What should I read to find out what should be installed on the computer to act as forum dedicated computer? What OS is recommended?
I would appreciate the link to recommended reading.
Thank you!
System requirements are posted in the Online Manual. I personally recommend Linux as it is easier to set up the required components that way. Windows Server does work, but it's trickier (in my opinion) to configure and secure properly.
If you have no experience in server management, I highly recommend getting hosting from a company instead of trying to host yourself. Managing a server and keeping it secure is a very tricky thing and takes some experience to do. While it is a good skill to learn, it isn't something you want to learn with an important system.
I am retired and I am not planing anything public and important. I have few retired computers :) and I want to make one of them as web server, just to see how it works. I will have small, isolated from WWW, Intranet in my apartment.
Thank you for the help!
No problem. Good luck!
I used Windows XP Pro SP2 with Apache and php. I had to hack Windows to allow more simultaneous connections. I was not worried about the security issue as it sits behind a firewall. So far it seems to be working very well.
Which linux distro would you guys recommend for a newbie?
I really would need a gui.
I see centOS seems popular.
This site http://www.diywebserver.com/ may help.
Quote from: aishaweb on August 23, 2008, 05:16:41 PM
Which linux distro would you guys recommend for a newbie?
I really would need a gui.
I see centOS seems popular.
CentOS is very popular, and works well enough. I advise against distributions like Fedora which focus on experimental versions of software (and usually carry large numbers of bugs ). Know that you will have to pick up some typing skills as not everything can be done by GUI. In fact, you should pick up the skills regardless. Without them, you'll be lost if/when something breaks.
I personally use Slackware, but it has no GUI. It's very friendly in that it doesn't try to hide the complexity of things. However, you do have to have the desire to learn.
Quote from: DirtRider on August 23, 2008, 02:47:10 PM
I used Windows XP Pro SP2 with Apache and php. I had to hack Windows to allow more simultaneous connections. I was not worried about the security issue as it sits behind a firewall. So far it seems to be working very well.
Please, what you have done to allow more connections? ???
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=Windows+xp+more+simultaneous+connections (http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=UMd&q=Windows+xp+more+simultaneous+connections&btnG=Search&meta=)
For everyone: Please note that making modifications to allow more connections is potentially against Microsoft's license for Windows. If you do this and use their product as a public server, there is a chance you'll get found out and have to deal with the consequences. That chance is up to you.
If you want to run a server, either learn how to manage Linux as a server, buy Windows Server, or pay a hosting company that has people who know what they are doing.
Linux is quite OK for me. :) It's easier to learn than pay penalties.
Quote from: Dida on August 23, 2008, 01:26:43 PM
I am retired ... and I want to make one of them as web server, just to see how it works. I will have small, isolated from WWW, Intranet in my apartment.
I'm nearly there too! Might even be retired already... ;)
To see how servers work, there are too kinds and you need to decide which kind. There are Microsoft servers and there are Linux servers. You can choose between Microsoft's proprietary server software, or you can choose the Internet's standard open source Linux server environment. One costs lots of money and boxes you in. The other is open source, costs nothing, and is supported by a world wide open source community. Big choice, isn't it?
Okay, now that you've chosen Linux, here's where you start: Find a Linux distro that suits you. I'm not a Linux guru so I have no recommendation. Install your Linux distro then install Apache and PHP. That should get you to the point that you can install SMF.
I've never set up my own server. I use a hosting service, so I may have left out some important steps. Good luck!
Thank you for your will to help! I have CD with Red Hat Linux somewhere in my boxes. :)
No, no, no. Don't use that old Red Hat distro. Download the freshest up to date Linux off the web. Get the ISO, then burn it to a CD.
One of my best buddies bought that Red Hat too, and it has been sitting in his files for at least 5 years. His comment: "It was a good price."
It wasn't a good price. It was maybe $5-$10. A good price is free!!! Go find some Linux nerds and tell them you want to build a Linux web server with Apache and PHP, get them to recommend a distro, then like I said download the ISO and burn it, then install that.
I've installed 4-5 Linux varieties using that method. Unfortunately I'm not a Linux nerd and never came to any conclusion about them. You're almost tempting me to do what you're doing. :)
Oh, just one more thing. I just realized that you will also have to download and install a SQL server. I doubt it's in the other packages. Don't worry, I'm sure that's free too. :)
SQL server must also be Linux compatible, right? I will see if MySQL can live with Linux. I have not any experience with Linux. All my life I used Windows OS.
Actually I think MySQL is exactly what you want. And you should also download and install phpMyAdmin.
You could just go the easy route and use xampp (http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-windows.html)
Yeah, you're right. I bookmarked that. Loading Linux and all the rest would be closer to a commercial server configuration, but it could take a whole week to figure out what to load, load it, then get it all configured and working.
It looks like that XAMPP could be a couple hours project. It looks like fun!
Any Linux distribution will have a MySQL package available for it. You don't need to do a separate install.
Also, that makes XAMPP or whatever other bundle like that redundant (and bad for tracking changes).
I thought xampp was not for production use? Also no mention of Ubuntu, maybe visit their forums
http://www.ubuntu.com/community (http://www.ubuntu.com/community)
or download
http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download (http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download)
I have Linux Mandrake, ver. 7.2. Is it too obsolete?
Quote from: Dida on August 25, 2008, 04:54:48 PM
I have Linux Mandrake, ver. 7.2. Is it too obsolete?
Just go to distrowatch, grab a few distro's and burn, its just not worth using older distros.
Yes, I will do as you said, thank you.
Quote from: Dida on August 25, 2008, 04:54:48 PM
I have Linux Mandrake, ver. 7.2. Is it too obsolete?
Yes. It's almost 8 years obsolete. You likely won't easily find updated stuff for something that old, and you are probably too inexperienced to build your own stuff (and you have years of security patches even if you do).
With Linux distros being as near as downloading and burning an ISO for your install CD, there's little reason to ever use old Linux distros. That's one of the great things about open source software. Plus, if you don't like it, instead of whining you can change it yourself! Try that with your Microsoft OS. :)
Would be really nice to be able to run your own site/forum, would do it in a heart beat if I could, but with my connection, no, its via satellite (http://www.gotsky.com/).
There's no reason you couldn't run and own your own site via satellite. The only problem I can imagine would be the initial uploading of SMF's files to your site, which could be done by a partner with a higher speed connection. Also I understand there is a "web install" and I believe you can upload SMF in zipped form and have the file unzipped by your server. If that's all that's stopping you then you should re-think the problem.
BTW that satellite looks like a good deal for those living in or near the styx. I'm paying $41/mo for cable Internet and the sat plan is $60/mo although of course the speed is low (512Kbps down, 128Kbps up) for high speed standards. I'd buy that in a heartbeat if I moved to a rural area with no high speed.
Currently paying $69.95 a month for 1000 down / 200 up, the big kicker is latency, see anywhere from 800 to 2000 ms, rare occasions more, satellite and web server don't mix.
No!!! You don't run SMF out of your home. You get a hosting service and install it there. If you ran it from home on your connection you'd either get shut off for excessive bandwidth or you'd be paying hundreds of dollars per month for bandwidth charges. It's the expense, not that latency that is the big issue.
Get a hosting account. I'm paying $4/month for mine, a pittance. You have no technical reason to not have your own forum, and I doubt another $4/month will be any big deal. Try 1&1's Home plan, or any number of other hosts for $4-$10 per month.
I am getting real hosting this morning, playing the waiting game for setup information now, but if I could, would run my own, Linux server with 4 to 8 GB of ram.
Well I don't know why you should need to wait. When I started my plan I was uploading files in 10 minutes after I gave them my credit card number and hit 'submit.' That's outrageous unless you've just been waiting a few minutes or an hour at most.
I'm glad you're getting a hosting plan. There's little point in hanging around SMF unless you either run a forum or at least have the capability of running your own test forums. I've lost count but it seems to me I have 1 production forum, 4 test forums and 1 demo forum. There might be one more, I forgot. :)
You can always get your own dedicated server later if your forum grows so big as to need one. Anybody who doesn't require it is better off with a hosting plan.
So what's your plan cost per month, and how long will your wait be? Shall I cue up ccbtimewiz so that he can be prepared to answer your install questions? ;)
$25, no help needed, been running SMF off and on since 2003, I am a returning member.
OIC, I assumed because of your post count.
Wow, that's an expensive plan! You must have big plans! That should be enough to support a forum with thousands of active members, maybe tens of thousands!
I hope you will post your URL when your project gets launched.
The globe to the left will have everything.
I have openSUSE 11 (GNOME) and openSUSE 11 (KDE4). What is the difference?
Quote from: Dida on September 11, 2008, 06:53:51 AM
I have openSUSE 11 (GNOME) and openSUSE 11 (KDE4). What is the difference?
Different shells I guess...
Yep, different windowing environments. The general consensus in the past is that GNOME is better for those coming from Macintosh, KDE for those from Windows. However, with the latest KDE 4.1, I have to wonder if that still holds true.
Quote from: Dida on August 25, 2008, 04:54:48 PM
I have Linux Mandrake, ver. 7.2. Is it too obsolete?
I remember running that on my old laptop back in 2000. It had a bug in the disk partitioner that wiped out my Windows partition.
Now get off my lawn!
(just kidding! hehe)
That sounds more like a feature than a bug.
Quote from: Deprecated on October 06, 2008, 06:02:45 PM
That sounds more like a feature than a bug.
Indeed. But I hadn't yet moved all my documents over. Luckily, I didn't lose anything important. I still had windows because of the stupid winmodem.
On the desktop, I've been defenestrated since early 2003. :)
its better if somebody who got all this well can post a step by step direction of how to setup a dedicated computer for smf. thanks
FreeBSD or OpenBSD...
OpenBSD, it's hard to install it and configure the OS, but apache is soo eassy...