Re: configuration request

[Sam Drinkard <sam@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Lanny,

   Well, for the most part, I have all the security issues taken care 
of w/r/t logins, ssh, no root logins, etc.  My main problem is as I 
stated is the fact that the co-lo site is somewhat difficult to get 
access to, however if I call the office, someone will meet me at the 
place and let me in, and give me all the time I need to do whatever is 
needed.  For $25/mo, I doubt seriously I could find another ISP that 
would let me have access to a DS-3 line for said amount.  It started out 
years ago, and I think the co-lo fee now for a DS-3 service runs in 
excess of $250./mo, so I put up with a bit of inconvenience to retain a 
low fee for the location.  As for the reboot problem, I think it's 
related to the ACPI on the box, and at times, it will remote reboot, but 
I don't usually risk it, and yes, while the kernel is updated I don't 
immediately reboot after an update because of the chances the box won't 
come back up.  It's odd that it will work sometimes, but most times I 
does not, and that dictates a trip downtown, or having one of the ISP's 
staff yank power and repower the box.  I'd considered replacing the 
machine, but it's less than a year old, or perhaps maybe a tad older.. 
don't have the install notes handy, but since the machine is my only 
mail server and the only way I have to send/receive mail, that makes it 
a very critical operation.  I do have some weather related web pages 
that are served by it, but for the most part, it's a low volume server.  
Believe me, if I had the $$ to install a more reliable box there, I'd do 
it it a heartbeat.  I'd also considered moving the server here at home 
downtown, but then that move would create a whole set of new problems I 
just don't want to deal with.  If I can keep things running regardless 
of what version of kernel is currently running, and there are no 
problems w/r/t the actual serving of web pages or mail, that is the 
ultimate goal.  Current uptime is something over 150 days, and I have no 
clue what /when the last reboot took place.  It just works... which I'm 
very happy to state. 


   Given all the various aspects of the server, the physical site 
situations, and the factors of money, I detest change as long as stuff 
works as advertised!  My favorite motto is "if it ain't broke, don't try 
to fix it"... lol.  I know I need to get myself up to speed w/r/t yum 
and the various repos.  I do have the priorities plugins installed, but 
I"m not 100% sure that it is configured right, just as the protect base 
stuff.  I don't have a lot of time to delve into the innards of stuff 
like I used to, and I have taken the posture of using the defaults for 
most because people a lot smarter than me have done the grunt work and I 
can only assume that they configure stuff that works for most people or 
"appliance operators" like myself.   At any rate, once I get something 
fixed to take care of my needs, I generally don't mess with it further 
unless absolutely required.  May not be the best method, but it's worked 
for me for a lot of years both with BSD and CentOS.

   I'll definitely check out the links you provided and see what I can 
glean from them.  I'm not the young buck I used to be, and it takes me 
some time for new ideas and such to finally take hold.  The inner 
workings of an OS is not for the faint of mind like me, and yeah, there 
are some 60 year olds that still are making inroads to technology, I am, 
unfortunately not one of them, but I just try to stay semi-current with 
whatever the issue happens to be.  It's just not fun getting old... and 
it creates a big problem at times..

Thanks..

Sam
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