Organize Hardware

Network Topology

                                   - 192.168.26.99 (wlan0)  
     worklian (Ubuntu Workstation) - 192.168.25.99 (eth0)
                     ^
                     |             (switch/WAP - 192.168.26.2)
                     V                 192.168.26.0/24  ====> 192.168.26.10  <= houselian (PDC/Primary Server)
     WAN <=> 192.168.25.0/24                    ^         \=> 192.168.26.11  <= shedlian (Backup Server)
                     ^                          |         \=> 192.168.26.100 <= adminlian (Windows Workstation) <= connects in bridged mode on the wireless link on worklian
                     |                          |         \=> 192.168.26.99  <= worklian (Wireless interface connects to switch/WAP)
                     V                          V         
            192.168.25.15 <= porchlian ====> 192.168.26.1 (eth1)
                 (eth0)                 \==> 192.168.27.1 (eth2) <= Public Network for foriegn machines =>

Additional Resources

• My true production domain name is computerisms.ca. Since I find it confusing to have the test and the real environment be the same name, computerisms.com will be the domain we are building. I already have ownership of the name

Physical Hardware

Windows Workstation - adminlian.computerisms.com

• required for testing and configuration
• configured to run in a "work" network environment, and enable discovery.
• configure ip address to be 192.168.26.100/gw=192.168.26.1/dns=192.168.26.10
• dns won't work yet, this is not a problem now.
• In this case I will be using Windows 7 SP1 freshly installed and updated on a Virtual Machine installed on my:

SSH Client - worklian.computerisms.com

• generate an ssh key (ssh-keygen -b 2048 -t rsa)
• in this case I will be using my ubuntu workstation

Digital Signage Remote - dslobby.computerisms.com

• An ubuntu virtual machine
• configure with IP address 192.168.26.25
• No special config required; by the time you need this, everything else will be in place

Firewall - porchlian.computerisms.com

• computer does need to be reliable, but not smart. Use an old workstation.
• this computer must have at least 2 network cards. larger networks with multiple subnets will probably need at least 3
• in this case I am using a very old dell dimension with 3 NICs
• install debian testing (jessie)
• create the file /root/.ssh/authorized_keys and put your public ssh key in it.
• cp /etc/vim/vimrc /root/.vimrc
  • edit /root/.vimrc and find the line 'set compatible'; uncomment it and change it to 'set nocompatible'
• edit /root/.bashrc, enable colours and any other personal preferences
• set apt repositories to contain contrib and non-free (optional, if needed for drivers)
• apt-get install ssh ntp rsync tcpdump nmap
• apt-get remove rpcbind nfs-common
• mkdir /root/scripts
• configure external eth0 interface as 192.168.25.15/gw=192.168.25.1/dns=192.168.25.1
• configure internal eth1 interface as 192.168.26.1/255.255.255.0
• configure internal eth2 interface as 192.168.27.1/255.255.255.0

Server - houselian.computerisms.com

• this will be the workhorse of the network. This will be the PDC and lots of other things
  • for a network of one for testing, I am sure any p3 or better will work fine.
  • in a production environment you will need to split this into multiple machines
• in this case I am using a ~10 year old HP rackmount server
• install debian testing (jessie)
• create the file /root/.ssh/authorized_keys and put your public ssh key in it.
• cp /etc/vim/vimrc /root/.vimrc
  • edit /root/.vimrc and find the line 'set compatible'; uncomment it and change it to 'set nocompatible'
• edit /root/.bashrc, enable colours and any other personal preferences
• set apt repositories to contain contrib and non-free (optional, if needed for drivers)
• apt-get install ssh ntp rsync build-essential bind9
• apt-get remove rpcbind
• mkdir /root/scripts
• configure your resolv.conf to use 'nameserver 127.0.0.1'
• configure eth0 interface as 192.168.26.10

Backups - shedlian.computerisms.com

• this computer really does not need to be smart, only reliable
  • in a testing environment, huge storage is not required
    • However, install the OS on a small partition and leave the majority of the disk to be partitioned later
  • in production this machine needs to have plenty of sata ports or some such
• in this case I am using another old dell dimension
• install debian testing (jessie)
• create the file /root/.ssh/authorized_keys and put your public ssh key in it.
• cp /etc/vim/vimrc /root/.vimrc
  • edit /root/.vimrc and find the line 'set compatible'; uncomment it and change it to 'set nocompatible'
• edit /root/.bashrc, enable colours and any other personal preferences
• set apt repositories to contain contrib and non-free (optional, if needed for drivers)
• apt-get install ntp ssh
• apt-get remove rpcbind
• configure eth0 interface as 192.168.25.11

Switch

• for a one person test scenario, you can use a hub.
• scale up accordingly
• in this case, I am using a linksys wireless G unit flashed with openwrt.
  • The wan port is taped over to prevent accidents. Always do this when you use wireless routers for switches.

Plug It In

• everything has a fixed ip, so test basic connectivity. make sure everybody can see everybody.

Notes

• dpkg --clear-avail
  ^^ This command fixes the "dpkg: warning: parsing file" errors