discuss: small & silent... services?
Subject:
small & silent... services?
From:
Christian Schnobrich ####@####.####
Date:
9 Jun 2004 14:47:59 -0000
Message-Id: <1086792472.3987.156.camel@pferd.babel>
Hello,
I'm having some problems with my "small & silent server HOWTO". One is
the section on services. I'm not sure how how brief or extensive I
should be.
My document almost only deals with hardware issues, but I think it would
be a good thing to briefly present the services one might want to run,
what they're good for, hardware requirements -- just enough information
for people to learn that a given service exists in the first place, and
if it might be of interest to them (or even run on their box). Finding
more information is easy once you know what you're after and have a name
for it.
At least, that was the plan. As an example, here's what I have on name
service -- the deficits should be apparent.
----snip----
Domain Name Service -- the service that translates domain names into IP
adresses (so when entering www.heise.de you will be connected to
193.99.144.71). Without access to a DNS server, Internet just isn't fun.
In principle, you could just have all your boxes send their queries
through the gateway machine to your ISP's nameservers.
On the other hand, a) a nameserver (e.g. bind) is easily set up, b) when
adding a new machine to your home network, you'll likely know your own
server's address off the top of your head, c) your own DNS brings a
(small) speed increase as repeated queries to the same address will be
served from it's cache, d) if your account is charged by volume, your
own name server may save a few megabytes.
Practically no requirements -- a 486 can easily serve dozens of users.
NOTE: most distributions install a bind that works just great out of the
box -- by molesting the central root servers. It's considered extremely
uncool not to change this. Check your docs, keyword "forwarders".
----snap----
Alright. For one thing, that's just too long. If I take that much time
for every service that's interesting for small home servers, this will
easily double the size of my HOWTO.
And yet, it's too brief -- I should at least mention some alternatives
to bind, but then I'd also have to discuss their relative merits... this
could become a bottomless pit.
I also don't want to describe how to set up a given service. But then
again, the DNS root server issue IMO is important, as many default
installations "just work" many people might leave it at that without
even a glance at the docs or other howtos.
So, to cut a long tale short: I'm not happy with what I've got, and
can't think of a way to do it better. Any suggestions? Or should I drop
the part about services completely?
cu,
Schnobs
