Logon system?

I was wondering I will be running 5 computers at my house, 2 for gamings, 1 family pc, 2 misc for odds and end such as word processing and what not.

I want to be able to restrict them all remotely from the master pc which controls the network connections.

Is there anyway I can setup some sort of program so I can add the computers to workgroups to deny certain access to the computers, such as I want to restrict certain websites, files, and other misc odds and ends.

Would Novell be right for me? Currently the systems all run Winxp, and 1 Linux box.

Any info would be appreciated, sorry if this has been asked before, (some topics were really old) and thanks for the help in advance.

Cheers! kOc

Either Novell or Windows 2000/2003 Server would allow you to do what you are talking about. Instead of restricting computers, under either of those NOS's, I would restrict individual users. If you go with either, you will also need a second server to handle the internet traffic (since you want to restrict certain sites). If you go with a Windows Server, I would go with IAS (if you want a software solution, otherwise you can get a hardware solution, though, I'm assuming cost is an issue). It's also possible to do all of this through Linux, but if you are not familiar with configure Linux servers, you will have a great deal of trouble with it.

AJ

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Originally posted here by King of CaveMen
I was wondering I will be running 5 computers at my house, 2 for gamings, 1 family pc, 2 misc for odds and end such as word processing and what not.

I want to be able to restrict them all remotely from the master pc which controls the network connections.

Is there anyway I can setup some sort of program so I can add the computers to workgroups to deny certain access to the computers, such as I want to restrict certain websites, files, and other misc odds and ends.

Would Novell be right for me? Currently the systems all run Winxp, and 1 Linux box.

Any info would be appreciated, sorry if this has been asked before, (some topics were really old) and thanks for the help in advance.

Cheers! kOc

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Setup the Linux box as an NT domain using samba. Then use the MS domain model to add/remove privs. You can also use things like policy editor e.a.

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Setup the Linux box as an NT domain using samba. Then use the MS domain model to add/remove privs. You can also use things like policy editor e.a.

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Samba is one of the first things I learned on *nix. I love it.

It lets you block computers or users per share. You can also use a firewall on the *nix server to do the same thing. Since it is on a private LAN, I would recommend using samba. You can use Linux server to handle authentication and as your file/print share. It works well for me. If you are having trouble finding resouce material on howto set this up... send me a PM. I'll dig up my docs.

As for restricting sites and what not... look into smoothwall proxy/firewall. (opensoure)
Another one is ipcop, which some could argue is better. It all comes down to preference there... they both do practically the same thing.

Essentially... you setup the proxy with a ruleset, and restrict it on a per ip/user basis.
It has been a while since I have messed with it, but I have all my docs for that filed away too.

Maybe shold you consider a networking issue based on the following functions:
- QoS: to prioritize a user service vs another
- Proxy: to set rules on external website rights
- Firewall: to restrict each users/PC to a set of limited authorized application.
- ...

Again i am going to suggest RedHand www.redhand.com this is a brilliant piece of software (1 prob doesnt work on Linux as far as i know) Ive not used Apache not had much chance to due to time constraints etc let me know how you get on i think we would all be interested maybe keep a diary and post with every obstical and solution you get. This would help people like yourself later on.

Damien Harrison