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making a IRC server for intranet use only.


driveingnow

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Ok, forgive me if there is already a topic on this. I did do a quick search and couldn't find anything.

But I am thinking about building a server that will store all files that roommates and I would want to share, i.e music, movies, any collaboration documents, ect. As well as printers.

It will be fairly beefy, atleast a core 2 duo, maybe even a quad core (depends on how much they can cough up for it). I will either put Win server 2003 (I have a copy lying a round that I got from a class I took) or a linux server on (haven't full decided yet (maybe both using a VM...?).

Anyways what I would like to also have set up on it is a IRC chat server. For those quick little "what do you want on your pizza" kind of times, without shouting through the house. An to send the odd web link.

Anyways anyone have any idea ideas/tips on this. aka what server client to use, routing tips, setup tips, ect.

Thanks.

(sidebar: how hard would it be to set it up for other friends or even us when away from home to access it?)

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If its running on a private network, and you want to use it for sharing files why not use a Direct Connect hub? It does the same as IRC for talking and is specifically setup to allow users to download files from each other.

As for hardware, quad core for a file server used by less than 10 people is going to be over kill. It simply won't be taxed enough to be worth the cost. Just get a low end core2 or even look at the dual core atom 330. Will reduce your power bill by quite a chunk.

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Mainly I was looking for the ability to upgrade it later for outside use. That is why I was picking something well known like IRC.

Also as a note we won't be using IRC to share the files. The server itself will have a 1tb hard drive per-media type/kind (aka one for music, one for movies) (maybe more). Only it will be set up in RAID and partitioned so that if one drive fails, no data is lost (always a good thing).

An like I said I may run a VM of Linux inside it also. Depends on what what all I ended up needing, and which platform is cheapest and easiest to use it on.

Bwsides this is all in the planning stages atm. Right now I am just building a list right now and try to find out if what I want to do is work-able.

Thanks

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there is not way to set smoothwall to say, route from 192.168.*.* port "irc" forward to 192.168.ser.ver?

That just sounds like your trying to prevent all people on the network from being allowed to use any IRC server but the one on the network. Sure it can be done, but thats not what your initial question seemed to be.

With all things like, there will be many ways around it for the determined user.

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That just sounds like your trying to prevent all people on the network from being allowed to use any IRC server but the one on the network. Sure it can be done, but thats not what your initial question seemed to be.

With all things like, there will be many ways around it for the determined user.

I would change the default IRC port to something else... That way normal Irc can go out.

I am not a complete idiot...

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I would change the default IRC port to something else... That way normal Irc can go out.

I am not a complete idiot...

No one's calling you an idiot, we're just trying to help you with your question. If you can't be bothered to quantify your question with enough material then expect people to think some things.

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Ok.

What program would you recommend for a IRC chat server on a intranet. That will run on either Windows server 2003 or Linux?

The program needs the ability to be upgraded at a later time to be used by outside users (aka the internet).

How would you recommend taking care of routing?

Setting up a DNS inside the server or the router so when it sees irc.local.com it routes it to the IRC server?

Using the DNS in the users computer (like the host file) to route irc.local.com to the IRC server?

Put in a IP address in the chat client (aka Trillion, Pidgin, ect.) and avoid having to deal with any form of DNS or routing issues?

Or do you guys have any better ideas to better implement a IRC chat client on a intranet?

Thanks for all help.

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n like I said I may run a VM of Linux inside it also]n like I said I may run a VM of Linux inside it also

Just a word of warning a mate of mine has a dual core with 2gb of ram and has a win 2003 server running active directory, FTP and a VM server install running windows media center. Not sure if you will have the same issues but his box chugs like a fat bitch exiting an all you can eat baffet.

You may wanna look into VMware's ESXi (FREE) and run all your shit in a virtual enviroment. The problem with VMware server is all its proccessing power is allowcated via the host O.S so obviously your win 2003 machine is gonna suck a good portion of it for its own thing as where the bare metal ESXi Doesn't have this issue/is a rather light install.

Just an idea you may wanna consider and I am interested what the other's in here think.

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also ESXi doesn't support SATA drives out of the box, so you have to edit a config file to support it. i can't get the damn thing to work on mine, but who knows you may have better luck.

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ah shit, I was under the impression that ESXi supported sata, either I cocked it up or it is available in one of the updated release's. mmmm ....... *wonders off to check*

Edit

Yeap your spot on 3tek and the latest update doesn't correct this. Damn thats rather sucky, you would think they would support sata off the bat.

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ESXi will only work on certain hardware, if you do go that route, and it is a good route to go, you will need to check the HCL (hardware compatibility list) or buy a Dell or HP server instead of building your own. Its not designed to be run on home computers so like 3Tek said you will be looking at a system with SAS drives. Nearlines are more affordable but still... not cheap. As for SATA, this is enterprise level software, where the hardware is usually the cheapest part even if it costs $5K per box.

Hyper-V does the same thing, and is free like ESX, but is based on Server 2008 so supports more hardware (i was running hyperv on a laptop for awhile). However, the linux support just isn't there yet. If your going windows only, hyper-v could almost be better than esx but its not as mature yet.

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