Anyone that knows Linux, knows that this operating system, enables so many solutions, and they are part of the Linux operating system package. You can gain almost any type of services you need, by either using the built in services on the operating system after the installation (which means they are coming installed within the OS) or by doing a simple update/download and install of new services which are not built in, It is as simple as that.

I will give some examples from the UBUNTU Linux operating system, which is one of my favorite, and it is very simple to use. Installing a service is almost made by using one simple command – called APT-GET (This command goes to find the service you need, download it, and installs it on your Linux system. Mostly it means the service will be installed and running on the system. Sometimes you might need to edit some configuration files, in order to fit it into your network definitions.

The most important issue that you need to remember is that Linux enables you to do anything you want. Linux is being used by many and some prefer to use it and not use the Microsoft Windows Operating System which is so common.

Linux has many operating systems, some are server based (no graphical interface needed) and some are suitable for client side computers/laptops, they do include X-windows which is the graphic interface of a Linux based operating system. Linux has many different graphical interface distributions, which actually means that those distributions are actually a fully functional operating system, with the needed packages of services. Each Linux distribution include different packages, and different GUI interface (which means the graphical side looks a bit different).

The base of them usually works the same, but some of them are based on different Linux Kernel, so the commands are a bit different, and needs to get used to. That is usually why most Linux users get to know one type of a Linux kernel that they get along best with and they stick to that OS and Linux Kernel, on their future Linux experiences.

So let go over some examples of what you can do with the Linux operating system, and how simple things are when defining new services to the system.

Linux Firewall:

Linux has a built in mechanism called IPTABLES, this is a port filtering mechanism, that enables you to set rules for what can pass through the system and what can’t. Firewall rules are mostly port based, any service has its own port, and by defining which ports are allowed and which are not, you can create your own firewall based on that built-in mechanism. All you will need is to place two network card on your Linux, and let the traffic pass through the Linux machine, as it controls the rules of passage. When IPTABLES is empty and no rules are applied, it means anything can go through from outside in, and from the inside out. This option is mostly used by the Linux Server systems.

* Article on how to set a simple Linux Firewall

Another option if you want a graphical management console to define the firewall:

For Linux Desktop – that includes X-Windows (a Graphic interface), you can use the FWBUILDER (Firewall Builder). This tool enables a graphic management interface, that enables you to define the firewall rules, like the tools used on firewall routers (like the CISCO PIX).

* Using fwbuilder to create a Linux firewall

Linux web server:

The Linux web server is mostly based on the APACHE service. Since most application use PHP, and databases, you can use the MYSQL, and of course PHP, so you need to install them as well, and some other tools that can assist you. Below are the basic tools you will need to create a full functional web server, which includes all of the needed services.

• Apache 2 – Linux Web server
• MySQL 5 – MySQL Database Server
• PHP4/5 – PHP Scripting Language
• phpMyAdmin – Web-based database admin software.
• Webalizer – Website Traffic Analyzer
• Mail Server – Postfix (MTA) with Dovecot IMAP/POP3 + Sasl Authentication
• Squirrelmail – A web based email
• VSFTP – A fast ftp server to upload files
• Webmin – A freely available server control panel
• ClamAV – Antivirus software.
• A Firewall using IPtables.

* Build Your Own Web Server

So to summarize, you can do whatever you want to with Linux, just search the internet and see how easy it is.

There are different reasons for why we might want to build our own web server at home. Some might be that we just want to be able to place our own information on the internet, some might be that we want to be able to access information from our home computer at all times and from anywhere. We can use the webserver to show our shared directory, to include information, movies, documents, and any other information that we place on our own web server, which is ours and we can do with it whatever we want.

What do we need to do to establish our own web server at home? How much should it cost us? What type of communication and network do we need to configure? I will answer all of those questions and you will discover it’s not that hard to do. The building of our own web server shouldn’t cost us money, especially if we already have a computer, we can use a Linux based server with Apache on it, and we have a web

You might say, hey I am using windows, and I would still want to use windows, so my answer is – “Virtual Server“. We can host a virtual server on our Microsoft windows computer, and install on that VMware server – the Linux operating system we want to use as our home web server or we can just create a partition and install on that partition that web server, and just load into the Linux operating system, and let that run always, so the webserver will be online and accessible from the outside at all time.server alive and kicking.

I will explain how to install a Linux based webserver here in a bit, but first, let’s just understand the network configuration we need to establish to make it work like any other web server on the internet.

What we need are:

1. Computer – any PC will do (Linux operating system doesn’t require much).
2. Installed a Linux operating system with Apache.
3. Request a constant IP from our ISP. (So we will have a permanent IP to host our web server – since it has to be always up, and without a constant IP, our home IP changes regularly, and we won’t be able to access it).
4. This is not a MUST – we can buy a domain – (we can access our home web server using the constant IP, but it might be either nicer to access it using our own domain name which is easier to remember instead of remembering an IP number, or if we want our home web server to be a real server on the outside, we will need a domain, so it will be included in the internet world as a regular websites do.

Installing a Linux based Web Server:

• Install a Linux operating system, You can download the Linux operating system (I prefer Ubuntu) from here (for a web server – no GUI is needed):
  Desktop Edition: (Including the GUI) at http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download
  Server Edition: (No GUI by default) at http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download-server

• After installation – perform these two commands, to get the Ubuntu repository updated and upgraded.
  * apt-get update
  * apt-get upgrade

• Install Apache2: The instructions are as follows:
  * apt-get install apache2
  |
  ** the root directory of apache to place the website files is /var/www/

• If you want to use PHP, you can install it by using:
  * apt-get install php5 libapache2-mod-php5

• If you are going to use a Database, then install the MySQL.
  * apt-get install MySQL-server libapache2-mod-auth-MySQL php5-MySQL

For those who are not web designers, you might consider using “DRUPAL“, like your web designer, it is a nice tool, that with a bit of study, you can have a web-server up and running in no time (well in a short time). You can get all the info you need on Drupal, in the below website, install it, and learn a bit on how to configure it, and your all done.

http://drupal.org/