Putting server on the internet or not

[Matt Morgan]

On 12/14/05, Edward Dekkers <edward at tripled.iinet.net.au> wrote:
> For the first time ever, with my new account I will get a static IP
> address and high bandwidth (no more dial-up finally!!!).
>
> I've purchased a domain which is waiting to have IP addresses tied to it
> (currently parked).
>
> The question is - is it worth pointing the IP addresses directly at my
> server, and hosting my mail and http directly from this server, or would
> it be considered smarter to have everything hosted at the ISP still?
>
> Bear in mind my web-site has always been hosted at my previous ISP, and
> I've always fetch mailed and masqueraded sendmail via my ISP's SMTP
> server before. This direct way would be completely new to me.
>
> In the benefits I see that I have full control over my mail, adding,
> subtracting users, forwarders, auto responders, scripting, etc. that I
> never had before. However on the other side of the coin I guess I'd have
> to batten down the hatches for hackers.
>
> With the web site also, if I hosted this myself, I could finally do some
> dynamic web pages (php, mysql, whatever...), whereas previously I'd be
> stuck with standard .html pages at my ISP.
>
> How easy is it for me to set up? I've never done this before. I know I
> need to set up (reverse) DNS, MX records from reading this list over the
> years, but I have absolutely no idea how to actually DO it, and what
> steps to follow.
>
> Most important question - to me it seems worth it, but is it unsafe for
> someone of my experience to do?

Home machine? I would say give it a try. It's fun, probably not as
hard as you think, and you'll learn from it. If you run into trouble,
this list is a great source of help. Here's an excellent how-to:

http://www.brennan.id.au/

it was written for Fedora Core 3 but is stil really accurate.

Just make sure you know how to firewall yourself, like the other guys
have suggested, and set up ssh right before you turn it on. And use
really good passwords.

Another really nice option, especially if you have an old computer
sitting around, is a smoothwall firewall between your server and the
internet:

http://www.smoothwall.org