I have a small Dell box that I have been using off and on for misc work related sw testing (started with v 9.x Desktop).

I need to ramp up my personal training (as I am looking for work at the moment) and have a question for the group.

Currently I am running 12.04 Desktop version with Apache, MySQL, OpenSSh and some other server packages installed. I will be installing Oracle next week for my next training project. However after the 12.04 upgrade I find that I can not access the Desktop Ubuntu machine from anything on the local network. I can access apache, mysql locally. A local ssh connections works just fine. Just can't do any of them from outside the box from anything on my home/local network.  I don't think there are any running firewalls, so I am discounting that as an issue. 

Would a fresh install of the Server version be a better long term solution for working with those type of packages, or should I stick with my 4x upgraded Desktop version?

and

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can look into to resolve my network connection issue ?

Thanks