Here's some thoughts in the "LAN" catagory pertaining to the network at meetings.
I wrote: "There are issues that will come up around the LAN that we set up at meetings as we grow that network and add servers and services. Initially these are: alternate dhcp address pools and addresses to reserve for future servers and network devices. Then we'll get into what to add when, who is responsible for what servers and how to integrate the meeting topics with our LAN's capability for demonstration purposes. Some of us have been discussing this off line to provide the foundation but soon a larger discussion will be necessary. " We've worked out some things in advance to lay a foundation before there was time to discuss it so the LAN actually works. Also there may be only a few people who feel up to, or want to, participate in this discussion. But here are some initial issues: We could use multiple dhcp servers in case someone with the dhcp server doesn't get there or is late. (Seems last time the person with the extra power strips didn't get there :) ). The current plan is to have 3 pools of IP addresses, one for each dhcp server, so they don't conflict with each other. Better to have only one DHCP server running, but in case there are two they won't conflict with each other. Along with this we want to reserve sections of the addres space for fixed IP servers (such as DNS, WINS, maybe NIS) and also for network devices we may add such as routers and switches. Yes, we could really do that. Anyone's linux box can become a router and modern switches are as light as hubs. Then there is the idea of future additional subnets for routing demos and experiments. Anyway, even though ya'll didn't know it, some initial decisions were made in this regard, for the address space, just to get us off on a good start and avoid potential problems. The questions now (as I see it, IMHO) are: what do we want to do with the network and how to plan for that and make it happen. If we want to implement a DNS server or Apache or a router with multiple subnets, when should these things happen and how should we build it out. It's quite exciting to me to think of doing these things on a network that we set up in 20 minutes and then breakdown after the evening and then do it again next month. It think that's awsome. And I think it sets our group apart in a very positive way. So let's run with it! Now... When should we do what? What meeting presentations should we have to coincide with the addition of these network services? DNS, SAMBA, Routing, APACHE, NIS, LSAP, MySQL? How shall we integrate that development with presentations on other topics and other speakers? What subset of our LAN would be good for a demo to "take on the road" to present on Linux to other User Groups? Do we want to do anything like this at TCF? These are some of the questions that come to my mind, all around the topic of the Meeting LAN. Wayne
