A network management system

Avasz

Hi All,
A little background about me: I am a Computer Eng. student from Nepal. Interested mainly in System & Network (Linux Based).

Side Note: I tried searching for Orange Pi Plus in Nepal and Thialand last month, unable to find it. I have wanted it since it was released, the problem with people from Nepal is, we can't do online shoppings easily.

To, the topic now:
I have made a project of simple network/server management system that can be controlled remotely from web interface. Currently running in Debian based systems.
I want to make it run in Orange Pi Plus. I guess it will be useful to use the Orange Pi Plus as a gateway in our home.

Features of the Project:

1. Bandwidth Control (Currently three groups)
2. User registration (MAC Binding)
3. MAC Blacklisting
4. DNS Caching
5. Internet forwarding from one interface to another easily.
6. Invoking various system services (Start, Stop, Restart)
7. Bandwidth Usage logs.
8. System Logs.

Basic Working Principle:

1. Client Connects, DHCP server assigns them an IP of default range.
2. The default range is provided with low bandwidth.
3. Admin needs to register the MAC Address, to the IP range which gets better bandwidth.
4. All controlling stuffs takes place in the server/system, admin can do it easily with the web interface from their client machine.
5. Detailed working of each and every tools can be provided on request, may get too complex if everything is written right here.


The screenshots attached can help understand it better, I guess. Screenshot on first reply/comment.

Literature Review:

I won't deny that there are other better applications for this, but they are kind of heavy and complex. Eg: Nagios, Webmin etc.
- My project needs only apache with CGI enabled. And other few light services such as DHCP-Server, DNSMasq, nmap etc.
- It's quite easy to use. It's like using/configuring your day to day routers. You can see it from the screenshots.

System Architecture:

- Have attached a basic diagram of system architecture.


Tools Used/Required

- BASH
- CGI
- nmap
- tc
- dhcp-server
- dnsmasq
- vnstati
- hostap
- apache

Hardware Setup:
My current setup is an old MSI Netbook as the gateway with hostapd serving as wireless router. It is a single core atom processor with 1GB RAM.

The reasons I find Orange Pi Plus to be of a great alternative are:
1. It has in build wireless compatible with Hostap
2. QuadCore processor
3. Low power consumption
4. The on-board SATA port is a plus point for extra storage. Must be better than USB external disks.

I would happily answer to all the queries regarding the project.

Please provide with positive feedbacks. If I get to receive one, I will completely modify my project suitable to Orange Pi Plus within a month of receiving it and provide constant support to the users when required.
So, I would like to apply for the board in order to complete this project. I also have various other ideas to work on the board, specially system based. Also, I can try to start Orange Pi Community in Nepal.
Thank You.

Avasz

Screenshots.
Please view from Bottom First.

tokka

Hi Avasz, nice project
Just a couple of questions:
- is it possible to forward internet on both networks (lan and wlan)?
- is it possible to use terminal from your panel?

Have you tried it other web servers, such lighttpd or nginx?
Cheers
Tk

Avasz

tokka replied at 2015-9-22 17:20
Hi Avasz, nice project
Just a couple of questions:
- is it possible to forward internet on both  ...

Hi Tokka,
Thanks for the interest.

Do you mean Forwarding internet on both interfaces at once?  or switch accordingly when required?
-> Well, both is possible, but right now it's switching when required. Forwarding in multiple interfaces at once seems to be good addition to make.

And, I haven't tried with nginx or lighthttpd. But it should work since both of them are cgi-capable.
BTW, I recently learnt about some permission settings in bash, so if I re-write my code according to it, it will easily run on all servers, without extra configurations.

About terminal:
Right now there is not terminal.
But this may be possible --> Using a web-based ssh client. So that we can use the terminal in the browser.
That too can be of a great addition.

P.S. Which OPi do you own? And which OS are you running? I am not sure how long this application process will take, so thinking of requesting some friends abroad to get me one.

Regards

tokka

Hi Avasz,
i have an opi standard (the A20 version), and i use a self made ubuntu 12 OS.
I was meaning to forward in both interfaces, in this way we can use the opi as umts router simply with an usb stick, or as a telephone server, for exemple
The question about nginx or lighttpd is coz they need less resources than apache, and on these boards may be not a bad idea

Cheers
Tk

Langoor

This is seriously one of the best & serious projects i have seen! good luck mate! i have left a positive vote!

cefeide

Any update of this project¿
Any down!oad¿
I want to be a tester

Thanks

sathi.ray

its impressive

pmpp

nice, but same question as tokka, anything more portable/light than apache in perspective ?

sathi.ray

kindly share full details after project completion