Systems projects

Network

Proposition from Tom: " The edge routers can handle failing over the link from one provider to the other, we'd need a small static IP block for each provider with at least 3 assignable addresses to do failover correctly. No need for a second wifi network, or infrastructure. Once we have the edge routers, make the primary resolver the edge routers, make the edge router forward requests for internal zones to the AD dns servers. This eliminates huge chunks of failure pain points and can be achieved in about 2 hours once we have the hardware. Second connection is a little more complicated, but we could fix a lot of stuff with one purchase of the edge router. "

" First thing is to get a switch installed on the new side. We grabbed

the disused one on top of the boiler room, blew a ton of dust out of it,                                                                                                                                                          
and I will make a platform near the hole for it to sit on, way up near                                                                                                                                                            
the ceiling, and we will run cables to it from the switch in the rack.                                                                                                                                                            
 From there we will run cables to connect the Shopbot and CNC Plasma                                                                                                                                                              
machines so they will no longer be dependent on the wifi network to                                                                                                                                                               
function (see the email I sent a few minutes ago about what’s up with                                                                                                                                                             
that).   "   2017-12-17 (systems meeting)

"The wifi units are configured to get their DNS from the router; I

gave Sky my extra Ubiquiti EdgeRouter X for this purpose if we want to                                                                                                                                                            
go this way; it would act as the top-level upstream unit, right below                                                                                                                                                             
the cable modem, providing DNS (excluding the DNS necessary by AD) and                                                                                                                                                            
DHCP so to remove the “DHCPæ VM from the mix."  2017-12-17 (systems meeting)

Hardware

"A new, separate, enclosed short cabinet should be acquired and in

that should be new equipment (i.e. not the stuff we already have) that                                                                                                                                                            
can run either Xen server or VMWware ESXi (both free, btw), in a RAID-10                                                                                                                                                          
configuration, new 1gb switch, a 1U NAS/SAN, along with a working UPS.                                                                                                                                                            
The NAS (I like Synology equipment myself) can serve both as disks for                                                                                                                                                            
the server, as well as provide, via another VM, network space for folks                                                                                                                                                           
to store their projects, as part of their AD login (so all the AD-served                                                                                                                                                          
PCs can auto mount the user’s 2 gig directory on the “M:” drive or                                                                                                                                                                
whatever.          " 2017-12-17 (systems meeting)