Build Your Own Server Go High Tech at Low Cost Tony C. Caputo, Microsoft Certified Professional
Review by Sylvester L. deVere, NJPCUG member
The benefits of having your own server include scalability, better security, the ability to share resources and centralized administration. "So what?", you ask, "What does it all mean to me?" Well, security is important to everyone. It's important that anyone who uses a computer should strive to protect themselves from hackers, viruses and any other unwanted intrusions into their computer systems. If you have a small or growing business, or if you are a consultant or developer, scalability and centralized administration become important principles. The ability to share resources, is similar to security in that it's important to everyone, however it's more important to some than to others. Households with more than one computer would benefit from not having to buy individual devices for each machine. Printers, scanners, disk space, backup, recovery and security, could all be managed more efficiently and economically with a server in the house. Developers who are working on large projects will benefit from the file sharing capabilities of a server. Administrators will be able to maintain their client environments remotely by using the centralized administration features of a server. The list could continue, but hopefully you are getting the picture that there are some advantages to having a server around.
You may next start to wonder if it's economically justifiable to pay the price of another computer to gain some of those benefits. Even though prices are declining, it would still cost over a thousand dollars to buy a decent server. Then there's the challenge of server maintenance. What happens when something goes wrong. Servers are the hub of the network that they serve. When the server goes down, the network goes down. In response to the first concern about economics, if a quality server only cost $400, economic justification might not be an issue. Also, if you knew that the server would be around for a number of years without requiring any significant upgrades, it might start to be more economically appealing. Now, let's talk about maintenance. Servers are computers and they can be troublesome. Then there's the software that makes them do something which can present another set of problems. Connecting hardware and software in a network environment can only complicate things more. Maybe having a server is not such a good idea after all. Hold on a minute, what if someone took you by the hand and guided you through the process of building your own server for $400. They would show you what you needed, tell you where to get it, warn you about the pitfalls and inform you how to avoid the pitfalls. After you finish assembling the hardware, they would show you how to install the software, in this case the Network Operating System, and then guide you through configuring the server system to perform the tasks that you require. "Impossible you say?" Enter "Build Your Own Server" (BYOS), by Tony C. Caputo, Microsoft Certified Professional. BYOS is a publication of the Osborne division of McGraw Hill.
Mr. Caputo had a day job as a technical administrator and a technical consulting business of his own at the time he wrote this book. He was pushing the company's server to its limits and it was starting to complain. He was also having difficulty in justifying a $2,500 expenditure of company funds for a server to his accounting organization. This led him to pursue building his own server and subsequently quite a few more for himself and others. The experience was so satisfying, he wanted to share it with others and this interest led him to write this book.
The book is just over 300 pages and is divided into three sections. The first section prepares the readers to build their own server. It contains three chapters and in the first chapter it gives you the author's actual experience in finding components to build a very flexible server for just over $400. Besides telling you about these components and the roles they play in a functioning server, the author tells you where you can get them at similar prices. As you may suspect, the answers are computer shows, the web and retail store promotions, however the author takes it to another level. Mr. Caputo provides the name of web sites and retail stores and tells you how to find your local computer shows. He also provides a detail listing of the components that are used to build the server and the prices he paid for them.
The most expensive components were 512MB of RAM at $70. I was able to duplicate this price at one of the recommended web sites and I also found a promotion at a local office supplies store for the same price if I utilized their mail in rebates. The author makes the case for used versus new components as he takes you through a piece-by-piece close-up of the server. Much of the first section is devoted to telling the reader about the author's personal experience in hunting down good components at the right price, but he also talks about some of his mistakes, so the reader can avoid them. There is also a chapter devoted to the Network Operating System (NOS) in the first section. It explains the role of the NOS and how this is the real workhorse that enables all the benefits of the server.
The second section contains five chapters and provides step-by-step instructions for assembling the server. Starting with the chassis, power supply, motherboard and CPU and working through the video, graphics, memory, CD drives, DVD/ROM drives, hard drives and floppy disk drives, the author provides detailed instructions along with pictures for assembling all the components. At the same time, he provides some valuable insight as to how these components work together to accomplish the objectives of the server. Depending on the reader's needs, more or less storage may be required, but everyone can probably use as much memory as possible. He also talks about the importance of ensuring that all of the components are compatible. Proper ventilation and cooling are important to avoid over heating which can damage or shorten the life of components. The book is sprinkled with a few horror stories that he encountered over the course of assembling servers. There are also a number of success stories where having the right server solution enabled that important competitive advantage to some of the author's clients and to the author himself. The assembly instructions are straightforward and clear. He tells you about methods that will simplify assembly and suggests a few interim techniques for checking your progress. The last chapter in this section addresses the network you will be setting up. The author explains the two basic networks, peer-to-peer and client/server and then shows the reader how to convert a peer-to-peer into a client/server network. He then briefly discusses the benefits of wireless technology, before installing the network card, the last step in the assembly process. Throughout this entire section, the reader is provided with many "Tips of the Trade". These are explanations of why you are doing something, how it will work when you are finished and how to do it in such a way as to minimize any casualties. The assembly process could end up with a jungle of cables and components with a propensity for overheating, but the author informs you of this danger and tells you how to avoid it. He also provides the reader with some time check references indicating about how long each installation should take.
The last section contains chapters explaining how to install the Network Operating System, configure the network and troubleshoot it. It contains six chapters in all and the last three are dedicated to network administration. Mr. Caputo is an advocate of Microsoft's Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003, a more feature rich version of Windows 2000 Server as the Network Operating Systems of choice. He touts them as two of the most robust NOSs on the market and praises the massive support structure available for these products. He installs these two NOSs in a dual-boot server system. As he does throughout the book, the author carefully steps the reader through the preparation process, including the BIOS boot setup and the workings of the Windows boot loader. He also tells the reader about the advantages of having a dual boot system. Next, he takes the reader through an eleven part installation process with pictures and "Tips of the Trade" along with the instructions. Chapter 11 is all about network troubleshooting. The reader is introduced to a variety of terms such as ping(ing), ipconfig and several others that are of assistance in isolating a problem in a network. Each command is clearly explained along with a visual of the correct response in a trouble free environment. A comprehensive network troubleshooting flow chart is also included. The author complements the flowchart with a systematic discussion of hardware and software problem resolution in a network. The essence of "Servers 101" is file and print sharing and databases. In this last section of the book, the author takes the reader beyond "Servers 101". He carefully guides the reader through configuring a DHCP server as well as DNS, Web and FTP server configuration. A brief discussion about the leasing arrangements between Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and the range of IP addresses is included in Chapter 12. This function enables network reconfiguration on-the-fly and by using short leases, expands the limited number of IP addresses available to clients of the server. The reader will understand how the server acts as a gateway to the Internet by providing a bridge between a LAN or multiple networks and the Internet. Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) is the feature that enables one LAN connection to the Internet and Network Access Translation (NAT) enables multiple network connections. There are network configuration options that are more applicable in a corporate setting with distributed computing environments. Active Directory (AD) is an object oriented service designed for this purpose. Implementing AD is not easy, but could create a seamless inter network between offices, locations and cities. The author does not recommend converting an entire network to AD unless the reader is very comfortable with the benefits and complexities of this feature. This review began with a reference to security and the last chapter in the book addresses permissions, security and terminal services. The section on terminal services tells the reader how to establish remote log in capabilities so he can emulate the server's desktop on a workstation or a laptop. There is a server-side and client-side installation involved. The reader will come away with an excellent understanding of a network environment and the software and devices that make it function. I found the book to be an excellent reference tool in addition to its original objective of showing the reader how to build a server. Each chapter that involves any assembly contains a pictorial at the beginning that shows the tools and components necessary to successfully complete the chapter. These are appropriately called "Tools of the Trade". The number of tools are minimal and seldom go beyond needle nose pliers, a precision screwdriver set and an electrostatic free environment. Again, the author carefully guides the reader through the entire process.
Before I summarize I need to inform the readers of this review that there are some additions that will be required on top of the $400 expenditure. This price does not include the cost of the two Microsoft NOSs described in the book. If the reader chooses these, he really only needs to acquire one if he elects to forego the advantages of the dual boot system as described in the book. I would recommend these choices in the event the reader does not have a source of help if he encounters any difficulty, as the author almost guarantees success in this environment. The reader however, also has the choice of downloading a free NOS such as Linux which the author refers to throughout the book. There is also the cost of a hub (peer-to-peer) and a router (star network) and some cabling and connectors. These costs will be minimal once you've acquired the bargain hunting skills taught by the author. There is a host of other advantages to having your own server that I didn't mention in the beginning of this review. Your server will become your gateway to the Internet and could provide e-mail, videoconferencing, firewall protection and integration of different systems. The list goes on.
In summary, I found this book informative and useful. I enjoy technical reading but this is not a technical book. It's geared toward the reader that's interested in building a server as quickly as possible without too many distractions. The technical information is thorough without being overpowering. I found the last chapter, "Permissions, Security and Terminal Services", to be the most challenging. This chapter was aimed at Network Administrators and presented a detailed view of configuring the network to eliminate unwelcome intrusions. Aside from this chapter, the book was an easy read. I recommend it to everyone who wants to understand how servers work and might be interested enough to save some money by building a server themselves. There are lots of answers in this book. By the way, this went so well I decided to look at building a personal computer. I was able to beat the author's price for some faster memory at the same local store (with rebates of course), but that's a story for another review.