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Date:      Wed, 13 Mar 2002 13:20:05 -0800
From:      Johnson David <djohnson@acuson.com>
To:        christopherp@ceconet.com, freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: A Newbie Question
Message-ID:  <20020313212015.3600737B41A@hub.freebsd.org>
In-Reply-To: <F1B859C0CEE3D31181400004AC965750E558C3@CECOEXCNG5>
References:  <F1B859C0CEE3D31181400004AC965750E558C3@CECOEXCNG5>

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On Wednesday 13 March 2002 12:14 pm, Christopher C Parrish wrote:
> This may need to be in the Question list, but, I am a Newbie looking for
> guidance.  I am getting ready to start a small company.

If YOU are the one starting this company, then perhaps you need to think 
about hiring an admin. Since you used the word "company" instead of 
"business", I can only assume that it will be big enough to hire specialized 
employees, so make the system's administrator one of them. If it will be a 
small business instead (less than ten employees), then I would recommend 
hiring a temporary contractor to set up the network.

Regardless, as a business owner, you have much more important things to worry 
about than your network. You need to worry about making money. Unless your 
business is centered around this network, let other people handle it. You'll 
make more money beating the bushes for business than you will spend hiring 
someone to get your network set up.

Of course, you DO want to know a lot about your network. You can't just 
offload that responsibility. But try to keep a healthy perspective.

> Will these two books be everything I need to setup my LAN
> for everybody to be able to get mail and surf the net from time to time?

Yes...but. Yes these books along with the Handbook on the CD will be enough 
to set up a network. But, systems administration is not a cookbook affair. It 
is a continual process of education. There will be specialized topics you 
will eventually need to know that just aren't covered in enough detail in 
general texts. This information can be found in a variety of sources, many of 
them free.

> If I need to setup multiple servers, which ones will they be and why will I
> need them?  The ones I think I will need are a firewall and a mail server. 

Frankly, without seeing your business plan, I don't have a clue as to your 
needs. For many businesses a single server is more than adequate. In fact, 
you might not even NEED any servers.

> The main reason for me using FreeBSD
> in this application is that I have read that it is Bomb Proof.

Nothing in this world is bomb proof. FreeBSD is vastly more secure and stable 
than Windows, but it isn't perfect. You can't just set up a FreeBSD network 
(or any network for that matter) and then ignore it. If you're concerned 
about security, then you (or your admin) will need to keep up with the 
security advisories.

David

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