Sounds like a good idea Mark. Creation of a private VPN over the internet to form the larger Lab would take care of the "external" security problems, but not the "internal" ones (ie do you trust the other people).
the main issues I can see with doing this is exactly what people want to test, and what (in any) problems that would pose when different people want to test different things. The major ones would be things like 2k -> 2k3 domain upgrades, where some people would be raring to go, but others may be a few months down the track. Would require the test environment (or portions thereof) to be pulled apart several times with co-operation from other people on the network. Its something that should be acheivable, and would give people access to a larger "test bed" for projects. I personally would have to install additional firewalls to support it, as I have several private networks already running that I wouldn't necessarily want to share with other people (due to security requirements). One thing you may need to look at is any bandwidth / traffic limits imposed by peoples ISP's, and any additional charges that may be levied on people for participating. For example, here is Australia we have fairly harsh traffic caps from a number of ISP's that would preclude participation. Sounds like a good idea though. Glenn ----- Original Message ----- From: "Cary, Mark" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, August 08, 2003 3:32 AM Subject: [ActiveDir] Home Labs Interconnected > I wanted to pose this idea to the group and get some feedback. > > Resources at work are limited for a test lab and I only have 3 computers at > home for a lab, and I would think at least some of you are in similar > situations. The home lab is ok for some stuff but I find it's hard to put a > real world slant on such a small network. > > Would it be plausible to get several IT people, that haven't really met just > interacted online (such as this list), to connect there home labs over the > Internet creating a larger lab environment. This would create many > different sites and subnets, something hard to do in a standalone home lab > with limited hardware. I see the biggest issue would be with security and > trust, could this be overcome? Could this experiment succeed or would some > people always be trying to trash everyone else's computers? > > What do you think? > > > The information contained in this message is confidential and is intended > for the addressee(s) only. If you have received this message in error or > there are any problems please notify the originator immediately. The > unauthorized use, disclosure, copying or alteration of this message is > strictly forbidden. Badger Meter, Inc. will not be liable for direct, > special, indirect or consequential damages arising from alteration of the > contents of this message by a third party or as a result of any virus being > passed on. > > List info : http://www.activedir.org/mail_list.htm > List FAQ : http://www.activedir.org/list_faq.htm > List archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/activedir%40mail.activedir.org/ List info : http://www.activedir.org/mail_list.htm List FAQ : http://www.activedir.org/list_faq.htm List archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/activedir%40mail.activedir.org/
