kelvin

Hope some of you can help/point me in the right direction.

For a while now, i've been interested in learning a bit more about network environments - not your average 2/3 PC home setup (I'm pretty confident in that already), but more about corporate networking solutions - server environments/VPN's etc. To be honest though, I really don't have a clue where to start

Another thing i'm interested in knowing some more about is server management (from a hosting perspective) - i.e. if I wanted to set up my own web-server for hosting a site and/or email, how would I go about it, and what would I need.

I appreciate the fact that there's way too much to go into on a public forum, but if some of you could recommend some sites and/or point me in the direction of some good books it would be greatly appreciated (open to PM or email too ). I know absolutely nothing on this, so very basic stuff will suffice - it's a (possible career) avenue that's interested me for some time now and i'd like to gain some introductory knowledge on the subject at least prior to considering any further training

A strange request I know, but I have to start somewhere, and with the number of IT bods on here, i'm sure someone can help

Many thanks guys,

Kelvin.

scoobyjimbo

Hi

There is a lot of info on the web, try doing a search on computer weekly site or google for LAN's/WANS and also IIS/Webserver that should give you some good information. I would recommend getting yourself along to amazon or computermanuals website and buying yourself a network bible - might cost you £25 but it will be invaluable..

just a thought..

J

kelvin

Thanks for taking the time to reply

Will do - it's not so much struggling to find information that i'm finding hard, it's more knowing what's relevant, and what's essential (if that makes sense). What you've posted is exactly the sort of thing I was hoping for

Thanks again,

Kelvin.

beemerboy

kelvin, corporate networks can usually be broken up into what i call sectors:

ISP
Router
Firewall
Fileserver/PDC?
Mail Server?
Web Server?
clients
cabling
switches
etc....

basically work from the wan, back to the desktop (client) and fill the gaps in between for functionality/services

It works for me...

let me know if you need any more info and i'll try and help out..

Cheers

BB

kelvin

Thanks BB

beemerboy

kelvin, one thing to note if you are interested in hosting etc...

look at the different internet services available, ie: leased lines; sdsl; business adsl, etc. and understand the differences.
also have a look at static ip addressing, as its easier to route website address records ("A" records), if you have a block of "statics"
also learn up on "mx" records and what that does...

should keep you going for a bit...

speak soon

Dazza

darlodge

All good advice for BB

Darren

HHxx

Are you looking at co-location?

You should loook at other hosting companies and see what they are using. Some use a control panel product called Plesk etc.. allows you to setup accounts and basically manage the server with a web gui.

MJW

This is quite a good source of info :

http://practicallynetworked.com/

kelvin

More good advice Think I have enough reading to see me through the rest of the year

Thanks so much for all the tips so far - I'm getting there... slowly!

K.