Linux/Other-Notes

From Notes

(Some of these notes from Restek 9/19/2005, review and integrated into plans)

Current Server Status

DHCP

• Redundency ?

DNS

• Which servers

Web Proxy

• (DONE)
• Notes: The autoconfig scripts are still being served from two serversr. The host "webproxy" has two IP addresses in DNS so clients will automatically load balance between the two servers.
  • http://proxy.YOURHOST.YOURDOMAIN.COM/proxy.pac (& wpad.dat)

Public & Staff Websites

MySQL DB Server

LDAP

• Still needed ?

Registration Website

Email

• mail.YOURHOST.YOURDOMAIN.COM

A redundant "hall server" is proposed and would host all critical student services. By moving critical services to two instantly redundant servers, we allow for the failure of any one server without a loss of student network services. Below is the summary of proposed server changes.

Hardware Specs

Proposed base specs

   * 1U size
   * 2.6(ish)GHz Xeon or P4 Processor
   * 80GB primary drive. (SATA, 7200RPM. 2-8MB Cache)
   * 1 or 2 GB RAM (DDR, DDR2) 

Hardware add-ons

Upgrade with order? After? Ordering one hardware profile is easier than customizing four different servers. We also have much of the wanted hardware in existing servers. (eg 10k RPM Raptor HDs and 200GB storage drive). However, it is an added step to rip open the boxen, order RAM (etc), and perform upgrades. Warranties should be a non-issue. Dell's warranty does not prohibit cracking the case to add new HW; it only says they don't cover problems resulting from non-authorized servicing.

BACKUPSERVER:

   * 200GB drive for backups.
         o Already own. 

Hall server:

   * 2GB RAM for a faster, uber web cache.
   * Fast (7200 or 10k RPM) secondary cache drive. Small.
         o Already have two 10k RPM Raptor drives purchased Summer 2004. 

PRODUCTION:

   * 80GB Secondary drive (just because)
         o Should be able to find a hand-me-down somewhere.
         o Having extra storage space online is a good thing 

Proposed Services Layout

PRODUCTION

Rationale: We are heavily dependant on PRODUCTION. Emphasis was placed on migrating critical services from PRODUCTION to other servers designed for critical services. Goal: Kulshan can break without breaking the network.

   * Authoratative DNS
   * Web Server
         o Public web server
         o Web app server 
   * Registration Server
         o By using an alias to a second IP address, Kulshan can serve the pages needed for the registration process. 
   * Mail 

REGISTRATION

Rationale: Currently REGISTRATION's only role is to serve the registration process, DHCP, and Fake DNS. By migrating Fake DNS and the registration web server, Vidar can be eliminated entirely. Vidar's hardware could be used for a new department server. Odin

Rationale: If proxy services are moved to the hall server, Odin would be available to be a standalone MySQL DB server. Could also host Fake DNS. Both need high availability. Moving the DB to separate hardware would allow the DB to reside almost entirely in memory and offload DB processing from Kulshan.

   * MySQL
   * Fake DNS 

DEVELOPMENT

Rationale: DEV is working great as a development box. DEV isn't a 99% uptime box, but it is a "90%" uptime server and would work fine for backups. See DEV Migration

   * Backups
   * Development Environment 

Redundant Hall Servers (Needs name)

Rationale: Move mission critical services to a separate pair of redundant servers. Move proxy to hall servers and load balance between them. DNS and DHCP are not high load, so might as well use the new hardware for something. By providing 2GB of memory for each machine, there will be much more memory for web cache. More memory = More cache = Faster web to students.

   * DNS for students
   * DHCP
   * Squid Web Proxy
   * LDAP
         o Critical because it is required for staff authentication across all servers. 

GHOST SERVER

Rationale: As long as we have labs that need imaging, we need Rescon. No change.

   * Hosting Ghost Images 

Department Server

Rationale: For simplicity, application services we provide for other departments are hosted separately. Department server could be upgraded with hand-me-down hardware. (Currently a E4200.)

See Department Server Migration Hardware assets

   * 200GB Drive
   * (2x) 10k RPM Raptor drives
   * ???