Re: [LI] Setting up a mail and webserver

[Suresh Ramasubramanian <r.suresh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thus spake VaibhaV Sharma:
 
>If I was in ur place man!!! I would DEFINITELY have gone for the second
>option.

That's not the issue - and he'll still have a huge scope for R&D running
an ~intranet~.  However, when maintaining a local mail and web server
connected to the net 24x7 there are dozens of other issues - not the least
of which is lousy bandwidth.  

If I had a rupee for the number of timeouts I've seen trying to mail junta
at various .in domains I'd be filthy rich by now.  ERNet is likely to give
them a UUCP pipe to the net - and their UUCP pipe (and the sendmail they
are running) are as full of holes as a sieve.     

Even if ~you~ run a secure sendmail 8.9.3 [1] you expose yourself to
several huge security holes by default, plus their equipment is usually
rather old, and frequently up today and down tomorrow.  

[1] There are those who claim that sendmail is totally insecure, use qmail
etc etc - am not getting into that now <g>

Besides which, there's the issue of frequently screwed up DNS, no rDNS etc
etc when you host an Internet server here.

> I suggest if u have ample amount of time to experiment DO GO 
> FOR THE second option and let us (LI list members) be with 
> you while you manage the things.

Tell you what - set up an ~intranet~ to cache pages (say course material)  
on your local webserver and maintain that.  Use external mail and web
servers to communicate with the outside world.  

That adds a whole new scope for even the most diehard R&D guy - besides
which, running a production system - an internet mail / web server for
example - is not the place for R&D.  Maintaining constant (and hassle
free) service is paramount here.

-- 
Suresh Ramasubramanian     | CAUCE India
r.suresh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx   | suresh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.india.cauce.org | Stopping Spam In India
	You spamma my mailbox, I nukea da ass


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