Some quick tips & questions for a new network admin

[simen4000]

Hi!
I'm thinking about building an IRC network, and I got some questions:
1. Tips in general for new admins
Do you have any word of advice to give me, that may be very important? Like "use that to do that", or "don't allow that" (I'm already thinking about turning DCC of completely).

2.a. Linking: Will Leaf servers inherit deny, ban, oper, vhost etc. blocks from hub?
This is mainly so I know whether I have to configure all leaf servers on my network with the same blocks, or if it's enough with just hubs.

2.b Linking: Closing network when no mainhubs are up.
Would it be possible to block all access to leaf servers once there are no hubs (i.e. all the hubs is down) connecting them into each other?

3. Other advice that may come in handy.
Well, as I said. I'm pretty new to IRC networking (been running a local server between an Minecraft server and the server webpage, though) and was wondering if there was something that wasn't really important, but still may come in handy later.

Thanks for the help in advance!
Simen4000

[Stealth]

1. Do whatever you want to. It's your network so you have the ability to use/do whatever you like. Any feature that comes with Unreal is not bad, and everyone has their own preference.

2a. No. Each server must have its own configuration and they will not be shared. However, servers will share glines, gzlines, shuns, and spamfilters.

2b. No. You should choose stable servers to use, and splitting should never create a problem to the extent of you needing to shut down servers because they won't communicate. Splits happen sometimes, but if configured correctly your network should automatically reconnect quickly without huge problems.

3. Make sure you check out my FAQ (link in sig), the Official FAQ, and read all the docs.

3. Use hashed passwords in your configuration.

3. Learn about SSL, and how to use it for authentication (mainly in your oper blocks): http://forums.unrealircd.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4181

3. You'll want to run services. I favor Atheme, but many others favor Anope. They are both good service packages, so try them both and see where you get

3. Take time to go through all the docs and configure your server well. It will take time (like up to 4 hours), but once done you'll have a solid configuration.

3. You'll want everyone's IP/host cloaked by default. (hint: set::modes-on-connect +x)

[Stealth]

3. Read this: http://forums.unrealircd.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4250

[simen4000]

Thanks for the help!
Was going to sit down tomorrow and make config files from scratch, so this will be great guidelines for me. Already using cloaking, and I've been using Anope for a while, but I'll take a look at Atheme.

[Stealth]

It was brought to my attention my signature didn't appear. The link to my FAQ is http://unreal.x-tab.org/faq

[katsklaw]

It was brought to my attention my signature didn't appear. The link to my FAQ is http://unreal.x-tab.org/faq

Helpful links are in my sig though