Guidelines: Your Server and Our Disclaimers

[Server Tony]

PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE ATTEMPTING ANY TUTORIALS!!!

I learned a long time ago how fun it was setting up my own NOOB server, an old computer I had personally modified to talk to the entire world. In doing this over the years, I've learned a few things about security. It's in everybody's best interest to keep their stuff safe, and a little C.Y.A. NEVER HURT EITHER.

So, I ask you read this carefully before predceeding to attempt any advice or tutorials.

1. US

Our community here at NSF (or at least Networkmike and I) love this little hobby of ours and will give any assistance we can to helping you start or continue with yours. I believe that most if not all answers can be found here and all of you can make your first server a success.

BUT, these are going to probably be older desktop machines operated by beginners. Real world servers are top notch, well built computer-like nearly new (if not new) machines being ran by gurus with years of experience and college backgrounds on this sort of thing. A lot of constant work goes into maintaining a secure server and protecting the data of themselves as well as their clients.

So with this being said, we must insist that we cannot and will not be held responsible for any equipment made unusable or any data being lost or hacked.

2. ISP's

Most data centers supply what could be described as MONSTER internet connection with unbelievably fast connection speeds and completely unrestricted access. Such a connection is necessary for servers running businesses.

It is safe to say that this is not your connection running at home. Your residential Internet Service Provider usually has planned to try to mitigate any potential damage possibly made to their customers by viruses, malware, hackers, etc.

You need to know the following things about your ISP before continuing:

* Virtually all ISP's Terms Of Service prohibits running servers on their residential service. (Most offer commercial options for more money.)
* Most ISP's block certain ports in an effort to keep customers safe. Nearly all of them block port 25 (SMTP) and 445 (file servers), and I've heard some even block port 80 (web servers).
* Some ISP's have specific bandwidth limits on their service. Lots of very big files transferred to and from your server could get you fined or in trouble!

Again we will not be held liable for anybody's disputes between themselves and their ISP's

YOUR SERVER

It is safe to say that your first server will be an old PC you've had sitting around collecting dust. For your purposes that should work just fine. However, there are things you need to consider.

Desktop operating systems are different from server operating systems. Your desktop serves many different functions that a server OS does not. Therefore it requires a level of security that a typical low level server usually doesn't.

So, take a minute to read these suggestions:

* It's a good idea to minimize programs running on your server, even disabling unnecessary OS functions if possible. This will help performance on older machines and reduce chances of being hacked.
* If you are going to keep your firewall disabled, be sure to keep anti virus/spyware programs running!
* Do not keep any files you don't want others to have on your server ( tax documents, bill receipts, pictures, etc).

Thanks for reading this. Be safe, have fun and let us know if there's anything we can do to help you in your awesome server guy adventure (or something)!!