Category: Geeks r Us
I was wondering if anyone knew how, and could explain, how I would go about setting up an ftp site?
Thanks
Jen
You need to set up your own server. You can use something like serv U, however you need good bandwidth and good content to share, unless it is for remote backups. It is also easier for people to share files as well, however you better know what you are doing, because this is how viruses are spread. Serve u is not hard to set up. If you have it up 24/7, then you better make sure you have the power to run it on. I suggest nothing less than dsl, however this is the bottom of the line for bandwidth usage.
But you should realize the security risks you are getting into here. If you do not password protect your accounts, and disable ascii transfers which yes, is an issue, you are leaving yourself open to nasty things. I suggest clam win for scanning files, and accept only trusted IP's even though this can be a pain in the ass to set up.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me or spike.
I'll add some more info that post 2 didn't mention.
In Serv-u, seeing as I've used that program specifically, lock people into their home directory.
Only give them read, list, and inheritence permissions.
This means that they can only download files, list directories, and this goes for all subfolders you share.
For an uploads directory, give them read, write, create, modify, make, only.
In Serv-u, don't enable fxp transfers
Do block hammer ataks.
Limit it to 3 ip address connections in 15 seconds, ban for an hour after.
Do not enable anonomyous ftp accounts.
Give each user their own upload directory.
Do log all uploads to a file.
Do scan your uploads dir each night if you run the server 24 7.
hth
You can also use the free file zilla server as well. The latest version of that will autoban any user who doesn't have a proper acount with username and password. Also to make things easier for users of said server to not have to enter a new ip address if it suddenly changes on you, it's best to get a domain name. They're very cheep to aquire, something like five bucks a year. Something like dhs.org is a very good one to use. No hassles, and a user of the server need only put in the dhs.org address once. If your ip address does in deed change, you just update that from the dhs.org site.
thanks you guys for the info.
do you know where I can get a copy of serv U?
I have a broad band connection, So band width shouldn't be much of a problem
To post 5, if you've got msn, add me to your contact list, info is in my profile.
Leave me a private message giving me your email address, this way I know who you are, and I don't accidently autoblock you.
for the serv-u info.
As for broadband, that's subjective, what're your download and upload speeds? And do you have any download or upload caps?
To clarify, serve-u is not free, however contact my friend spike who will help you in this area.
Aww. I'd love to know how to do this too. Is there a tutorial that I could read on this? I'm willing to take the time to figure this out. I believe my internet speeds are 16 up and 8 down. lol Or was it the other way around? haha
how do I find out what my download and upload speeds are?
To post 8, if you mean 16 mbps down, and 8 mbps up, then, that's really good.
To post 9, go to pcpitstop.com.
And run both the upload and download test, using Internet Explorer.
Be sure that users aren't bulk transfering, meaning getting more than one thing at a time, because that does eat up allot of upload speeds for others trying to get stuff.
That can be controled by limiting the user to one connection at a time, both on the server end, and on the client end.
Another thing, most ftp servers that I've been on have a strict timeout limit of 2 mins, or 120 seconds that is enforced, if a connection fails.
This is on the server end, but it is advisable that it also be set on the client end.
omg 16mbps down and 8mbps up? boggle
I'm jealous
OK
my results are
Download Speed: 13151 kbps (1643.9 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 2503 kbps (312.9 KB/sec transfer rate)
Is that decent?
Yes, I'd say it is decent, but that does maen that you're gonna cap the mumber of users that get onto your server at a time.
I'd say limit it to 4-6.
Basicly the more upstream you have, the faster people get stuff from the server. Like my buddy rick aka elheme aka the lord of beer had almost two up at one time. Also if you're gonna do any sort of radio broadcasting, it's a good idea to turn off the server until you've finished, especially if you have your own shoutcast server. It's not so much a problem if you're broadcasting to a remote server, providing you have good enough upstream where you can handle an ftp server and doing broadcasts.
Thank you everyone for all your help. I think I'm gonna hold off on putting up one until I get an external hard drive for more storage space.
To post 17, I'd advise you to get 2 external hard drives of the same storage capacity, this way you can spread out the load evenly between the 2.
What're the specs on the machine that you're gonna be running the server off of?
Is it running Windows XP?
What firewall are you gonna use?
What antivirus, antitrojan, antispyware?
Is this XP stock with sp2, with all components left in?
You don't have to answer the questions right now, but its a good idea to remove as much of xp's unneeded stuff if its gonna be used primarily as a server.
Also, do run it off of XP Pro, not Home, or Server 2003 Standard or Enterprize, it rreally don't matter, hth.
Servu 7 has changed its interface dramatically Jen. Serv-u 6.4 can still be acquired though.
If you're interested in sharing content, check out the sendspace pro plans. You can put limits on downloads, password protected downloads, have up to 1 terabyte of band width for a certain amount per month, and not kill your band width.