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.