Network connection and hardware

Choosing an ISP

A typical home ADSL connection will provide a minimum uplink speed of 64 Kbps, and up to 250 Kbps for short periods. That's adequate for a SocialTools server.

Make sure your ISP will allow you to run a server on your connection; some of them explicitly forbid it.

Some ISPs only provide dynamic IP addresses using NAT; this won't do. The server will need a fixed IP address. Get a few IP addresses, so other machines can use the same connection.

Network hardware

Router and Firewall

A local network will need a router. Usually you can get a combined ADSL modem and router from your ISP. However, we really strongly recommend that you get a hardware firewall, and the least expensive option will usually be to get a combined ADSL modem, router and firewall in one unit.

If you don't get a firewall, you will need to do considerably more work to secure your network, particularly if it includes more than one machine; see the advice in StandardSecurity. The standard configuration assumes you have a firewall.

With a firewall, you should only open these ports for incoming traffic:

Protocol	Port
SSH	TCP 22
SMTP	TCP 25
DNS (only if you handle DNS for one or more domains)	TCP/UDP 53
HTTP Web	TCP 80
HTTPS Web	TCP 443
ICMP, e.g. ping	N/A

Ethernet Ports

Make sure your router (or firewall, if you have one) has enough ports on it for the machines you want to connect; otherwise you'll need a network hub.
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