IP fowarding

[Matrox]

I want a run armagetron dedicated server form time to time. I can set it up and it works fine. But the ip that i have to use is a static ip which id rather not use.

Want id like to do is forward a my static on to another ip that will be used to connect to the server.

Ive been to http://www.no-ip.com and http://www.dyndns.org/ and signed up for accounts. I can forward a web address to an ip. But i cant seem to see how to foward an IP to another IP. Ive looked through the options and cant seem to see how to do this. Ive probably missed something. So i thought that i would seek help.

[ishAdmin]

forwarding one ip to another ip could cause some extra delay. perhaps quite a lot of extra delay.

you could do it on your home machine with http://www.analogx.com/contents/downloa ... mapper.htm (actually, will this actually work the way you need? not sure)

Or you could use iptables if you are running unix to do the same thing.

Or you could set up a proxy server too I guess. Another slow thing.

But I still don't think this will work out very well. The packets will actually be travelling to and through both locations.

Are you mainly just wanting to hide your static IP?

[Matrox]

Or you could use iptables if you are running unix to do the same thing.?

Im running Xp Pro. Although i like it sometimes i think that i should change. Ive been thinking of installing a linux op system on a spare harddrive. Any suggestions about what linux op system i should install?. Ive heard that Openbsd is very good and secure but id rather have something that is abit more like my windows enviroment rather than running things form the command line. At least at first until i get used to how linux works.

Are you mainly just wanting to hide your static IP?

Yes thats want id like to do if possible. Most people are ok and i wouldnt mind them knowing my staic ip but there are always some idiots that id prefer them not to know. A fowarding service would be great but if it would slow done the game to such a great extent it wouldnt be worth doing.

At times like this i cant understand why should need to hide my ip. However not everyone is as decent as youd expect them to be.

[Lucifer]

Im running Xp Pro. Although i like it sometimes i think that i should change. Ive been thinking of installing a linux op system on a spare harddrive. Any suggestions about what linux op system i should install?. Ive heard that Openbsd is very good and secure but id rather have something that is abit more like my windows enviroment rather than running things form the command line. At least at first until i get used to how linux works.

I'm hungry for beef, I'm gonna go get some pork chops.

Sorry, OpenBSD is not Linux in any way, shape, or form. It's Unix. BSD is the original distribution of Unix developed at Bell Labs and from which all other Unices derive. Linux is a clean-room implementation of the POSIX standard.

Anyway, I recommend Mandrake to anybody who wants to try Linux. You can start with MandrakeMove, which is a Mandrake distribution that boots off CD. Get comfortable with the UI and stuff, then go all out with the regular Mandrake distribution. I recently used MandrakeMove for a data recovery job, and it's excellent. Mandrake does a good job of hiding the internals for day-to-day business, but you still have access to those internals, and Mandrake does a good job of leaving alone any customizations you make.

Yes thats want id like to do if possible. Most people are ok and i wouldnt mind them knowing my staic ip but there are always some idiots that id prefer them not to know. A fowarding service would be great but if it would slow done the game to such a great extent it wouldnt be worth doing.

I wouldn't even try to hide my IP, and I'll tell you why. IP addresses are fundamental to how the internet works. In fact, that's kinda why it's called "Internet Protocol", it's what makes the Internet the Internet. If you want to run a server, you have to be willing to let people know your IP address. Just like if you want to throw a party you have to tell people where your house is. You can't have people go to your friend's house for the party and then route everyone to your house.

So if you really want to hide your IP address, you either need to host your server somewhere else entirely, or not have a server in the first place. Anything else is likely to not be worth the time spent setting up.

[ishAdmin]

OK, two more things.

1) Most people playing armagetron have no idea what you ip is. They see a name in the master server list and they go to it to play. Only the really smart ones can figure out your IP. And well, they can figure it out anyway. If a hacker wants you, a hacker can find you. Don't run a server unless you know how to protect yourself.

2) You can protect yourself! Get yourself a Mandrake linux box running as lucifer suggests. We know armagetron runs well on it. You'll be able to use iptables to make the box very secure. It's basically a firewall that can close the entire box off to the internet *except* the specific things you let in, like armagetron game packets. If you have more than one computer at your static ip, put them behind a router. Just a router by itself provides a whole bunch of protection. It can be set up to eat every packet thrown at it except specific ports forwarded to specific computers.

You really don't need to be paranoid. An IP is really just like a phone number. But imagine your phone with a firewall. No one can call you unless you allow them.

[Matrox]

Thanks Lucifer and ish for your advice.

Ive got Mandrake Move on a cd somewhere ill dig it out. Apparently its save via USB flash disk/stick.
I assume that you dont have to save anything but i would be able to save configuration files, network settings, to keyboard/mouse settings and desktop shortcuts.

However can you or is it possible to save to a seperate partition on the harddrive. Ive got 2 HD in my system and i only use 1 at the moment. So i could use a HD totally for linux. Or do you think it would be better to buy a CHEAP box/system and keep it totally seperate?.

Ive been seriously considering getting a router and ive just be deciding which one i want. However i think ive dediced which router to get so i will order it over the weekend.

I may aswell ask you before i order. Which router would you advise me to get?.

Thanks again for the advise.

[Lucifer]

If you've got money/computer for it, definitely run a dedicated box.

For a router, the only things I look for are pretty simple. Wireless. Also, make sure you can hide the remote administration from the internet (I think all new routers do it, but some old ones didn't). And, um, well, that's all I look for. Port forwarding, but I've *never* heard of a router that didn't do port forwarding.

The reason to run a dedicated box is about packet loss, I've decided. You need to be able to give the server process the highest priority you can, otherwise it loses packets for some reason. This accounts for the weird lag on ish's server, since he has more important things running on his server so he can't bump up the priority on the armagetron process. On a dedicated box, you can eliminate all worthless tasks that occupy space in the scheduler and bump up the armagetron process pretty high. I'd like a dedicated box to screw with the realtime kernels and see what I can get with them.

The other reason to run a dedicated box is framerate. I don't play much on my servers anymore because my fps drops almost to where it's unplayable. What's the point of running a server then? (i'm still trying to answer that, when I do I might wind up tearing down my servers so I can get a decent framerate again. But I don't want to do that either, it's a no-win scenario right now, dammit egg why isn't your server back up?)

[Matrox]

I will have alok around for a cheap system. What would you recommend the min hardware that i would need to run a dedicated armagetron server
with a mandrake op system. I wont really need to put much else on the computer. If i can purchase a box at the right price that is.

Ive got a 2mb connection. So unless im mistaken that should be enough?

Ive contact my isp to see if could run an armagetron server from the webspace they gave me with my account.

Any way they said NO. I didnt ask but they said to run the game server from home. Which is something that i didnt think most isp would say. My isp seems happy for me to do this.

For webspace that you get bundled with your internet connection it has some pretty good features.

> 250 MB Space
> 7.5gb of B/W per month. (Although not totally enforced)
> Mysql.
> Php, Perl, Python etc.
> Cgi.
> Cron Jobs.
> Gd compiled.
> Front Page Extensions.
> Web Stats.
> Actinic Catalog.
> Telnet and SSH Shell Access.
> Plus other features.

[philippeqc]

Ive got a 2mb connection. So unless im mistaken that should be enough?

I think the upload part of your bandwith is more important. But let a real sysadmin anser that.

For webspace that you get bundled with your internet connection it has some pretty good features.

> 250 MB Space
> 7.5gb of B/W per month. (Although not totally enforced)
> Mysql.
> Php, Perl, Python etc.
> Cgi.
> Cron Jobs.
> Gd compiled.
> Front Page Extensions.
> Web Stats.
> Actinic Catalog.
> Telnet and SSH Shell Access.
> Plus other features.

:D

Yes it is VERY sweet. You could use that for your own ssh/telnet unix account. Start using it for all your files (in a protected folder of course). Then impress your friends by ssh'ing there and retreiving them while they have to phone home and explain to mom how to reboot windows and start the ftp server. (I have a small tutorial of cool things to do with ssh in this forum.

About running the server there, well, it would eat away munster amount of CPU cycles on their server (read, all available and then some more). Not the thing they want. And everytime Uncle Joe would like to show his vacation picture from St-Tropez in his really tight speedo and Aunty Maggy discovering the joyes of top-less-ness, your server would take a hit and all the players would go sliding. Not the things you want.


-ph

Edit: I've removed all the "Challenge" elements to the thread http://guru3.sytes.net/viewtopic.php?p=18409#18409

[Matrox]

WOW Philip i got most of that but actaully trying to do it is a different strory. Well it is for me anyway. Ill give it ago but i may be a little late for the dead line.
Ive got little experience in this sort of thing. Ive only really got into using a computer or should i say that ive only had use of a computer for the last 6mths. Got to learn somewhere...

On the subject of routers ive found one that seems to be very good although quite expensive. What do you guys think

http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop/Sh ... uctID=1517

My upload Speed is not so good 288 kbps

[Lucifer]

If you've got the money for that, it looks like an excellent router. Let's see, it has all the features I want:

Wireless
At least 4 ethernet ports
Port forwarding

In addition, it has:

firewall (the description resembles iptables, I'll be it is iptables on the inside)
virus filtering for email, ftp, and http

[philippeqc]

WOW Philip i got most of that but actaully trying to do it is a different strory. Well it is for me anyway. Ill give it ago but i may be a little late for the dead line.
Ive got little experience in this sort of thing. Ive only really got into using a computer or should i say that ive only had use of a computer for the last 6mths. Got to learn somewhere...

Then just try to go through the tutorial and see what you learn from it. Re-read the Challenge in its own forum. I've rephrased it a bit.

I'm quite sure someone could slease himself out of the second question (not the extras though) by using the tutorial. The extras are extras after all.

On the subject of routers ive found one that seems to be very good although quite expensive. What do you guys think

I've noticed one thing, it is both a router AND an ADSL modem. That might cost you extra. At home, I have a "regular" router, ie the input is regular twisted pair cable (most home network kind of cable). This port is plugged to the modem (cable modem for me, could be ADSL modem).

Ok, its 2 box instead of one, but if you already have the modem, then why pay double?

-ph