Ok I dont know if this is where I should be posting this but YES this does have to deal with Fieros and the possibility that PFF may not be around if we dont do something. If you havent already read this
https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum5/HTML/000115.html

Please do so. I know there has to be more IT guys and possibly gals out there other than me . I wanted to see how many we were and if we could do some brainstorming on cliffs isssue. Lets get a list together and hopefully he will respond to my offering for help. I know if we pool our resources we can help him. Who is with me?I have offered my experience who else is ready to help our CREATOR?

I KNOW IT DOSEN'T FIX THE PROBLUM but i going to paypal some cash i have to help upgrade or fix . will be checking back to see if there is anything i can beside this

Ok I heard from Clif and he would like our help. Come on IT people lets go Here is a quote from the email I got fron Cliff
"Yes, I would really like that. I know a fair bit about Linux too, but I'm no
security expert so this so way over my head."

We need a team to resolve this issue.

OK...I know that this is a far fetched idea, and it would take practically EVERY member to donate financially.....

But what would a new server cost?
I REALIZE that the old one is ok hardware wise, but with a new one, it could be set up before hand, then the only thing needed would be to transfer the data across.
Should be a minimum of down time as compared to having to down the first server completely for several days.
If, out of all the members on here, we could get 100 people to donate $50 each, that should be a pretty decent bite out of the cost.
Cliff would then have the old Server to use as a backup, always keeping a clean install ready.
Just an idea. And believe me, before you go saying anything, $50 for me is no easy amount to give up.
But I will gladly do so.
Of course, we would also need Cliffs input on this.
And to be very honest....If, out of the several thousand members on here, we could not come up with the money, then maybe we don't deserve to have PFF in the first place.

quote Originally posted by rvalmore: Ok I dont know if this is where I should be posting this but YES this does have to deal with Fieros and the possibility that PFF may not be around if we dont do something. If you havent already read this https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum5/HTML/000115.html Please do so. I know there has to be more IT guys and possibly gals out there other than me . I wanted to see how many we were and if we could do some brainstorming on cliffs isssue. Lets get a list together and hopefully he will respond to my offering for help. I know if we pool our resources we can help him. Who is with me?I have offered my experience who else is ready to help our CREATOR?

I am in IT, what kind of help is Cliff looking for? I know how valuable this forum is, and would be willing to help out if I can. Unfortunately I am not a Linux guy though.

Vin
MCSE

I am the IT person at a very large High School in Hanover NH. I am no Linux expert myself either but I am willing to do anything I can to help.

Cliff's server is running Linux, so if you're not a Linux guru, you're probably of limited use to him.
If I knew more about Linux, I would have already volunteered my services as well.

Any Linux experts, please read the thread linked above. Cliff's contact info, etc. is in that thread.

I would love to be of some assistance but I'm afraid my only experience in IT is with midrange and mainframe computers, mainly IBM AS/400. I've been out of the loop for a few years but last I heard an AS/400 has NEVER been hacked via the net, and yes every one I ever worked on was connected to the internet with at least a T1 (Electrolux/Frigidaire was the last big company I worked for).
I am sure that the resources are available here on the forum to assist Cliff in sorting all this out but I guess the real question is, does Cliff want to invest his time and energy into keeping this place alive?

Given some of the comments I've seen posted on the forum of late I would not blame him if he did hang up his gloves and call it a day.

Let's hope he see's the pros to continuing and overlooks the cons!

If there is anything I can do, let me know, I'm willing.

I have been in contact with Cliff in the last couple hours and he has given me some info to start with about when the file changes wers done and a few other issues. Linux is just one of the issues. We have to look at network security as well for server access. As I get info I'll pass it along. Please PM me your email address and I'll start emailing everyone interested about the occurrance. He has told me that he will give root access to select individuals who can help. Before we do that though I want to fortify the perimeter and still allow the webserver to operate. After several communications with Cliff it doesnt appear to me that he wants to hang up the forum. He wants to reolve this. I guess this a wakeup call for all of us in taht we cant take anything for granted and if we can help him we should.

[This message has been edited by rvalmore (edited 03-13-2005).]

i just paypaled a little that is all i can do now , but i going to help more on tuesday after i get some of my ebay money .
we all owe cliff more than money like A BIG THANKS , AND ALL THE HELP WE CAN GIVE ! my mom runs the help desk for a big company . i going to see if she know about that stuff and can help
i going to pick 2 things and put a link to this thread and give everything that they sell to the forum .if everyone here that sells on ebay just picked 1 thing and gave, it would make a big differnce . then cliff could go and get a few upgrade done

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=62053&item=8175988888& rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=41009&item=8175989354& rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

these 2 things had the most watcher before i started this

[This message has been edited by fierobrian (edited 03-13-2005).]

Hi,
I have Linux and network security experence.
Any resources I have are available to help clean this up.

e-mail is szingman@informx.com

Steve

------------------
New name same attitude....
The geek formerly known as Tweaker

I want to try to start working on this as soon as we can. I have sent Cliff a couple questions about network design and server info. As soon as I get all the info I'll send out a blanket email to all that want to help.

How feasible would it be to set up a U.S. based mirror?
I'll wager the bulk of traffic is in the U.S. That could ease the demand on Cliff's .nl server, and make it more robust. If a mirror goes down, you've still got the other server. They could back each other up, so hacking attempts on one server don't affect the other.
It could possibly be used to mirror Cliff's business server as well, if he's using 1 server for everything.

What kind of horsepower would you need? I'm sure bandwidth would be the primary expense and that might make a mirror economically impractical. But it's a thought?

Don’t forget the network that the server is on.
Security doesn’t stop at the server.
If you don’t need a port open then why leave it open.
Not going to be any help with Linux, sorry but I will suggest that backups be investigated.
I have pulled my ass out of the fire more than once by having a good backup.
Good luck

Formula88 there a few possibilities but after talking with Cliff to get a little more info on the server itself the first thing that jumps at me is redundancy. Yes I believe he is doing backups but his server is a p3 class machine(which he says is handling the load fine). But my issue is with the way he has the OS and data running on the same 40 gig drive with no fault tolerance. He told me he was thinking of upgrading to a P4 class but if there is no load issues I think the money better spent would be for a raid chassis with 4-5 drives. Yes granted that in itself is the cost of a base server but as every IT person here knows you if you were to run a configuration like that OS on one logical set, data on another, Mirrored offline so you could fall back if needed. I think you could probably get away with 18 gig drives for OS and then 38's for data or whatever.

Mirror servers or load balancing servers are great and I think if Cliff wants to explore that possibility we would all be for helping accomplish that, but the question then becomes do you want to use it as a load balancing server? If so you need to setup replication between servers with a fast pipe. Or do you use it as an offline redundant server to be used in the event of needed maintenance to the primary. Change the DNS pointers and then let the secondary server take over while the primary is being worked on.
I guess this is already done.
Jake backups are great if you catch the problem fast enough or you save enough backups that you can fall back to a clean one. I agree. Last fall I had a server from Hell toment me for a month straight. It would blue screen when it was in its backup process and not error out that the backup failed. I only caught it because I test backups on a biweekly basis and when I went to restore one of the full backups half of the dat awas missing. I looked a the log and it showed the backup job ran to completion. I later found out that we had a bad drive cable that ws causing a device driver error and blue screening the server. ARggghhh.

[This message has been edited by rvalmore (edited 03-14-2005).]

It looks like, from the original thread, that Cliff has figured most of it out, in not all. I am willing to help out how ever I can. I've worked with various flavors of UNIX, Linux, BSD's, for about 10 years and specialize in security.

If I can help send me a PM.

--Brett

I've got linux and hosting experience myself. I'd be happy to lend a hand if needed in the future (looks like this issue is taken care of).