Lessee. smtp client/server thingie, caching DNS, web proxy cache, central FTP or samba or hxd or whattever server (with massive RAID), ircd and a Quake 3 server. That just about covers it I think.

OK, I've got a P90 with 64 MB RAM, and a 10 mbit network card. That, with the addition of a USB card can do the masquerading right? And Mark has a 486 that can be the firewall. That sound about right?

Or should I just the P90 to K6-2, and have it do the masquerading and firewalling, then Mark's 486 can be relegated to a mailserver?

ADSL is really the only feasible way to connect the nodes. Define each flat as a separate subnet, and either masquerade to Internet or tunnel depending on the target address.

We'll probably use a P133 for the ADSL connectivity and run an IPX as a general use server. I hope you all have suitable sharable and always-on computing power.

Aside, is there a point to all this, or is it just a large experiment? Either way I'm fine with it...

Oh, and site-redundant filespace would be cool, too

On ADSL

I would point out to you that BT's rollout of ADSL... could be better. Apparently (this is gleaned from various websites, notably not BT's) BT's contract prohibits servers - the example given was http - being run with this service.

Also, and I don't quite know enough to know exactly what this means, but access is through NAT (similar to masquerade, according to a large number of reputable websites. As far as I understand it, this means that you don't get a real IP address. On a similar vein, somebody mentioned - possibly on slashdot - that DHCP might be being used, meaning your IP address could at somepoint change. I don't, however, know the validity of that statement.

Various other websites indicate that during test trials, BT configured their systems to block open ports, so servers couldn't be run on them.

Lastly, can a Linux box be configured to connect with BT's home ADSL, what with the USB modem used by BT? I'm not sure of the status of that one.

I'm actually looking into ADSL for myself for the near future. The prospects do not look as good as they could be - BT is, yet again as with ISDN, not playing nice.

Update: I have recently gleaned from pointers dangled by the Edinburgh LUG that BT do indeed use NAT, but that Demon Internet are going to offer their own service without NAT, giving a fixed IP address. Also, there's apparently a company currently writing Linux USB Drivers.