[nycbug-talk] Setting up a home network with FreeBSD (not connected to the Internet yet)

[Maude User]

Hello All -

I have a 1U rackmount server (running FreeBSD 5.4)
and a laptop (dual-boot running WinXP-Pro and
FreeBSD 5.3) and I'd like to connect the two in a
home network (not connected to the Internet) so I
can learn web development using Apache, PHP,
Python, Plone, Ruby, MySQL, PostgreSQL etc. 

Later I'll co-locate the server in a datacenter. I'd
like the home network setup to be similar to the
eventual co-lo setup so that it would provide a
realistic environment for learning and testing,
with minimal changes once I migrate the server
from my home to co-lo.

The server has two 1000Base-T, 100Base-TX and
10Base-T Ethernet LAN RJ45 ports (Intel 82541GI
and 82547GI controllers), supporting TCP, UPD, IPv4.

For the time being, the only client connecting to
this server will be the laptop. I don't have
broadband at home, so neither the server nor the
laptop will be connected to the Internet. There's a
cybercafe in the neighborhood with broadband where
I can download files, lookup documentation and
burn CDs.

I was able to borrow someone's keyboard and
monitor to install FreeBSD onto the server - but
after HTTP and FTP and NFS are set up I was hoping
I could return the keyboard and monitor and be
able to install and configure any additional
packages using the laptop as the console. The
laptop has an internal CD-RW. The server has a USB
CD-RW - but no monitor or keyboard.

Is this just a simple "intranet" I'm setting up here?
Can anyone point me to documentation that would
answer the following types of questions:

- What sort of cables should I get?

- Since the server won't be connected to the
Internet for now, can I pick any old IP address,
host name and domain name?

- Once the network is set up, can I use something
like SSH or Webmin from the laptop to install and
configure packages on the server, without
attaching a keyboard and monitor?

- What security should I be setting up NOW, so that
the server will be secure once it goes co-lo?

Thanks for any help.

Scott in Brooklyn



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