Windows Forum

Ask something
Discussion Locked

Setting Up a CyberCafe

0 helpful
8 replies

by golfkinguk

Closed to new repliesThis discussion is closed. It stays readable, but it takes no new replies.

I am setting up a Cyber Cafe. I have a Win2000 Server, and 10 Win2000 Pro workstations. I have a leased line to the Inet via a router. The workstations will have Office 2000, IE5.5, C++, and Visual Basic. 3 Machines will also have some gaming options.

I would like some opinions from all the experts out there on the best(cheap) solution for Proxy, Web Caching, and filtering on the server. I'd also like to lock down the workstation so they can only see the apps that they need. They shouldn't be able to see or save to the C: Drive, nor should they have any way to change anything. If it is possible I'd like to do as much as possible through Windows 2000 Policies, etc. I won't be getting the server in till next week, so am looking inadvance. Is it possible to restrict there local access with JUST Windows 2000? If not a very cost effective option to do what I need.

Any other insight to make this as simple and cost effective as possible, yet very secure would be appreciated, hence the great point value. If anyone would like more information, please feel free to email me at americomuk@aol.com.

8 replies

by tbradley

You'll be able to lock down the workstations very nicely with the policy editor in Windows 2000. In fact, you can lock it down so hard, that all the users will be able to do, if you want them to is print, start an application, save to a floppy ( fordocs and files - you did say Office, C++, and VB ), and shut the machine down.

From experience with helping a friend start up his cybercafe, you want to limit the users to 3. Admin login, regular user, and guest.

The guest only gets basic internet access.

regular user gets apps, games, and other internet access features, ftp, telnet, etc.

Later, he added premium users, who paid for and received e-mail, web space, etc.

Concerning Proxy, Cacheing, and Filetering. I'm not sure of the rules in the UK regarding your liabilities if any of your customers do anything Illegal....

In the state where we setup ours, The legal advice we received was to NOT filter, cache, or proxy, as by implied consent, any content the customer received was "certified" by us if we implemented these features.

I didn't quite get it, until the way certain cache programs handled pages. The proverbial whitehouse.com vs whitehouse.gov example was used.

The best bet was to have each customer sign a
disclaimer, which absolved the owner from any
liability over "content" or the actions of the users.

Seek some advice there.

Invest in a copy of Norton's Ghost, or similar drive imaging software. Again, you will be wanting to "clean up" after your customers regularly, and even though they can't save to C:\ drive, bits and pieces of their trail through cyberspace will be left all over the machine. Cookies, Tempfiles, favorites, recent documents lists etc.

The drive imaging software will allow you to keep a standard image, and restore to "like new" in 15 minutes or less.

E-mail me at tbradley@pasc.... if you've got some specific questions.

by tbradley

As usual, after re-reading, I noticed a couple of glaring omissions.

That's 3 user logins, not 3 users at a time.

ie, you can have 10 guests logged in.

The disclaimer you have customers sign can be signed once, and kept on file. Ours was1 page, double spaced, and passed muster with a local judge who reviewed it.

On advice, do keep a paper log of usernames and times. It can be simple...

John Smith, WS#1, guest , 3-5pm, 12/12/2000

by qtzar

I'll try not to duplicate anything in the other answer but I do have to say that using a utility like Norton Ghost or Partition Magic's DriveImage Pro is certainly the best tool you will ever use. Once you have your computer workstations setup the way you want it with your policies in place then making a snapshot of it that you can use to 'clean up' a machine will make your life A LOT easier.

In the CyberCafe that I helped setup with a collegue of mine we wrote a nice little VB application that replaced the windows explorer shell with a simple full screen application with only the buttons for the apps that the user was allowed access. From our controlling computer we could turn on or off whatever buttons we wanted. Also the application controlled how much time a user spent on the computer.

In terms of Proxy and Caching if there are no legal bounderies then the best option is always a hardware solution but these can be costly. If costs are an issue then there are plenty of good Linux solutions. We used SQUID on a linux box for proxy and cache and there are plenty of add on tools for squid that allow you to add in content filering and reporting.

I hope some of this info helps you out...

by beeba

i'm not sure that c++ (presumably microsoft visual studio) is the best thing to add to a 'cyber cafe' situation-- maybe you're close to a university and want to attract CS students?

the debugger (and other parts of visual studio) involved can open some holes you might not want...

This discussion is closed to new replies.