OSX Lion Server Part 02 - Getting the Network Right

[vansmith]

Here we'll cover all the network configuration details that you'll need to have in place to make sure the installation goessmootherlater on. Whether your going for a local server or a full-on public server with its own domain name, it's important to understand how the server communicates with your devices both inside your home or business and outside in the big wide world.

Continue reading the article...

[IvanLasston]

Great article - unfortunately dyndns has gone away from free dynamic host names. (I have been grandfathered in - but all new users cost $20/year) Also who knows how long they will let us keep the free account?
DynDNS Cuts Back Free DNS Options - Slashdot
There are other options in the comments. Unfortunately most routers point to dyndns so you'll probably have to run a dynamic dns client on a computer instead of it running on your router.

I went to namecheap to register a domain. They have some info on how to setup dynamic dns with their servers.
Cheap Domain Names Registration, Domain Transfer, SSL Certificates, Free DNS, Privacy Protection • Namecheap.com
Dynamic DNS - Category
($3.99 right now to register .info otherwise most run around ~$11/year)

Here is some info on setting up namecheap and dynamic dns that I wrote up for someone on the forums
http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/os-...ml#post1382011
I have run this setup on straight lion - not lion server - but it should work there as well.

I'd recommend going to a name registrar vs some kind of hosting service (1&1 for example) As you get more advanced, a straight registrar gives you access to the routing of your domain whereas a hosting service tends to want you to use their applications/services. Changing stuff around becomes harder when using a hosting service. For example with a few of my domains - I have google apps for mail and calendar -whereas my website points to a home server. I can always change these around and if I setup a Lion Server I can stop using google apps and move my services to the lion server. I've found moving the services around with namecheap easy. I set a friend up with 1&1 and it wasn't that straightforward - she was sticking with their hosting apps anyway so I didn't have to mess around too much.

[vansmith]

Thanks Ivan for the heads up about DynDNS. It's a shame that it's no longer free - I used it a while back with a public Linux server I had set up.

Thanks again to louishen for writing this up. Networking is my kryptonite so I've learned quite a bit here.

[V6Pony]

Thanks for writing this up. Very interesting subject. I have been working on setting up a Linux VPN local server. Have Debian installed on a pc.

We travel some and I have always been weary of free internet service at Condos and Hotels. I was thinking of setting this up so we could VPN into this sever and use the web browser and other programs on the server. This would afford us some privacy while on the road. I assumed that both my wife and myself could access the server at the same time. We have 30 MBS at home. Speed should be ok. Only reason I'm using Linux is that I had a i386 pc I could use.

[louishen]

THanks for the comments, I'll look into Ivan Lasston's links and think about a rewrite of that bit to incorporate that feedback

Thanks again