Putting server on the internet or not
Bob Chiodini
rchiodin at bellsouth.net
Wed Dec 14 18:05:32 UTC 2005
On Wed, 2005-12-14 at 09:27 -0500, Scot L. Harris wrote:
> On Wed, 2005-12-14 at 00:15, Edward Dekkers wrote:
> > For the first time ever, with my new account I will get a static IP
> > address and high bandwidth (no more dial-up finally!!!).
> >
> > I've purchased a domain which is waiting to have IP addresses tied to it
> > (currently parked).
> >
> > The question is - is it worth pointing the IP addresses directly at my
> > server, and hosting my mail and http directly from this server, or would
> > it be considered smarter to have everything hosted at the ISP still?
>
> Is this for a business or for personal use?
>
> If for a business you need to consider disaster planning. Most ISPs
> have redundant Internet access, firewalls, backup schemes, UPS systems,
> generators, climate control, etc. It would be rare for the ISP to lose
> power, A/C, or Internet access. From your home you probably don't have
> redundant Internet or generator power available. Depending on where you
> are and how reliable your utilities are could mean your site might be
> down for several weeks a year. For a business that could be very bad.
> For a personal web site probably not an issue.
>
> If you do set it up you should put a separate firewall in front of your
> server(s). Something dedicated to the task of firewalling your site.
> This provides a choke point that you can monitor all traffic in and out.
>
> >
> > Most important question - to me it seems worth it, but is it unsafe for
> > someone of my experience to do?
>
> Not sure of your experience level. If it is for business you need to
> consider lost revenue if your site goes down. If it is a personal web
> site what is the worst that could happen? If the site is compromised
> you just need to be ready to reload the system from scratch. Just
> don't keep any sensitive data on the system such as your checking
> account info or credit card information. Setup a separate system for
> your web pages and use the other system for your day to day work.
>
> And read up on how to setup firewalls and web sites. There are many
> good articles on the web and books available. And avoid things like
> phpnuke and their like. They are know to have lots of holes and
> exploits.
>
>
>
>
Edward,
I have to agree with Scot. If you are a home user, lock everything down
behind a firewall. I opened up SSH and IMAPS while I was traveling
earlier this year and within 2 hours I was getting hammered by machines
on the internet trying to access my machine via SSH.
I'll bet Scot has a generator though. Judging by his IP address, I bet
he was without power a lot during last hurricane season :-)
Bob...
More information about the users
mailing list