Church need small network

My church wants me to help them set up a small network of 4 computers. Is it
best to se up a wireless network and us what microsoft provides or set up a
Linux server? I'm new to this so pleas excuse the dumb questions. They don't
care much about security but would like a relyable , inexpensive system.
What the best way to go about this? They already have 4 computers ready to
go, and some antiquated wiring. Should I just do wireless?


--
Thank you,

J. Montrose

On Tue, 6 Jun 2006 23:00:30 GMT, Montrose wrote:
> My church wants me to help them set up a small network of 4 computers. Is it
> best to se up a wireless network and us what microsoft provides or set up a
> Linux server?

Depends on if you want a more secure os to run on, and what
applications they will be wanting to run.

> I'm new to this so pleas excuse the dumb questions. They don't
> care much about security

Until their system is cracked, used for kiddy porn server, cracking
other systems to steal credit card info, used as a email spam bot,
laundering credit cards, .... and deputy dog shows up trying to arrest
people responsible for the systems or court handing out $1,000 fine
per email.

> but would like a relyable , inexpensive system.

Linux is buy one copy, install on as many systems as needed.

> What the best way to go about this? They already have 4 computers ready to
> go, and some antiquated wiring. Should I just do wireless?

Hey, ask around about wiring, someone in the church may do it for
free.

If you go wireless, buy hardware which is linux compatible so
you have a choice.

You will need to lockdown/encript so war drivers
do not break into you network.

I'll suggest downloading the free 3 mandriva cd iso set, check sums
against downloaded isos, burn them, do a dual boot install and get
aquainted with it's features.

Mirror list found here
http://www.mandriva.com/en/downloads/mirrors/2006

ISO directory example
pub/linux/distributions/mandrakelinux/official/iso/2006.0/i586

windows checksum programs
ftp://ftp.gnupg.org/gcrypt/binary/sha1sum.exe
http://etree.org/md5com.html

You will need
Mandriva-Linux-Free-2006-CD.i586.md5.asc 1 KB
Mandriva-Linux-Free-2006-CD.i586.sha1.asc 1 KB
Mandriva-Linux-Free-2006-CD1.i586.iso 712774 KB
Mandriva-Linux-Free-2006-CD2.i586.iso 712540 KB
Mandriva-Linux-Free-2006-CD3.i586.iso 712882 KB

On Tue, 06 Jun 2006 23:00:30 +0000, Montrose wrote:

> My church wants me to help them set up a small network of 4 computers. Is it
> best to se up a wireless network and us what microsoft provides or set up a
> Linux server? I'm new to this so pleas excuse the dumb questions. They don't
> care much about security but would like a relyable , inexpensive system.
> What the best way to go about this? They already have 4 computers ready to
> go, and some antiquated wiring. Should I just do wireless?

FWIW - I installed four linux computers at the local library for public
access internet use in January of last year. It was an overwhelming
success. Zero complaints so far. A customer satisfaction survey a few
months ago showed universal acceptance. The director is ecstatic - before
the changeover, she was called to the floor at least three times per day
to help patrons with internet problems - since then, not at all. We've
recently added a four head Userful setup to augment - eight Linux seats
now in one small library - in constant use and no malware infestations.

First of all, wire it if at all possible unless it's just for Internet
access. Even church records, as benign as they may seem, contain
information that most would consider private. Securing wireless is only
half the battle, getting it to work 100% of the time and with decent
connection speed is the other half.

If they want to run Windows applications, they'll need Windows. If they
don't have anything now and can start right off with OpenOffice,
Firefox, Thunderbird, etc. you'd be surprised how "right-at-home"
they'll feel running those applications if they were previously running
Office, IE and Outlook Express. The other main thing to consider is
whether or not they will need to communicate with Windows computers that
they already have. This can be done in Linux, and really isn't all that
hard for someone who is fairly well versed in networking, but could be a
bit of a challenge for a complete newbie. That said, Microsoft's Home
Networking Wizard rarely works without some knowledgeable tweaking, and
the result is very insecure. A Linux server won't replace wired or
wireless networking, you'll need one or the other set up regardless of
the OS you choose. IF you need a server and are willing to go through a
bit of a learning curve getting things set up, you'll save yourself (and
your fellow members) a bundle by going with Linux. A Windows Server OS
is at least $600.00 street price and you'll be lucky to find it for
that. Linux is Free.

Compare:

LINUX WINDOWS
---------------------------------------------------------------------
OS FREE $600 Server, $185 per workstation (XP Pro)
Office FREE $400 per workstation (Office 2003 Pro)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Total FREE $2940.00

...kurt



Montrose wrote:
> My church wants me to help them set up a small network of 4 computers. Is it
> best to se up a wireless network and us what microsoft provides or set up a
> Linux server? I'm new to this so pleas excuse the dumb questions. They don't
> care much about security but would like a relyable , inexpensive system.
> What the best way to go about this? They already have 4 computers ready to
> go, and some antiquated wiring. Should I just do wireless?
>
>

On Tue, 06 Jun 2006 20:03:39 -0700, kurt wrote:
> Compare:
>
> LINUX WINDOWS
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> OS FREE $600 Server, $185 per workstation (XP Pro)
> Office FREE $400 per workstation (Office 2003 Pro)
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Total FREE $2940.00

You left out cost of malware scanners....
Then there will be the cost of Vista in a few years and have to buy
the microsoft/third party apps again.

Guessing those PCs will not be stout enough to run Vista so you may
have to buy newer PCs.

On Tue, 06 Jun 2006 18:47:17 -0600, ray wrote:

> do wireless?
>
> FWIW - I installed four linux computers at the local library for public
> access internet use in January of last year.

I remember your earlier posts, but I've forgotten what flavour of linux
you used?

Dan

On Tue, 06 Jun 2006 23:00:30 +0000, Montrose wrote:

> My church wants me to help them set up a small network of 4 computers.

It depends on what you want to do. Are you planning on connecting your
network to the internet? The quickest, cheapest, simplest method is to
get an adsl modem/router with four ports. Run a cable from each of the
four computers to the modem/router. The modem/router will take care of
firewalling and dchp (internet address assignment). If cables are too
hard, then get a modem/router with wifi, and make sure each of your
computers has a wifi card. All four computers will share the internet,
and you'll be able to also share files (Windows networking) between them.
You can get this up and running with a minimum of configuration and hair
pulling. I use a D-link DSL-G604T, but there are lots of others. There
are also similar devices for cable rather than adsl.

If you simply want to connect your computers together, without the
internet, then get a simple hub or switch and cable them all into it.
This is enough to do file sharing amongst them. You will have to
configure each computer's ip address, not hard. If you want to go
wireless, then get a wifi access point and wifi cards.

If you want your own mail server, web server or file server plus internet
gateway, then any modern distribution of linux will work. But this will
require more thinking.

Dan

Montrose wrote:
> My church wants me to help them set up a small network of 4 computers. Is it
> best to se up a wireless network and us what microsoft provides or set up a
> Linux server? I'm new to this so pleas excuse the dumb questions. They don't

Linux isn't the only non-Redmond boy on the block. There are several
xxxBSD systems freely available, some would argue with better support -
I suspect a lot is what you're used to.

> care much about security but would like a relyable , inexpensive system.
> What the best way to go about this? They already have 4 computers ready to
> go, and some antiquated wiring. Should I just do wireless?

Wireless is a /pain/. If there's no choice, do it. If you can wire
things up, that's vastly more reliable and secure. Wireless is subject
to vagaries of signal strength, and is fundamentally less secure than wired.

Incidentally, to echo another poster's comments, security is a /must/.
And it's best put in from the start - it's hard to bolt on security to a
fundamentally insecure setup.

FWIW I have a setup at home using a FreeBSD box as cable modem gateway,
linked to 2 LANS, one wired, one wireless. I run my own mailserver on
the same box (that's actually a calculated insecurity :-) It also
handles a mailing list or two for my own church), and between that and
the firewall, lose 99%+ of incoming spam before it's seen. The firewall
logs /all/ outbound connections, so I can keep an eye on what the kids
are up to. I also run my own web, DNS and time servers, and the same box
offers windows file sharing as well. It all works very well, the main
problem being the urge to tinker.........

--
Please use the corrected version of the address below for replies.
Replies to the header address will be junked, as will mail from
various domains listed at www.scottsonline.org.uk
Mike Scott Harlow Essex England.(unet -a-t- scottsonline.org.uk)

On 6-Jun-2006, kurt <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> The other main thing to consider is
> whether or not they will need to communicate with Windows computers that
> they already have. This can be done in Linux, and really isn't all that
> hard for someone who is fairly well versed in networking, but could be a
> bit of a challenge for a complete newbie. That said, Microsoft's Home
> Networking Wizard rarely works without some knowledgeable tweaking, and
> the result is very insecure. A Linux server won't replace wired or
> wireless networking, you'll need one or the other set up regardless of
> the OS you choose.

At this point they only use the computer for email and to browse the web
with ie explorer and outlook express, and they use Lotus to print their
flyers and mailings. The Pastor uses a Sony Vao laptop which is wireless on
a Linksys Router. It's connected to one PC and they would like to connect at
most two more. All they want to do is be able to print and transfer files
from one machine to another while keeping the Pastors, and Church data
semi-secure (i.e., nosey members. But that's about all their needs are "for
now".

I hope this make it more clear. Their wireless router seems to have gone bad
so this is the point I'm at now.

--
Thank you,

J. Montrose

On Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:38:05 +0800, Dan N wrote:

> On Tue, 06 Jun 2006 18:47:17 -0600, ray wrote:
>
>> do wireless?
>>
>> FWIW - I installed four linux computers at the local library for public
>> access internet use in January of last year.
>
> I remember your earlier posts, but I've forgotten what flavour of linux
> you used?
>
> Dan

The original four seats are using Mandrake - 10, I think. I plan to
install Ubuntu when I get the time. The more recent four seat Userful
station runs RHEL.