A "home server" to "control" other PCs

-4

I might be asking a lot from the title so let me clarify. I'm an I.T System Administrator. I understand Client-Server relationship fully. I use Windows GPO on our server for almost every use Windows has implement for that service. However, as we all know this client-server "model" of controlling the client from the server applies to business of various size and not users that are not connected to a network domain (like home users).

So it got me thinking, how could I apply this client server control model at home. Of course the main answer to this is to setup a proxy server or use a router with dd-wrt to control ACCESS to the outside. This is great, however I'm NOT looking into outside internet control access. I am looking how to control/manage personal computers/devices that are on my home network. Example would be, your traditional internet access controls mixed with paternal controls (time access rules) mixed with push notifications(pop up messages, mixed with deployment of software, printers,etc. Basically the whole idea is the same idea that Windows GPO brings. The difference, I want to bring this control for home users.

Any idea's that will incorporate above in a Client-Server relationship for home users ?

Benjamin Jones

Posted 2014-04-17T21:34:54.700

Reputation: 526

5If you want to treat your home network like a business network (and have the capabilities of GPO), then you need business-grade OSs and tools. Sticking with a Windows environment then install Server, upgrade all Windows clients to non-home versions, setup a domain and use GPO. If you actual question is "how can I do this with out spending money" then the answer is, move away from the Windows platform. anyhow, as-is this question is too-broad (IMO), so I'm voting to close. – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 – 2014-04-17T21:42:12.347

YES I KNOW THIS and this not a place to introduce/build on this concept. However I just needed to know if their was a way! The sites title superuser describes what I am accomplish here, so thus is why I am posting. I'm not stating the home client server relationship has to Windows based. I am just wondering if there is anything that is out their that gets the same results from business network, for home networks. Thats it! If you would like to close this post, that's fine. But SuperUser.com isn't abiding to its purpose by closing this post! – Benjamin Jones – 2014-04-17T22:07:40.717

Why not put up a domain controller and add the PCs to the domain? However, you have to ensure your PCs have the correct windows version. I believe not all are capable of joining a domain. – uSlackr – 2014-04-17T23:23:11.580

Home verison of Window O/S do no allow connection to a domain. I don't even think you can connect to a windows domain from a iPhone. – Benjamin Jones – 2014-04-17T23:50:21.673

"However I just needed to know if their was a way!" and "I am just wondering if there is anything that is out their that gets the same results from business network, for home networks." - If this is crux of your question then the answer is "Of course there is a way; do what you do at work, at home". Broad question, broad answers. :) Please be aware that I'm not denying it's interesting, or saying it's off-topic, I just think you just need to narrow the scope. – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 – 2014-04-18T02:19:19.673

You say you use Windows GPO at work on the servers, what exactly do you use it for there? Armed with that knowledge, what troubles are you having implementing a version of it at home? – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 – 2014-04-18T02:25:38.153

On a work server, but as the title mentions HOME SERVER at home. I have a idea, that I will use a Ubuntu Server as a home server and send remote commands to the Window computers (on the home network) in order to registry the local policy on the Window computer. Unix-like O/S do not use registries so I'll just sent remote comands from the Ubuntu Server as well. Seeing I'll have all home user password/usernames, this ideally should work. Maybe one day create a App to remotly send these commands. – Benjamin Jones – 2014-04-18T02:36:35.210

This tutorial might work for me: "Here is my how-to for installing Samba4 as a Active Directory Domain Controller for WinXP Pro+ to Win7Pro+ running on Ubuntu 10.04LTSx64.

In this tutorial I will install the application Git to keep my Samba4 CVS up-to-date, apply PPA repo for installing Bind9, provision Samba4 as a AD DC, join a Win7Pro box to the domain and install Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7(RSAT) to manage Organizational Units(OU) & Group Policy Objects(GPO) for the Active Directory." http://www.bryanpopham.com/tutorials/Samba4PDCWin7WinXP.html I'll post my results

– Benjamin Jones – 2014-04-18T02:40:16.543

Answers

There's nothing (that I'm aware of) that would restrict you from using any Microsoft technologies, platforms or components in your home network just so long as you have the proper licensing. If you want the control that Active Directory and Group Policies give you then create an Active Directory domain and proceed accordingly.

The line that separates business technology from home technology is a mental one IMO. I use enterprise technologies at home all of the time. I've got a Hyper-V failover cluster, a vSphere 5.1 cluster, two iSCSI storage area networks, routers, switches, etc., etc. I'm sure a large percentage of the users here do the same or similar.

joeqwerty

Posted 2014-04-17T21:34:54.700

Reputation: 5 259

"The line that separates business technology from home technology is a mental one IMO." I totally second that. Enterprise environments are obviously much more powerful in terms of hardware, but their actual implementation can be exactly as one found in a home setup. Only the number of devices involved changes. – user1301428 – 2014-04-17T22:27:17.637

"Only the number of devices involved changes" - and the number of humans to screw it up. :) But while I agree with you suggestion in general, at "home" I don't need to keep multiple branches connected and routing to multiple end-points for specific traffic, including failover - all at the risk getting fired, and losing said home. ;) – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 – 2014-04-18T02:13:25.813

I think the OP is a bit confused here. I'm not berating his intelligence, and whilst I agree with everyone else here, I must tell the OP, everything that you want to do at home you can do, as long as you remember that switching to linux or any other server class OS for that matter, for uses that your describing require very granular research, and there are no GUI's for the tools that this site and many others will tell you to use. There is NO Active Directory, but there is LDAP, there are no Domain Controllers but there are PC's with two network cards and a properly configured router and Firewall running LDAP as a daemon.

By the end of your journey, you will be very adept at using a text editor to read and write config files, and very comfortable in a terminal with a root prompt. Lastly, you have the security pyramid backwards, in that Windows uses a top down approach, whereas linux uses one thats bottom up. If I want an account in windows, I login to a domain controler or active directory server and create everything that user needs there. On linux, I could do it on any computer connected to the system using SSH and LDAP along with the permission to do so. In that way security is approached from the bottom up.

A Few Examples

Setting up an LDAP server, Linux version of AD.
Setting Up a Webserver, aka LAMP, mimics IIS using different tools.
Setting up a Mail Server

eyoung100

Posted 2014-04-17T21:34:54.700

Reputation: 419

I agree what your saying. As far as controlling the other device(shutting the computer down at 10pm or deploying a printer from local group policy) I guess this could be done by remote commands. I guess I was just looking for a more simple "Business approach" – Benjamin Jones – 2014-04-17T23:13:41.577

For every evening at 10pm there is a cronjob, and CUPS,the Common UNIX Printing System is accessed via http://127.0.0.1:631

– eyoung100 – 2014-04-18T00:08:21.853