Linux Fileserver

I think its time to centralise my data storage. I regularly use 3 different pcs in and around the house and have a lot of data music and video spread across the 3 machines.

Sods law the file you want is always on one of the other machines

I want to put together a headless central file server using some modest mini-itx hardware i already have plus a few high cap hard drives.

This is my first foray into linux and would like some advice on which flavour is most suited to an enthusiastic linux beginner.

There a re a bunch of guides on the net but I'm after horses mouth info, Can anyone help?

Many Thanks

Liam Mc

I used to run Red Hat many moons ago for simple stuff and moved over to Suse for normal PC at home use.

So I would say either Suse (I think version 11 came out recently) or perhaps try Fedora which I believe is the free version of Red Hat.

There are proponents of all the systems out there, but at least the major distributions are trying to standardize on file structure. What ever you can get a free DVD off the mag cover try it and see if you like it.

Adrian

[Edited on 19-9-08 by AdrianH]

Personally I reckon Mandrake Linux partially cos it reads and writes to Windows partitions as standard....... It also has a very straightforward installation engine...

Another option would be just get a NAS drive - Maplin are doing them for pennies at the moment.

There's no configuration needed apart from the usual IP settings, etc. They use very little electricity and won't keep you awake at night with fan noise.

Most Linux distros offer server-only versions that come with little or no GUI - but you have to be confident about command-line working.

You can download a Ubuntu server distro from their site - it'll be around 650Mb so don't do it if you're on a dial-up line, or severely limited on downloads!

http://www.ubuntu.com/

i know i could just buy a NAS drive. But the truth is I really want to get into Linux.

I have had a nagging feeling for years that I'm missing out by not using Linux

Ubuntu for me, top distro

Cheers
Alex

"Linux is free if your time is worthless"

It will consume large amounts of your free time if you're not careful. I've faffed around FreeBSD*, Mandrake, Debian, Gentoo, Ubuntu etc. I got fed up with all the noisy PCs and length of time I spent watching compiler output or resolving package conflicts; so I chucked the lot out, bought a bunch of Macs and a Buffalo Linkstation NAS. Haven't looked back since and I've got more time for spannering.

Having said that, I've spent the last week optimising a Debian install for a tiny PC to put in the Fury

*Not Linux, I know, but similar enough.

CentOS, just redhat enterprise linux without the redhat badges. Proper server OS. Just chose file server and don't install a window manager on install and you'll end up with a stable unbloated OS. We use it on all our servers at work (ISP)

http://www.centos.org/

I've heard it makes a pretty good desktop OS too, but I've never tried it.

"Which distro?" always starts one of those perennial religious debates. Everyone has their personal favourite, and will defend it to the death. Having said that, I have my own favourite, and some reasons for choosing it, which may or may not be useful to you.

I built a mini-ITX based server around a Jetway motherboard, with 3x500GB drives running in a RAID5 array, and consuming only about 40w. And I run Ubuntu Server on it.

My reasons for choosing Ubuntu Server were (a) that it has a superb package management system, which makes it trivial to add/remove software, and (b) there is a huge support network out there, willing and able to help you (and me!) make it work well, and (c) it has very modest system requirements. The fact that Ubuntu is based on Debian, which is an extremely well-sorted distro in its own right is another plus.

The downside of Ubuntu Server is that it only has a command line interface; so, a steeper learning curve, but it will force you to learn how to administer a Linux system from the command line, with I believe to be "a good thing (tm)"

Bottom line: build your server, and then set aside some time to try out some candidates, before making your final decision. My suggestions would be Ubuntu Server, Debian, Redhat and SUSE. Feel free to add in anything that anyone else recommends!

Pick one and try it.

If you stumble, try another.

Due to 1 too many hardware failures, I've actually just moved away from a central fileserver and now just use MS SyncToy to copy everything I need (music, pictures) between all the machines in the house.

Run it about once a week.

quote:

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Originally posted by robocog
Depends what incline of learning curve you fancy taking
I personally tend to stick with slackware
To me its the way it should be and wont force you into running a gui or running anything that could be potentially unstable (bleeding edge)
Also you will get to know where stuff is within the file system and directory structures a LOT quicker and what each bit does if your not shielded by a gui "wizzard" that may or may not achieve exactly what you want, and will need to be re-run if its not, better for the soul to learn how to drive vi and where stuff goes and what it does IMHO

If you just want it to work quick get one of those hard drive caddies that have a network interface

Linux to windows file sharing is a doddle and a good starter point

install any distro get it all up and running
make sure that "samba" is installed when you tell it what you want/don't want to install if it gives a choice

edit /etc/samba/smb.conf or wherever it gets put (distro dependent)
there will be loads of comments on what does what whithin the file
a # proceeding any line means its commented out and ignored so remove the # to "activate" the line
start the named and samba daemons
(smbd -D and nmbd -D)
test the configuration using "testparm"
all looking good?
add a user and password with "smbpasswd"
connect away and enjoy :-)
you will also have to look into file permissions and directory permissions
chmod chown
so a great way into learning it


Enjoy it
Regards
Rob

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You could use FreeNas which is a BSD distro that will run on old PC hardware it is easy to install but might not be what you want because it is so easy not really any different from running an off the shelf NAS box so won't teach you anything about Linux/BSD..

The easy to use Linux distro for a server is Mepis 3.3.1 SOHO server --- not cutting edge it is a a couple of years old and it might not be easy to find as it was only released as a beta but it is very stable and SAMBA windows file sharing isready set up as a server. When you install it you just need to tell it what you don't want to install -- ie you are unlikely to need a a mail server or apache web server installed.

I can't remember if it comes with Webmin & Usermin installed but if it dosen't you should install them both as it makes running a server a lot easier.

[Edited on 20/9/08 by britishtrident]

[Edited on 20/9/08 by britishtrident]

Buy a Popcorn Hour (see other post). Not only a superb media player, but also can be used as NAS (includes samba server as well), and the A110 has a USB port so it can be used as a simple external USB drive.