Guest Guest Posted October 13, 2006 Posted October 13, 2006 Been asked to push on with getting a webhost and syncing all user data on our domain to it. This will mean that i need to setup various permissions too (oh the fun). Money isnt an object to a certain point so we can rent a webserver all too ourselves - do you think this would be the best bet? I have seen them advirtised for around £40pm iirc. Ive been recommended to look into RSYNC. Any other recommendations? Also my domain is behind several prohibiting firewalls which block all unnessisary* ports. (* their idea of unnessisary isnt nessisarily the same as my idea). Could this prove a problem? Im not wuite sure on how RSYNC works. Can i set it up on my domains server to look up onto the webhost and then sync? Or does it have to be the other way round, ie teh webhost looks to my domain? Any info on anything related appreciated :beer: (Did i mention my boss wants a ballpark figure by monday? )
Alex Posted October 13, 2006 Posted October 13, 2006 what data do you want to sync what platform will the web server be
Guest Guest Posted October 13, 2006 Posted October 13, 2006 Sorry i was abit rushed before, ill try again All staff user folders & public areas (server2003) synced to a webhost. Platform? Whatever will be best. Ive seen "rent your own linux server" ads on the net at about £40pm iirc. It doesnt matter too much what platform, if MS2003 will be the best for the job i will go with that. But if its a linux distro i will use it for our website also. But i can always rent some space somewhere else if it could cause a problem as im not keen on IIS
Guest Guest Posted October 13, 2006 Posted October 13, 2006 Oh and we're talking upto 150gb of data to be synced
Geoff Posted October 13, 2006 Posted October 13, 2006 Why not just run IIS + WebDAV on your File Server and allow remote access over HTTPS?
Guest Guest Posted October 13, 2006 Posted October 13, 2006 dont think i can. We are part of the Easynet North east grid. As such it is a massive pain in the ass, even getting ports unblocked seems an impossibility. What does this involve as I will ask all the same? It would seem if this is possible it will be far ar easier Cheers
Geoff Posted October 13, 2006 Posted October 13, 2006 Lancs LEA accomplish this sort of thing with a reverse proxy.
Guest Guest Posted October 13, 2006 Posted October 13, 2006 Yeah our LEA are trialling a few differant companies in the reverse proxy route but my boss wants it now! lol I can see myself having to learn everything about reverse proxies, rsync, etc
webman Posted October 13, 2006 Posted October 13, 2006 We're in Durham LEA and used to use Easynet until DurhamNET came on the scene. We've had port 443 opened up for ages for WebDAV, even when we used Easynet, so all it should take is a few emails and some configuration on your firewall to allow it through.
Guest Guest Posted October 15, 2006 Posted October 15, 2006 Hmm thanx webman. Will contact easynet/lea tomorrow.
eean Posted October 15, 2006 Posted October 15, 2006 Not sure if this is the same as a reverse proxy (as I don't know what one is) but you could: Get a company (I saw a UK based one on the web that did this) to host a VPN for you (so it will have a public IP address). You then set up a VPN connection OUT from your server to their VPN. Users also set up a VPN connection to the same public VPN and hey presto they can access your server. If you can't find someone who will do it on google, perhaps approach a smaller hosting firm or somewhere that babysits servers. All they've got to have is a VPN router plugged in and a public IP address. It's easy money. EDIT: Found it: http://www.exlayer.co.uk/exlayer.net/ssl-vpn_en.html
Guest Guest Posted October 16, 2006 Posted October 16, 2006 Ive been looking at SSLExplorer and so far it seems like it will suite us just fine. I understand this software is free, can anyone comfirm this? Anyone had any experiance of this software and would like to share any concerns they had?
webman Posted October 16, 2006 Posted October 16, 2006 From the SSLExplorer website: Licensing Information SSL-Explorer: Community Edition is licensed under the GNU General Public License. This is a license that allows the free1 use of the software for commercial/non-commercial usage, however you must not incorporate code from this software into a commercial product, unless your commercial product is also to be licensed under the terms of the GPL. http://3sp.com/showSslExplorerCommunity.do#licensing (at the bottom)
Guest Guest Posted October 16, 2006 Posted October 16, 2006 So YES its FREE. Nice one. So what is your WebDav frontend like Webman? Did you just build it yourself?
webman Posted October 16, 2006 Posted October 16, 2006 No, it's all part-and-parcel of our RM CC3 network; remote access comes as standard.
plexer Posted October 16, 2006 Posted October 16, 2006 SSL Explorer will allow you to remotely access the data held on your system not offload it to an external source. RM are actually now offering an offsite data vaulting solution. Ben
webman Posted October 16, 2006 Posted October 16, 2006 RM are actually now offering an offsite data vaulting solution. They'll do anything for a bit of money won't they. It's not as if it's an original idea either; I remember a similar service when I first ventured onto the web in 1999. :shock:
Ric_ Posted October 16, 2006 Posted October 16, 2006 Also check out http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/118/online-backup/introduction.html for online backup solutions. Why re-invent the wheel?
Guest Guest Posted October 16, 2006 Posted October 16, 2006 Thanx for all the input people. Sorry i didnt make it clear, our goal is to allow teachers and possibly pupils to access their files from home. Be this with a reverse proxy, remote access, or a web mirror i dont care. Which ever is best is what im looking for, security, cost, reliability and usability. If i can get the port unblocked and there is no issue with security i think i will go for the remote access way as it gives ME full control over who access's our files. Corect me if im way out but the way i see it; all options pose the same security risks - user passwords being the main issue. I will simply have strict password requirements if a user requests remote access. All options will be coming in through a secure tunnel so no real differances there. Wether files are deleted directly from my file server or deleted from a mirror and then when synced with the file server - makes no differance. Tape backups are done nightly. As said please correct me if im wrong. And is there anything im missing in way of people coming in on port 443 and then doing something to grant them access to more resources/etc.
speckytecky Posted October 17, 2006 Posted October 17, 2006 Thanx for all the input people. ... our goal is to allow teachers and possibly pupils to access their files from home. ... Minor thought from a "L Plate" Techie - we have now set up whole school access (Staff & Students) under the South West Grid for Learning Portal. It's secure and can be accessed not only in school and at home but also from libraries etc. Seems a good way forward for us smaller establishments.
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