Internet monitoring

fooddestroyer · 02-09-2006, 02:19 AM

(Apologies if I am not on the right section of this forum)

Our small, but growing business is considering monitoring our company/staff internet usage.
Is it possible to monitor this and sites that are visitied on a daily basis?

If so, what technology would we need, orcould this be provided from our broadband provider?

Many thanks in advance.

newhouse1390 · 02-10-2006, 01:22 PM

You most cetainly can, my workplace is uses Novell for networking. Most places use a proxy server to monitor and restrict internet access. Here is the server we use for Proxy, we use a HTTP proxy server, which is running Squid 2.5 on SUSE Enterprise Linux 9 (64-bit). The server itself is a Sun Microsystems Sun Fire x2100 with 2GB of RAM. There are several different routes to take with Proxies. List some of the networking specs you have. Are you in a registered domain or workgroup? Are you using networking clients(Microsoft/Novell)?

fooddestroyer · 02-10-2006, 01:36 PM

Many thanks for your reply.

As I am the MD I employ a guy to look after all this. Networking is def not my forte but as far as I know we have a dell power edge server for a start. All systems are XP Pro.

SOrry for the limited info but I really am feeling my way here!

Skie · 02-16-2006, 07:42 PM

The Proxy server will need to sit between the internet connection and the rest of the network. If you have a firewall, the Proxy should site behind the firewall. If your Dell is just another computer plugged into the network it won't be able to do its job properly as a proxy server.

fooddestroyer · 02-17-2006, 02:25 AM

Ok thanks for your replies.

I will have to look into this further as I am a bit ''Green'' to harware and networking.

Can you reccomend any websites that could educate me on this in laymans terms

Skie · 02-17-2006, 04:09 PM

This site contains some information on setting up Squid as a proxy server. http://tldp.org/HOWTO/TransparentProxy.html. This is assuming you've already installed Linux on that server. I haven't looked through it, so I don't know if it discusses how the network should be set up. If you have someone that handles your networking, he/she/they should know what to do with this info. If you'll be the one that does all the work, then you should do a bit of reading before you get into it.

If you have Linux related questions, you can post them in our Linux forum http://www.techsupportforum.com/forum64/. Since Squid is a Linux application, you can also post Squid related questions in the Linux forum. You could also post them here, but I don't know if there's anyone that knows Squid outside of the Linux world. I haven't used it myself, but I have a project that I need to implement which is similar in scope to what you're looking to do. I just need to get the approval for funding to purchase the hardware before I can begin.

fooddestroyer · 02-20-2006, 01:57 AM

Ok thanks Skie

Neverwinter · 02-21-2006, 03:02 AM

For an explination of how a proxy server works see this. Might help explain it. Also links to Proxy auto-config and Web Proxy Autodiscovery Protocol

fooddestroyer · 02-21-2006, 08:14 AM

ok many thanks. I will have to study this as I am an absolute newbie to harware and networking

fooddestroyer · 03-01-2006, 06:08 AM

do you think that it would be possbile for my isp to tell me how much the internet was being used and what sites etc?

Skie · 03-02-2006, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fooddestroyer

do you think that it would be possbile for my isp to tell me how much the internet was being used and what sites etc?

That would depend on if they do any kind of monitoring. I think they should at least be able to tell you how much bandwidth you've used. As far as any specific usage, I don't know if they would do that kind of monitoring for privacy reasons. I believe they'd only pay attention if they suspected any illegal/malicious activity.

ebackhus · 03-03-2006, 09:12 AM

Where I work we use all-Microsoft systems to manage our network and 'Net access. Unfortunately this leads to problems with sites that use certian types of cookies. It allows us to also filter and monitor sites visited.

02-09-2006, 02:19 AM	#1 (permalink)
fooddestroyer Registered User Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: N.Ireland Posts: 276 OS: XP	Internet monitoring (Apologies if I am not on the right section of this forum) Our small, but growing business is considering monitoring our company/staff internet usage. Is it possible to monitor this and sites that are visitied on a daily basis? If so, what technology would we need, orcould this be provided from our broadband provider? Many thanks in advance. __________________ If your happiness is always controlled by something outside of yourself, you will always be at the mercy of circumstances..

02-10-2006, 01:36 PM	#3 (permalink)
fooddestroyer Registered User Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: N.Ireland Posts: 276 OS: XP	Many thanks for your reply. As I am the MD I employ a guy to look after all this. Networking is def not my forte but as far as I know we have a dell power edge server for a start. All systems are XP Pro. SOrry for the limited info but I really am feeling my way here! __________________ If your happiness is always controlled by something outside of yourself, you will always be at the mercy of circumstances..

02-16-2006, 07:42 PM	#4 (permalink)
Skie Manager, Alternative Comp Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Chicago burbs Posts: 2,194 OS: Gentoo Linux, CentOS, OS X My System	The Proxy server will need to sit between the internet connection and the rest of the network. If you have a firewall, the Proxy should site behind the firewall. If your Dell is just another computer plugged into the network it won't be able to do its job properly as a proxy server. __________________

02-17-2006, 02:25 AM	#5 (permalink)
fooddestroyer Registered User Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: N.Ireland Posts: 276 OS: XP	Ok thanks for your replies. I will have to look into this further as I am a bit ''Green'' to harware and networking. Can you reccomend any websites that could educate me on this in laymans terms __________________ If your happiness is always controlled by something outside of yourself, you will always be at the mercy of circumstances..

02-17-2006, 04:09 PM	#6 (permalink)
Skie Manager, Alternative Comp Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Chicago burbs Posts: 2,194 OS: Gentoo Linux, CentOS, OS X My System	This site contains some information on setting up Squid as a proxy server. http://tldp.org/HOWTO/TransparentProxy.html. This is assuming you've already installed Linux on that server. I haven't looked through it, so I don't know if it discusses how the network should be set up. If you have someone that handles your networking, he/she/they should know what to do with this info. If you'll be the one that does all the work, then you should do a bit of reading before you get into it. If you have Linux related questions, you can post them in our Linux forum http://www.techsupportforum.com/forum64/. Since Squid is a Linux application, you can also post Squid related questions in the Linux forum. You could also post them here, but I don't know if there's anyone that knows Squid outside of the Linux world. I haven't used it myself, but I have a project that I need to implement which is similar in scope to what you're looking to do. I just need to get the approval for funding to purchase the hardware before I can begin. __________________

02-10-2006, 01:22 PM	#2 (permalink)
newhouse1390 Member, Networking Team Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 1,040 OS: Windows Server 2003	You most cetainly can, my workplace is uses Novell for networking. Most places use a proxy server to monitor and restrict internet access. Here is the server we use for Proxy, we use a HTTP proxy server, which is running Squid 2.5 on SUSE Enterprise Linux 9 (64-bit). The server itself is a Sun Microsystems Sun Fire x2100 with 2GB of RAM. There are several different routes to take with Proxies. List some of the networking specs you have. Are you in a registered domain or workgroup? Are you using networking clients(Microsoft/Novell)?

02-20-2006, 01:57 AM	#7 (permalink)
fooddestroyer Registered User Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: N.Ireland Posts: 276 OS: XP	Ok thanks Skie __________________ If your happiness is always controlled by something outside of yourself, you will always be at the mercy of circumstances..

02-21-2006, 03:02 AM	#8 (permalink)
Neverwinter Registered User Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Luton, England Posts: 92 OS: Windows XP SP2 My System	For an explination of how a proxy server works see this. Might help explain it. Also links to Proxy auto-config and Web Proxy Autodiscovery Protocol

02-21-2006, 08:14 AM	#9 (permalink)
fooddestroyer Registered User Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: N.Ireland Posts: 276 OS: XP	ok many thanks. I will have to study this as I am an absolute newbie to harware and networking __________________ If your happiness is always controlled by something outside of yourself, you will always be at the mercy of circumstances..

03-01-2006, 06:08 AM	#10 (permalink)
fooddestroyer Registered User Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: N.Ireland Posts: 276 OS: XP	do you think that it would be possbile for my isp to tell me how much the internet was being used and what sites etc? __________________ If your happiness is always controlled by something outside of yourself, you will always be at the mercy of circumstances..

03-03-2006, 09:12 AM	#12 (permalink)
ebackhus Manager, Design Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: SATX Posts: 14,249 OS: WinXP Pro SP3/Windows 7 RTM My System Blog Entries: 28	Where I work we use all-Microsoft systems to manage our network and 'Net access. Unfortunately this leads to problems with sites that use certian types of cookies. It allows us to also filter and monitor sites visited. __________________ ----------------------------- There are no dumb questions, unless a customer is asking them. Help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.