Setting up an ftp server

Oriel

Hey folks,
I've got a spare laptop that I want to set up as an ftp server to allow people to access stuff. It's got Win2k Pro on it at the moment, but I can put whatever I need on it.

Could somebody give me some pointers in the right direction as to the best way to go about this please?

Cheers,
Sinecure

Kali

Who will be accessing it? just ppl on your network or publically available over the Internet?

lazygit

install the iis ftp service.. its in add/remove programs under windows components

Oriel

People on my network will just be going through windows networking. This is for people outside of the network.

I'll be giving usernames and passwords to people I know and trust. So not really "publically" available, so to speak.

raphaelS

You can try GuildFTP http://www.guildftpd.com/ .

A nice and free alternative to iis. In this one you can specify which port should be use in Passive mode (if you are behind a firewall), you can't do that in iis!

Raphael

Kali

Just because you're only giving certain ppl logins does not in anyway make it safe... few pointers..
Make sure that you point it to a safe directory with the proper permissions (ideally on a standalone ntfs partition), that you have the machine patched completly, turn on bandwidth throttling (to limit download speeds; available in IIS5+).. make sure theres a firewall on the machine blocking any external access to the machine bar ports 20 & 21... etc. etc.

fractal

Hey,
Only thing I'll say to you is that I've tried the IIS ftp service and have found it to be not the best if you're running it on a low spec machine... Win2k+IIS hasnt worked great for me on anything below 64Mb Memory 350Mhz Processor.. Very sluggish. Tends to get unstable..

If you're running on a spec above that you'll be grand but make sure you patch everything and have a firewall running.

On the other side of things I've found I get _DRASTICALLY_ better performace from equal hardware with linux running the vsftpd ftp server... Linux after all powers the vast majority of ftp sites on the net (all those ppl cant be wrong) Its also a server known as being very secure (ie the vs in vsftpd)

If you are really worried about security and you'll be issuing passwords to everyone anyways. Why not consider using SCP on linux. WinSCP is a nice GUI windows client. pscp is a nice commandline alternative to access an scp server..

FreeHost

If you are using a windows machine, I suggest using CesarFTP, you can setup accounts which require user name and password. As Kali said, use a partition on your disk.

Oriel

Laptop is a Gateway Celeron 550mhz, 192Mb, 10Gb. Not much storage space, but hell - better than a large beermat ;-)

Well I've got Win2K and RedHat9.0 on it at the moment, but I don't know Linux very well (at all), so I think I'm gonna stick to windows me thinks. I was intending rewiping the machine and creating a data storgae partition on ntfs, so that's grand.

Patches will be applied, but the firewall is going to be software - Symantec DesktopFirewall (Corporate Edition), it should do the job rightly.

Thing is, I've never done this before, so haven't a clue. How do I give people access to the partition? How do I issue usernames and passwords? etc

Thanks for the replies by the way,
Sinecure.

joc_06

Originally posted by Sinecure
Laptop is a Gateway Celeron 550mhz, 192Mb, 10Gb. Not much storage space, but hell - better than a large beermat ;-)

I installed a http/ftp server on a pic 12c505 at 4Mhz ala uPIC
Its smaller than a match head but still serves 3 pages html and may earn me a masters some day!!

Touch wood