Gday everyone.
First let me appologize for the length of this email, and also its
potential to be "OFF SUBJECT" but i think we can help this poor guy out.
I have attached a quite lengthy email from a pseudo-isp in mexico
thinking about switching out his linux server to an NT box. Now, what i
was hoping is that we as a groupd could help him get the linux server
back where it needs to be while he purchases ad configures his MAC
server for its replacement. Any suggested fixes for his linux server, i
would apreciate posting to THIS list as well as cc'ing me directly. Pay
particular attention to his setup, and realize...WE NEED TO get the
linux box up, then he can make the switch to the MAC server, i would
hate to see him do that, but better that than NT!!!!
Michael Weiner
The UserFriendly Network
--
On May 23, 1998 Tony Colleraine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said:
I operate a small non- profit ISP system in San Felipe,Mexico - an
isolated community 130 miles from the next nearest computer and 250
miles
from San Diego. (You can see us at www.sanfelipe.com.mx)
For some time I have pleaded for information on other lists on how to
make my site easier to administer and maintain by going all Mac. At
present we have a 64 kb line, a Cisco router, a Linux server (which does
e-mail, answers our dial-in modems and probably other things that we do
not understand), and two Mac 7250 Webservers. Our office has 5 macs and
3
PCs connected to our 10BaseT network.
Our office personnel are retired volunteers and the most important
aspect
of this entire organization is to work a little, learn some new stuff
and
have a good time. Not one of us has ever been trained in computer
science; however, we are not dumb.
Our primary customers in the town are retired Americans and students
from
the local schools. The mix of computers amongst our customers is about
50/50 Mac/PC.(If I could get Macs to sell here the town would be 90% Mac
by now. Everyone is impressed by their ease of configuration.)
Our Mac stuff works very well and is no problem for us to maintain and
upgrade. Our single biggest headache is our linux server. None of us
speak linux and we are too old to learn new tricks. When hackers get in
we are dead. We have to wait for someone from the university in Mexicali
or San Diego to come down and reconfigure the server and wave various
magic wands to make it work again. Last time this happened the linux and
dns system was off the air for 2 weeks. Fortunately, our webservers seem
to go on without missing a beat (besides having to use the secondary
DNS)
but we miss our email and dial-in system.
We have repeatedly tried to find a way to set up a Mac to answer the
modems, do the email and keep some simple logs of who is connected.
Nobody has ever been able to give us guidance - not even Apple. (I would
have thought it would be a good publicity opportunity for them to help
with the first all Mac site in Mexico.)
A recent appeal for help has brought in an offer of a Windows NT server.
However, without extensive help in setting this up and training us, we
fear that we shall be in the same situation as with the linux machine.
We recently read about something called a Keyspan PPP server in a Mac
Warehouse catalog and one of our members has ordered this part. We have
an oddball 160 MHZ 48 MB Mac with a tanzania motherboard that we thought
might be good for setting up in place of the linux machine. However we
need some guidance:
What are the basic steps we need to take to replace the linux
machine
with a Mac? I know we have to get the mac on our 10BaseT network - so
far
I have not been able to make it recognize the Sonic 10Bt PCI card but
this will get resolved somehow (I loaded OS8 on this Mac but had a lot
of
trouble doing it because of strange problems with the CD). I also assume
we will put in the Keyspan card and run some installer software. I
presume I can then give this machine the same name and IP address as the
dreaded linux beast and load a Eudora or Stalker Mail Server (any
recommendations?).
Could this machine also then act as an IP router to assign internal
addresses to the office machines (we cannot expand because we have run
out of IP addresses)?
How do we also make it our primary DNS? Do I get a copy of QuickDNS
or similar and just install it?
What do I have to do to make the system answer our two (hopefully
soon to be four) dial-in modems and permit people to log in for up to a
specified amount of time per session? (This area has been our nemesis
with the linux machine. Macs have been able to connect easily to the
command-line host with a script. By contrast the Win 95 machines have
always had problems in this area and they frequently disconnect but
leave
the modem "hung up" until we come back in the next day and reboot the
server. Even our linux expert in the States has been unable to find a
way
to get the modems to hang up when bad disconnects occur).
Is there some simple site administration software - at a minimum
something to keep a log of all the people who dial in and allow us to
bill them for their connect time each month.? (No we cannot afford to
allow unlimited time for a flat rate). If the system could do any more
than this it would be a bonus.
In this part of the world, simplicity of setup and reliability of
operation are FAR, FAR more important than power and speed. I know that
most of you gurus out there will say we are making a big mistake by not
sticking with the linux server or going to NT but we have no way of
getting the help we need here. If we cannot do it ourselves, it will not
get done.
Any help on approaching this conversion job would be much appreciated.
If
we can successfully demonstrate the integrated operation of such a
system
we have the opportunity to transfer the technology to other isolated
communities in the region and throughout Mexico and Latin America.
Two other points I want to make:
This coming fall we are going to solicit bids to put in a wireless
network to allow computers remote from town to connect and establish a
community network. (In this region with a population of 25,000 souls,
there are under 400 residential phone lines). If any of you have
contacts
with companies that make such equipment (spread spectrum? 900 MHz, 2 GHz
??) and would be interested in a trial market in Mexico please contact
me. We have all the necessary contacts to make the paperwork easy
because
this is considered such an important new direction for education and
infrastructure development by the Governor.
Finally, we are looking for good young students who would like to take a
semester off college in the States, or possibly a graduate student who
wants to do a practical thesis, to help to establish a computer network
to aid this rural community and also do some teaching work to help
transfer the knowledge to our customers.
Tony
--------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Tony Colleraine
"The Net"
Instituto de Informatica, San Felipe, A.C.
http://www.sanfelipe.com.mx
Plaza Canela, San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico
Phone/Fax International: +52-657-7-16-00, In Mexico (657) 7-16-00
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