to change. Our greatest battle is to need for RAID 5 and the inexperience that the team has in integrating a RAID configuration with a server setup. Conducting the analysis and installing the preferred applications and packages is plenty to deal with without considering integrating redundancy.

The educational experience or practical experience is obviously not the only wall that we stand against. The Dell Power Edge servers that we are using currently could have a RAID controller integrated into the motherboard or they could possibly not. This investigation is continuing further and the entire configuration is put on hold due to the ambiguity of knowing what hardware is actually in the servers.

The actual proposed solution will keep in focus as long as the issues are still addressed and the productivity is kept up.

Cent OS Server Community Server installation phase 3

The installation team is going to meet this week to talk about the actual topology of the proposed network set up at Lutheran Social Services. Hopefully by the time of this meeting, the hard drives will be in to set up RAID in both the Cent OS box and the MS Server box. Four identical hard drives will be used in each machine that is going to be set up for RAID 5. Each hard drive should be about 37 GB so we should be looking at about 100 GB of actual available space after the server is configured and setup is complete.
There are some concerns with the deployment of the machines because there are no racks that are provided for the servers to be on. Furthermore, the amount of space available to which we are provided is limited. There is going to have to be some talk about how everything is going to come together.
This week the Operating System software should be installed at the vary least unless there are unforeseen problems that I am not aware of. I will be installing Cent OS 5 on the server that I am assigned to and this will serve as a firewall for the other Windows machine. Next week the topic for discussion will be the Configuring of RAID.

Cent OS Server Community Server installation phase 2

Currently the 6 hard drives that are needed for each server are being surveyed on ebay. To move forward with the installation these hard drives are required. Here are the requirements that are to be met on a timely basis.

- Complete installation of the OS

- DNS configuration

- RAID 5

- Javac compiler

- CGG C++ Compiler

- SSH

-These are the base functional configurations that are to be expected on the server. When these checkpoints are completed than other requirements will be looked upon throughout the course of the install.

I assume that the hard drives are going to coming in sometime next week. At that time, the installation procedure will commence.

Linux Server Deployment plan LSS, Tallahassee, FL

Lutheran Social services is in need of a Linux Server setup that the Information Technology department will be using as well. The server is going to act as a hardware firewall in front of the more unstable operating systems(WS2003). We're going to be implementing RAID 5 so we will be needing 3 drives in each rack server.
The Linux server will be used to migrate data or backup data on to the Windows server. On the Linux server we will be running Cent OS(www.centos.org). This operating system is used among many businesses. CentOS-4 is a freely distributable OS built from the source at: ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/linux/enterprise/4/en/os/i386/SRPMS.
We have chosen Cent OS because it is such a frequently used operating system and the setup should be relitively simple compared to other Linux distributions. There is a significant amount of documentation that is available for us to use for support. Obviously we are concerned about security because this server will be used among the IT students that will be at the College of Information in the upcoming years. We plan of having a smooth install and we for see no apparent problems with having the deployment completed at the end of April of 2008.