Adam hits the ground running

Adam writes... Help PLEASE!


I've been watching JP shows since I found LAS in August. I enjoy TechSNAP even though I'm not a sysadmin, but my job at a tech start-up is making me one...

The current situation:

A couple years ago, when strapped for cash, the previous "sys admin" set-up a server consisting of Ubuntu 10.04 installed on an old desktop workstation which was sold at auction for the local university. There are also about 5 workstations running Ubuntu 10.04 which use NFS to mount their home directories from the server, and it also mounts a folder that is accessible through the web for testing sites and downloading each other's APKs.

Though we have moved most production app stuff to godaddy servers, there are still a few legacy dependencies on this destined-to-fail server. We currently avoid going near it in fear of killing it.

What I need help on:

Now that our company has become more stable, there are plans to substantially upgrade this. We are looking into getting a couple blade servers for a currently empty server rack we have laying around. Like I said, I'm nowhere as knowledgeable as I should be for planning this upgrade; could you help a guy out? Point me to some links or books? I don't even know what to Google for this.

I can't help feel there's some massive security risks with how we're currently set up, and I don't want to make any rookie mistakes.

Thanks guys,
Adam