The Presence of the Running Machine on the Internet

Everything has a start, and has an end.

Deploying a server over the Internet is different from setting up a local server without being revealed to outside people. For a server to be unknown on the Internet by fully-qualified hostname, it requires some registration processes. Furthermore, since the server is known to the public, some security measures should have been taken to avoid the abuse of the server.

This package includes basic elements for network operation, for example, DNS, FTP, firewall, backup storage server, VPN (Virtual Private Network) and Email .

We start from the introduction on Domain name registration with the following diagram:

1. Purchase domain name from the “vendor for domain name registration”

The “Domain Name Registration Vendor” usually will provide a Web interface for you to query your desired domain name. You may find some of the domain names you like have been acquired by other people. It is necessary for you need to find a domain name that is not being occupied. And then make the purchase of the domain name from the “Domain Name Registration Vendor” to complete this step.

2. Purchase Internet bandwidth and obtain “static” IP addresses from your local ISP (internet service provider).

Usually, the ISP will give you a set of IP addresses that may include a list of public IP addresses, the netmask, and the default Gateway. This IP information will be used when you install the software and configure your server. You shall keep the information in a safe place once you obtain that from your ISP.

3. Find a legitimate “DNS host provider”

It is to host your domain name (which you get from step 2) and the associated static IP address (which you get from step 3) record so that everybody on Internet can use your domain name to reach your server. Usually, the “DNS host provider” will provide a Web interface to allow you to input your domain name and the mapped IP address record into their hosted server. This step is completed after you have entered the data into the web page.

4. Update the record at the “Domain Name Registration Vendor” server with the IP addresses of the “DNS host provider”.

At this step, you need to access the website provided by “Domain Name Registration Vendor”. If you do not know the DNS server’s IP addresses of your “DNS host provider”, you can do as follows at your Windows command prompt (the command prompt is reached through Start > Run > cmd), issue the command

　　C:\>nslookup DNS-server- name-from-your-provider

The system will respond with the IP address of your “DNS host provider”. Usually, you need to find two IP addresses of the two DNS servers provided by “DNS host provider” (one is called primary DNS host server, the other is secondary DNS host server). The two IP addresses will be entered into the record in the place of “Domain Name Registration Vendor”. We suggest using primary DNS server and secondary server from different places. The Azblink server package also provides DNS server. But to allow people all over the world can query your domain, you should have your domain name placed in different DNS servers to alleviate the load.

5. Wait until it is in effect.

In general, it needs 24 hours to 72 hours to have your domain name record of the server populated across the world so that people can use domain name to access your server.
Those are the general steps as long as you want to have your own private server(s) on Internet.

Basic Web Setting

After the system installation be finished, take the CD out, reboot the machine, and then start the basic network setting for the system.

There are two modes to configure the host, one is console mode on the local host, and the other is Web interface mode on Client. You can choose the one you like or just by the network environment of that time.

Console Mode --- configure on local host

A. Input account and password to login into console configuration interface.

　login：reset
　Password：root123

B. You will see 7 options after login in

　1. IP Address：192.168.19.185
　2. Netmask：255.255.255.0
　3. Default Gateway：192.168.19.1
　4. Save and Reboot
　5. Reset to CD setting (DHCP) and Reboot
　6. View Current Active Values
　7. Exit without Saveing Changes

C. Is there any fixed ip ready for configuration?

　 Yes, type fixed IP address, Netmask and Default Gateway into option 1.2.3. severally. You can use up
　　and down arrow to choose the option who needs edit, and then press enter to configure. After option 1.2.3
　　be correctly configured, you can use option 4 to save these changes and reboot the machine. (If you have
　　no idea about the Netmask and Default Gateway, you can just refer to the Completion List provided by your
　　ISP.)

　 No, if there is a DHCP server providing the IP assignment services in your network, you can just use option6
　　to check the IP address assigned by the system. After checking eth0, please write down the IP address, and
　　remember to use option 7 to quit the Console interface.

D. By the IP address you set or the one obtained from DHCP, you can view the configuration page of the
　　 system host via Web browser on remote Client.

※ DHCP server exists in your network, but if you find eth0 shown as IP 1.2.3.4 when you check current system value, please check if your network cables plug into wrong place (eh0 and eth1 may been exchanged), or if there are some problems on other equipments. (Refer to Q&A in the manual)


Web interface Mode --- configure at sub-network

A. Is the host, which you installed system on, connected by other hosts?

　 Yes, please confirm the host is the only DHCP sever (that is to say the network should not have other
　　DHCP servers, e.g. IP distributor), and then start from C.

　 No, please complete basic network configuration according to B’s instruction.

B. A network cable makes host’s eth1 port and the Hub connected. And use another cable to connect to
　　Hub, let the other end of this cable link to a common Client computer.

C. Choose one Client computer from the sub-network which connected to the system host.

D. Open command prompt on the Client (suppose it’s a Windows machine), type “ipconfig” and then press
　“Enter” button, check whether the Default Gateway is 172.16.9.1 or not?

　 Yes, just close the command prompt, enter into next step.

　 No, type “ipconfig/release” to release the old IP in your computer, and then type “ipconfig/renew” to get
　　new assigned IP.
　　(If you are still unable to obtain new IP, please check if the network has other DHCP sever or not, or maybe
　　TCP/IP of this Client does not use the mode of “Obtain an IP Address Automatically”.)

E. Open your Browser, and type http://172.16.9.1 at the address bar to link. When you visit the page at the
　　first time, you will see 4 items;

　　Host Name：Please set Host Name for this host.
　　Admin Password：Default password is admin123.
　　New Admin Password：Please set new password.
　　Confirm Password：Please confirm your new password.

F. After you enter into system page, go to System>>Network, choose Internet or PPPoE depending on the
　situation.

　 Choose Internet. At the Internet Interface, mostly, you should set the values for IP address / Netmask /
　　Default Gateway and then submit, restart your machine and you will find it already connected to Internet.

　 Choose PPPoE. If you use PPPoE, remember to check the checkbox of “Turn on PPPoE”. Fill in the account
　　and password provided by ISP and submit, reboot your computer, then you can connect to the network.
　　(Please refer to the sections of Configuration and Q&A in Quick Installation Guide if you have any questions.)

FAQ

Q1: AzOS needs to install from CD drive, how can I boot my system from CD?
A1: Most of the computer motherboards have “Boot from CD drive” function; you can enable this function when system is power on. If you don’t know how to setup the “boot from CD drive” function, you can read the motherboard user guide.

Q2: I have DHCP server on my local network; however, I still can not reach to the server‘s login page with other PC’s browser, why?
A2: The problem could be due to the hardware failure; please check your Ethernet connection cable and Ethernet LED indicator first, then check your router LED indicator. If you have two Ethernet cards on your server, they will be labeled as eth0 or eth1. You have to check which one is used as “eth0” or “eth1”; you may try to switch two Ethernet jacks and try again.

Q3: While system is installing, the error occurred and the message shown “Loading /isolinux/vmlinuz .......................isolinux Disk error 80, AX = 4280, drive 9F”, is that hard a drive’s problem?
A3: The problem seems to happen during the hard disk writing process; we suggest:

Q4: While system is installing, the error occurred and the message shown “no swap partition, the script is going to be terminated”.
A4: Please try the following step:

Q5: Is the first plugged Ethernet card called eth0? If I have two Ethernet cards on my server how can I tell which one is eth0 and is eth1?
A5: Not all the first card you plugged in your board is eth0, the system will have its own logic to decide it. If you do not know which one is eth0 and eth1, do not worry, you can unplug the Ethernet cable from your server, and then, at the moment, the console screen will show “ethX link is down”, then you will know the answer.

Q6: I bought the server with on-board Ethernet, but the system can not recognize the on-board Ethernet card, what is the problem?
A6: There could be the BIOS setup problem, please check your BIOS setting and check if the “LAN function” is enabled. Sometimes the installed system does not support your onboard Ethernet, we recommend to use “widely-used” card (ex. Realtek Ethernet card) to replace the onboard Ethernet function (i.e. plug in new Ethernet card and disable the on board Ethernet function).

Q7: When my BIOS boot setting is done, is there anything I should do before the system installation? Why I put the CD into the CD drive but nothing happens?
A7: The major problem could be: the system disc format is used incorrectly while using CD burning software. Some CD burning software packages, such as NERO and Roxio, provide easy way to burn the “ISO” image into CD.

Q8: I use the xDSL PPPOE to connect to the Internet, when xDSL was disconnected unexpectedly, the system no longer can connect to the Internet, why?
A8: Many reasons cause xDSL PPPOE disconnection, for example: signal problem, telecommunication hardware failure, network card mal-function, or network card not to be plugged into the slot properly, loosed socket connection, network cable problem, switch or router mal-function、incorrect network configuration(including DNS & proxy failure), in-proper Border Control setting, virus attack, hacking , etc….

  Sometimes, it is just that your ISP restarts their PPPoE concentrator.

  When the link is disconnected, you can use system “restart” function, or reboot your system. 

Q9: When I use PPPOE connection, I can see my IP is shown on the screen. But when system reboot, the static IP is gone. What’s wrong?
A9: There are some possible reasons: maybe the ISP server is in maintenance mode (unlikely happens though), or the network connection is too slow so that you can not get your IP in time during the boot process. You can go to the System setting to restart your system, or you can type your PPPOE username and password and submit again.

Q10: I have over 3000 users to be imported to the server. Is that possible?
A10: Yes, you can import 250 users to system each time, and in theory, our system’s user capacity is 65535, but it still depends on your system’s performance. We have used a PIII 1Ghz CPU, with 256MB RAM and 80G hard drive to test the loading, and the result shows that the beginning 3800 users is completely done, after that some import problem occurs, but when we decrease the import users from 250 to 200, system seems okay. This means that the system performance is depends on user’s number.

Q11: It’s awful to memorize server’s IP, is any better way to deal with that?
A11: When you configured your server’s name on the system page, you can just type http://yourservername and jump to that login page.

Q12: How if I want my web-mail have a function like “bulletin board”?
A12: Yes, when you login into the Webmail, you will find out the functional bar on the left of the page. There are “Mail” and “Organizing” , you can click Organizing >> Notes >> My Notepads; at the entry box of Notepad’s name, fill in the name for that bulletin board, for example “marketing”, and then press “create” button  and  click “My Notepad”. Then at the selection box of the notepads, you will see the item that you have just created. You will see there is a “permission” button that allows you to set the permission. If you click the “show” and “read” at the all authenticated users entry and save the setting. Then, your newly created notepad will be a public accessible “bulletin board”. 

Q13: Is that possible to “backup” every incoming and sent mail to specified mail address?
A13: Yes, but we do not provide this service in our business version ; if you are interested in this feature, please ask vendor for enterprise version (e7i).

Q14: When I leave my office, I can not use Microsoft Outlook to open my mail account, why?
A14: We designed the mail system to be accessed at local area network environment. If users want to receive mails outside the local area network, it may have some security risks while sending or receiving mails. Some crackers use this weakness to attack the system. If you decide to ignore this risk, you can open this service by going to the firewall setting page and open the TCP port 110.

Q15: When I use Microsoft Outlook to open my mail account, message shows “Request Timeout”.
A15: When the internet connection is unstable or in very busy state, it will cause the problem mentioned above. Besides, if your computer is installed with virus protection program, the virus detection program will spend some time on scanning the incoming mail. If the scan time is too long, it will also cause the problem. You can turn off the virus detection program and try again. Otherwise, just use Web Mail will be a better solution.

Q16: How can I use Web interface to access Border Control host that the firewall has been configured with Port 80 and Port 8081 for Port Forwarding Setting? The http traffic from Internet side was being forwarded to the host behind the firewall. How should I access the firewall machine via Web Interface?
A16. There are three ports: 80, 8080, 8081 listening to http request in the Azblink Product. If the traffic reaches to the port 80 and port 8081 has been forwarded. You can use utilize the port 8080 by using following “ http://IP:8080/apps/” to reach to the Border Control host to make your further configuration.

Q17: I would like to look up my backup data in my server. While I was typing the “\\computername\backup” into the Windows Explorer command line, a little window pop up and asked for username and password, what should I do? Is the syntax correct?
A17: The correct command syntax to lookup your backup server is “\\computername\youraccount”, and types the password into the popup screen.

Q18: My file can be backup every time without problem; however when I want to extract the backup file from “tmp” folder, nothing in my folder list, why?
A18: In storage service, you have to follow the procedure. Missing any step in the procedure will cause this problem.  Please follow the screen instruction carefully.

Q19: When I test my backup file, the message always shows “Connection to ***** failed”?
A19: Please make sure your PC and the server are in the same local network (subnet). Make sure your login account is accessible to backup file. If you are using Windows XP, check your file and print sharing function is ready, and check the Windows XP firewall “scope” setting include the subnet.

Q20: I have used VPN to connect to my company office successfully, but I still can not access to my office resources?
A20: Possible reasons:
The first one is on your VPN “push setting”. While VPN is started, always remember that you have at least two IP addresses on your VPN client: one is your virtual network IP; the other is your local network IP. To force the traffic into your VPN tunnel on VPN client side, you need to specify VPN pushed setting on VPN server side. For example, if your VPN is 172.16.38.0/24 and local network IP is 192.168.1.0/24, you should add the both setting in pushed setting.

Destination Network: 192.168.1.0
Netmask: 255.255.255.0
Destination Network: 172.16.38.0
Netmask: 255.255.255.0

So, the network packets on VPN client with destination to 192.168.1.0/24 will be routed via VPN tunnel.
The 2nd possible cause is on the Windows firewall setting; firewall software would block the VPN request because it is from different subnet. You can turn off your PC’s firewall, but it is risky to do so. The other is to turn on the Windows firewall exception handling to allow “file and printer sharing scope setting”. In other words, set it within the VPN scope. It is a comparatively safe by setting in this way. But it involves a little complicated setting process.  But it is still with some security risk, if you do not need to use VPN service all the time, do not turn on the VPN service all day long.

The 3rd possible cause is that your local network does not have WINS server. You have to remember the particular machine IP address to be able to access it; it is very troublesome. Azblink provides WINS service for your local network. To turn on the service, please set up your WINS IP to “pushed setting” (WINS server IP= VPN+Border Control server’s IP), while you are assigning the WINS IP, you can easily type your PC’s name and find it in your remote PC.

Q21: Can I use VPN connection to the Internet without a network connection?
A21: No, VPN provides an encryption mechanism that helps to connect different network via public network; even if you can see the virtual network operates, it still counts on the physical Ethernet interface to connect on the Internet.

Q22: I have opened an account but I can not use FTP service, why?
A22: FTP port is a vulnerable port on the Internet. Many firewall software packages will not open the FTP service port to prevent crackers’ attacking. Please check your firewall setting and open the port 21 if you need.

Q23: How can I start using the FTP service?