Where can I get info about servers?

Are you just file sharing? Do you want to change the operating system?
How old a computer is it?

The system is a few years old... (home made) currently clocked at slightly under 1gb, and very upgradable. I would be very happy to move into Linux ... if needed, for security reasons. Currently running W98se but, can run XP or whatever present wisdom dictates.

Fact is: I know nothing about Unix or Linux or Winux however, am aware that even being open source, there are plus'es from straying from Wx. My server must be extremely secure... it will be used for work related sensitive material that must not be comprimised.

Any and all thoughts welcome................

Any operating system has its vulnerabilities. A good first-line-of-defense, regardless of OS, would be a properly configured and deployed multi-layer firewall solution.

Do you intend to provide general public access, or will you be restricting access to selected, pre-approved authorized users? The latter will simplify your problem greatly.

Hey TimberL...,
The later, for starters, hand picked access-- only! After the private FTP server is functional... I would like to expand to a web based server program for advertising purposes, ie, new business. Naturally, I assume the old desktop will be able to keep up for a while... but right now, I'm still trying to cheat the system.

Of Note: My modem is currently providing my primary firewall. I run ZA on all LAN units. I wish I knew more about stand-alone firewalls.

Thanks for any insight, Lt1

Well, "cheating the system" has its drawbacks. For what it seems you want to do right now, have you looked into Virtual Private Networking? Might be the cheap-and-simple way to go to start out with. You can assign/restrict file/folder access and privileges to users pretty nearly as you please.


Oh, and do you have a static IP? Without one, you're gonna have more hoops to go through - your machine hasta have a permanent address if folks are to be able to find it.

Sorry for the delay... currently running Dynamic but it wouldn't be a problem to make the server static. For now and future use, I would prefer a real server platform.
I have heard good things about apache and CentOS but don't know how hard they are to learn. "Cheating the system" was in reference to my budget, more than anything else.
Lt1