Big Broadband Bill · DIGIT-ARC

My college has run up a broadband bill of Rs 40000 last month. I suspect this is due to
1. Bittorrent and other P2P - I have actually seen this. Even if the systems have restricted user accounts uTorrent and Ares are being used.
2. Worms - which I proved by shutting down suspect idle infected systems and showing them the data light on the router which was furiously blinking slow down.

Now while the second problem can be sorted out by
a. patching
b. Antivirus updated REGULARLY

My Question is about the first problem, what's the best way to manage the bandwidth? Use a proxy like Squid? Can it be done in windows (sorry my IT department is allergic to Linux)?

Just wondering, what are you in the college ?

the college adminstration will pay the bill, why do u have to worry in first case ?

^^He's a doc

Are you principal?

Because I am in the library committee and I was asked for a suggestion, that's all.

arre ask you college to have some unlimited plan na?And even 40k isn't much if your college is big.

You can convince your 'It department' to switch over to linux instead---no worms and I think users accounts are more easily maintained in linux.

The_Devil_Himself said:
And even 40k isn't much if your college is big.

It is "big"if its unnecessary.. the college doesn't have unlimited funds, you know.

1. BSNL does not give unlimited plans to corporates here
2. As the college is located on NH 17 there is no other service provider

tell them to use MO on every system

btw... which ISP at the moment ?

^^ he stated it clearly ...... BSNL .........

1.Ask your college to inquire about a dedicated receiver from some big ISP.You know you get a dedicated receiver and it connects directly to satellites and such.

2.Go linux:ask your college to install linux on some of the PCs and see 1.)if the bills lower down,2.)if everybody is comfy enough using it.You can decide which which activity a user is permitted to do and which they cannot and besides worms\viruses are non-existent in linux.

I have myself faced mass downloading worms and viruses--they just download random data and make life hell.

Oops... i think i should get my eyes tested...

thanks

Use Firewall to block trojans etc & torrent clients.

^ u cant stop a trojan while downloading it in a zipped file/torrent

you can stop trojan from accessing internet by regularly updating firewall defs.

Ofcourse AV is required & should be updated regularly.

I'm updating my firewall everyday and virus defs too... but still it wont detect in the archieved file... it detects only after extracting

I think I have stated the position very clearly, I do wish some of you would read before replying

no offence meant. let me REPEAT what I said above:
1. My IT department is allergic to Linux, so are the students (that's what they feel)
2. There is no other ISP serving the area my college is in

Will implementation of a Squid proxy in windows help the problem? I have no idea about squid, never used it before. Anyway if it is useful I'll leave it for my IT people to learn about it

NucleusKore said:
2. There is no other ISP serving the area my college is in

I am not talking about simple wired broadband connections I am talking about special connections specially for corporates and institutions.I know my college has similar setup.

Best solution IMO:Limit broadband access time or stop providing broadband if they feel they can't afford it.

Gigacore said:
I'm updating my firewall everyday and virus defs too... but still it wont detect in the archieved file... it detects only after extracting

Arrey Bhai! I meant they will not be able to access internet & waste bandwidth if firewalls are used & maintained properly.

@Doc- Even if BSNL doesn't give unlimited connections to corporates etc you may be able to clinch a deal with BSNL authorities for unlimited access. Arrange a meeting with your local BSNL manager.

@narangz......The BSNL deal was negotiated by the management, not by me. BSNL is just being monopolist as no one is allowed to dig on the highway

Just wondering, do the comps _need_to have internet ?

What we do in our college is... we have 2 different networks. 1 for internet and 1 the local lan.

Whichever PC needs access to internet, he needs to request it and only then he can log onto the network. It is easier to manage the comps in this way.

Else, every PC is connected in a LAN.

I

I think if you route all the web traffic through 1 main server then its possible to setup a proxy thing on that server and limiting the bandwidth as well.Also you could allow requests from web specific ports only like 80.

But the problem in this case will be the main server will have to stay ON all the time and no one should be allowed to mess with it ...coz if it gets hanged all the net will go down.

Then get satellite internet

If not then firewalls, antiviruses are the best options.

@Darklord......Yes they do need to have internet...
I was dwelling on a two phase solution:
1. Squid proxy
2. Open DNS

^^Isn't Squid for Linux?

OpenDNS is good, I suppose.

narangz said:
^^Isn't Squid for Linux?

OpenDNS is good, I suppose.

*squid.acmeconsulting.it/SquidNT25.html
*www.krakenreports.com/index.php?subPage=krakenConfig

squid is the perfect solution most institutions use.ur dept's allergy for Linux must be cured before they are treating others allergy!(no,offense!)

I have couple of solutions:
1.Get a leased line.
2.install site restriction software like Cyberoam client and block access to popular sites and also P2P clients.You can also restrict user activity by daily bandwidth quota and restricted download speed.

so first all how big is your college network?
also i suggest you to make a server & router all traffic thought.
it gives better control over your network.
also one that computer can run on Linux, while others and be windows.

You can run a windows based proxy as well but it is only useful for smaller networks, if you have a larger network then you must choose a Linux server. intinally it may be difficult to manage but will be helpful in long run

Also linux doesn't require reboots as a windows based pc needs, for a home users its not a big thing but here if you reboot a windows computer, internet will stop working on every computer in your network, and this act may not be liked my many students

Restrict users to use specific apps alone.
Yöü can do this in account.and also put a master admin password.
There are also many software to do these tricky job.even digit carried out a article..please refer

That library committee meeting still hasn't been called for. Will post the developments if they happen

N

Block the internet access by password & use net monitoring application from server.

Meeting is supposed to be on Saturday, will keep you all posted

cant they use a linux server with squid proxy

all their problems will be over.contact Mangalore or Kannur LUG for help.even i know a person who does this one Mr.Sujeevan.His contact is below:
*s2s2net.netfirms.com/contact.html
your institution can use his service.
*s2s2net.netfirms.com/services.html

Ok Praka, lets see if the meeting materialises

You don't know how things work here

H

Though being a windows user i would strictly recommend Linux.