Gahhhhh I'm through trying to set up a blasted file server.

[fuzzybabybunny]

So this all started because I have a bunch of IDE hard drives and I can't find an IDE controller card that's reliable and works. All IDE controller cards I've tried have hard locked my computer, so I finally get fed up and decide to build a file server so I can keep on using my IDE drives instead of getting SATA drives and selling my IDE drives for practically pennies.

1. Order used processor. Put in mobo that I had lying around. Nothing. Think CPU is DOA because mobo was working a few weeks ago.

2. Order new processor from Newegg. Put in mobo. Nothing. Think mobo is dead.

3. Sell off one processor. Lose money.

4. Order a used mobo. Arrives and I find out it doesn't have gigabit ethernet, which I need. Currently trying to sell off that mobo.

5. Order another used mobo. Is missing HSF retention bracket and seller won't take a return. Have to pry off the retention assembly from my dead mobo and use it.

6. Put everything in case, computer boots up, and I try to follow a comprehensive tutorial on how to set up a Ubuntu Linux file server.

7. Get stuck on tutorial because I'm a COMPLETE Linux noob and have no idea what anything means.

8. I only have one keyboard for two machines.

9. Frustration.

10. I'm going to sell all this stuff and just go for a bunch of SATA drives. Saves me the hassle of trying to figure out this incredibly new-user-unfriendly Linux file server setup and having to convert everything on my HDDs from NTFS to ext3 and trying to figure out how to install the IDE controller in command line and learning commands and browsing forums for help and buying a second keyboard and waiting even more time before I finally have access to my files and still having the chance of failure in the end.

11. I just missed the most recent Seagate 400GB SATA deal. Great. More waiting.

/rant

 

[TheoPetro]

its ok

~pats fuzzybabybunny on head

if ya keep bitching though im gonna have to feed you to my cat

 

[nsafreak]

Good rant I guess but in all honesty I found it to be dead simple to setup a Linux fileserver. But since I've been playing with Linux for around 8 years now my experience level is different. I'm curious though, what part of the setup specifically did you have problems with?

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: TheoPetro
its ok

~pats fuzzybabybunny on head

if ya keep bitching though im gonna have to feed you to my cat

OMG kitty! Yay!!!!

*fluffs up*

"I'm Ready to Go!"

 

[wetcat007]

I don't think you can convert NTFS to EXT3, at least I've never found a way. You have to copy everything off the NTFS partition onto a EXT3 partition. I'm assuming you managed to install ubuntu correctly, well there isn't much to mess up that I know of. Were you trying to setup samba for windows file sharing with the HDD's or a different kind of setup..? I'm sure people here would help if you'd like. I'm probably not going to be on much later tonight but if you got questions or a place your stuck on setting it up I'd be glad to help.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: nsafreak
Good rant I guess but in all honesty I found it to be dead simple to setup a Linux fileserver. But since I've been playing with Linux for around 8 years now my experience level is different. I'm curious though, what part of the setup specifically did you have problems with?

http://www.howtoforge.com/perfect_setup_ubuntu_6.06

First off I don't even know if this is what I want to set up. All I want in this world is a simple file server! I want the drives to show up as drives in My Computer. I want to be able to burn and rip DVDs off of them. I want to be able to download directly to them. I want to be able to work on image files in Photoshop on them. I want them to act *exactly* like drives that are physically attached to my computer.

"This is a detailed description about how to set up a Ubuntu 6.06 LTS (Dapper Drake) based server that offers all services needed by ISPs and hosters (web server (SSL-capable), mail server (with SMTP-AUTH and TLS!), DNS server, FTP server, MySQL server, POP3/IMAP, Quota, Firewall, etc.)."

Web server? I don't need that. WTH is SSL?
Mail server? I'm not serving any mail here. SMTP-AUTH-what?
DNS server? Don't know what the heck that is...
FTP server? Uhhhh...
MySQL? huh?
POP3? This has something to do with mail, right?
Quota? No...
Etc.? Hey! This is probably where the File Server feature is!

1. Get stuck on pg. 3, step 5.

I can't even edit the file! The file pops up in command line, I try to type in the added information, and nothing gets typed. Then I figure out of sheer random hitting the keys that if I press insert I can add information. When I'm done, I can't figure out how to save and exit the file and "restart the network." Enter? Nope. Esc? Nope. Ctrl+S? Nope. After pressing random keys I finally give up and shut off the computer.

2. Now I give it another go, only this time I have ubuntu install a LAMP server by itself. Everything goes ok, except this time it can't find a DHCP server even though it found one five minutes ago in step #1 above... Everything installs, and I stop at basically a black command line screen. Great. Now what the heck do I do? There's no GUI. No user navigation. Nothing to even indicate where I'm supposed to go next, or what I'm supposed to do. Plus I know absolutely ZERO linux commands so at this point I was quite flustered and quit.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: wetcat007
I don't think you can convert NTFS to EXT3, at least I've never found a way. You have to copy everything off the NTFS partition onto a EXT3 partition. I'm assuming you managed to install ubuntu correctly, well there isn't much to mess up that I know of. Were you trying to setup samba for windows file sharing with the HDD's or a different kind of setup..? I'm sure people here would help if you'd like. I'm probably not going to be on much later tonight but if you got questions or a place your stuck on setting it up I'd be glad to help.

Thanks for the offer!

There IS no way to convert NTFS to EXT3, which is the problem. Basically I have to transfer the information onto another drive so that I can format it in EXT3. Which means I'll be buying a new HDD anyway.

 

[nsafreak]

That's the wrong HOWTO for what you want to do. You want to setup a SAMBA server which has nothing to do with those three servers. SAMBA is quite easy to setup. The howto on that webpage does more than what you need to have done. I'd recommend giving the howto found here http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/SMB-HOWTO.html a try. You may also want to try installing webmin http://www.webmin.com for an easy web based setup. If you want I can walk you through any problems that you're having on AIM, ICQ, MSN, whatever as I'll be up late tonight.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: nsafreak
That's the wrong HOWTO for what you want to do. You want to setup a SAMBA server which has nothing to do with those three servers. SAMBA is quite easy to setup. The howto on that webpage does more than what you need to have done. I'd recommend giving the howto found here http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/SMB-HOWTO.html a try. You may also want to try installing webmin http://www.webmin.com for an easy web based setup. If you want I can walk you through any problems that you're having on AIM, ICQ, MSN, whatever as I'll be up late tonight.

Downloading Ubuntu Desktop Version now...

I still have to convert ALL my files to EXT3 though. Will Linux work ok with Gigabit? Will my transfer speeds drop dramatically over a network compared to a direct connection to my mobo?

 

[nsafreak]

If anything you should see an improvement in how well it uses your network. Before I upgraded my fileserver I was able to stream multiple videos from a Pentium 133 without any hiccups. The Linux network stack is one of the better ones out there.

 

[Iron Woode]

I just installed WINXP Pro on an older machine with 2 hdds and run programs remotely using Remote Desktop. I can save files to the drives over my network.

Wouldn't this be a far easier approach instead?

PS: I use the older PC for video processing and what not.

EDIT: I know it lacks the cool factor of getting Linux to work right.

 

[nsafreak]

Originally posted by: Iron Woode
I just installed WINXP Pro on an older machine with 2 hdds and run programs remotely using Remote Desktop. I can save files to the drives over my network.

Wouldn't this be a far easier approach instead?

PS: I use the older PC for video processing and what not.

Easier? Sure. But you're making the assumption that fuzzy wants to either spend the money for another XP license or has one spare.

 

[Iron Woode]

Originally posted by: nsafreak

Originally posted by: Iron Woode
I just installed WINXP Pro on an older machine with 2 hdds and run programs remotely using Remote Desktop. I can save files to the drives over my network.

Wouldn't this be a far easier approach instead?

PS: I use the older PC for video processing and what not.

Easier? Sure. But you're making the assumption that fuzzy wants to either spend the money for another XP license or has one spare.

I know.

I thought easier would be better for him rather than getting angry at Linux.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: nsafreak
If anything you should see an improvement in how well it uses your network. Before I upgraded my fileserver I was able to stream multiple videos from a Pentium 133 without any hiccups. The Linux network stack is one of the better ones out there.

Did you use any IDE controller cards? I'm a little worried that since my card didn't work in my Windows system, it won't work in my Linux box. Basically it'd just randomly cause one of the hard drives to constantly spin up and down, locking the system. It did this to all the hard drives, so it wasn't a HDD issue. I'm hoping it's because the Windows driver for it was retarded, and that I don't have to spend extra money on a controller card for hard drives that are as far as I'm concerned near-obsolete.

 

[wetcat007]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: nsafreak
Good rant I guess but in all honesty I found it to be dead simple to setup a Linux fileserver. But since I've been playing with Linux for around 8 years now my experience level is different. I'm curious though, what part of the setup specifically did you have problems with?

http://www.howtoforge.com/perfect_setup_ubuntu_6.06

First off I don't even know if this is what I want to set up. All I want in this world is a simple file server! I want the drives to show up as drives in My Computer. I want to be able to burn and rip DVDs off of them. I want to be able to download directly to them. I want to be able to work on image files in Photoshop on them. I want them to act *exactly* like drives that are physically attached to my computer.

"This is a detailed description about how to set up a Ubuntu 6.06 LTS (Dapper Drake) based server that offers all services needed by ISPs and hosters (web server (SSL-capable), mail server (with SMTP-AUTH and TLS!), DNS server, FTP server, MySQL server, POP3/IMAP, Quota, Firewall, etc.)."

Web server? I don't need that. WTH is SSL?
Mail server? I'm not serving any mail here. SMTP-AUTH-what?
DNS server? Don't know what the heck that is...
FTP server? Uhhhh...
MySQL? huh?
POP3? This has something to do with mail, right?
Quota? No...

Where is the dang option for a simple as a rock file server?

Regardless, I try this tutorial out because it seems like it *must* have file server capabilities.

1. Get stuck on pg. 3, step 5.

I can't even edit the file! The file pops up in command line, I try to type in the added information, and nothing gets typed. Then I figure out of sheer random hitting the keys that if I press insert I can add information. When I'm done, I can't figure out how to save and exit the file and "restart the network." Enter? Nope. Esc? Nope. Ctrl+S? Nope. After pressing random keys I finally give up and shut off the computer.

2. Now I give it another go, only this time I have ubuntu install a LAMP server by itself. Everything goes ok, except this time it can't find a DHCP server even though it found one five minutes ago in step #1 above... Everything installs, and I stop at basically a black command line screen. Great. Now what the heck do I do? There's no GUI. No user navigation. Nothing to even indicate where I'm supposed to go next, or what I'm supposed to do. Plus I know absolutely ZERO linux commands so at this point I was quite flustered and quit.

You're going to need to use an editor called vi. To edit a file in vi just type vi then the file name, to save changes to the file press escape then type :w! and press enter, to quit hit escape and type :Q! and hit enter. When you first enter vi you will not be able to edit the file, to edit the file you need to press a once, you will need to do this after saving as well. I would recommend getting Ubuntu Desktop(has a gui), instead of ubuntu server since you don't have any prior linux experience, it can still be setup as a server just fine.

Also is your file system mounted yet? Kind of an important first step to make sure you can read those hdd's you want to use.

Anyways they're telling you to do way more than you need for just a file server. Samba is what you probably need to use, which is a little easier.
(please note i'm not being conscious of security in this, but if it's on ur own network behind a router you're probably fine.

sudo apt-get install samba

You may already have it, in which case it'll say so.

vi /etc/samba/smb.conf
that will open up the samba config file
Things are relativly well commented in there, they have a spot for a name of your server, and other settings that you may be familiar with from windows file sharing.
Set that up, once done scroll to the very bottom of it, they give an example of how to share a folder on the computer, see my example:

[Share Name]
path = /var/www
available = yes
browseable = yes
public = yes
writable = yes
guest ok = no

Also the share path type chmod 777 then the path of the share

Anyways, that's a share, path = well the path. If you keep the options same as me you'll be fine.

Anyhow you also need to create a user account for it.

from the command line type useradd then the user you want to add
them type smbpasswd -a followed by the username you did in useradd
it'll ask for a password give it one and remember it.
type this and hit enter /etc/init.d/samba restart
That should restart samba, thereby putting your configuration into effect.

From your windows pc type \\ip address of the server into start/run
It should open up a window with the shared folder, right click and click on map network drive you'll be able to map it a a drive letter and it'll show in my computer.

Anyways is your file system mounted yet? I can walk you through that if you haven't even gotten that yet, I forgot how much stuff there is to explain about this, it's simple in my head now i have no idea how I ever figured it out. lol

 

[Goosemaster]

I was lazy and settled on XP pro.

No way in hell I have enough time to convert 1.2+ TB of data to XFS

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: Iron Woode
I just installed WINXP Pro on an older machine with 2 hdds and run programs remotely using Remote Desktop. I can save files to the drives over my network.

Wouldn't this be a far easier approach instead?

PS: I use the older PC for video processing and what not.

EDIT: I know it lacks the cool factor of getting Linux to work right.

I was really thinking about going MS, but I don't think I'd be able to handle the bloat. All I want is something nice and simple, something that will make my network drives look and *perform* like they're directly attached to my computer. I don't think Windows has that kind of performance or even adequate uptime for that matter.

 

[wetcat007]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: nsafreak
If anything you should see an improvement in how well it uses your network. Before I upgraded my fileserver I was able to stream multiple videos from a Pentium 133 without any hiccups. The Linux network stack is one of the better ones out there.

Did you use any IDE controller cards? I'm a little worried that since my card didn't work in my Windows system, it won't work in my Linux box. Basically it'd just randomly cause one of the hard drives to constantly spin up and down, locking the system. It did this to all the hard drives, so it wasn't a HDD issue. I'm hoping it's because the Windows driver for it was retarded, and that I don't have to spend extra money on a controller card for hard drives that are as far as I'm concerned near-obsolete.

Type sudo fdisk -l to see if it's found ok.

 

[Iron Woode]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: nsafreak
If anything you should see an improvement in how well it uses your network. Before I upgraded my fileserver I was able to stream multiple videos from a Pentium 133 without any hiccups. The Linux network stack is one of the better ones out there.

Did you use any IDE controller cards? I'm a little worried that since my card didn't work in my Windows system, it won't work in my Linux box. Basically it'd just randomly cause one of the hard drives to constantly spin up and down, locking the system. It did this to all the hard drives, so it wasn't a HDD issue. I'm hoping it's because the Windows driver for it was retarded, and that I don't have to spend extra money on a controller card for hard drives that are as far as I'm concerned near-obsolete.

I bought a cheap raid card a couple years ago. It supports ATA133, raid 0,1,0+1,JBOD. It uses Silicon Image chips and is absolutely stable. Maybe your MB just doesn't like yours?

 

[wetcat007]

hmm the forum seemed to make a emoticon out of a vi command interesting, it's supposed to be : q !

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Oh, I think I should mention that the Linux box is going to be directly connected to my primary XP machine, so basically Linux Box -> Windows XP Dual Lan -> Router -> Modem

I'm a little concerned... can Windows handle this? Basically get DHCP info from the router but at the same time forward internet to the Linux box and have it's own little network with it?

 

[Goosemaster]

just convert your disks to ext3, have them ready, and setup freenas

freenas.org

 

[Iron Woode]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: Iron Woode
I just installed WINXP Pro on an older machine with 2 hdds and run programs remotely using Remote Desktop. I can save files to the drives over my network.

Wouldn't this be a far easier approach instead?

PS: I use the older PC for video processing and what not.

EDIT: I know it lacks the cool factor of getting Linux to work right.

I was really thinking about going MS, but I don't think I'd be able to handle the bloat. All I want is something nice and simple, something that will make my network drives look and *perform* like they're directly attached to my computer. I don't think Windows has that kind of performance or even adequate uptime for that matter.

mines an old PCchips 810LMR with a 1.1 gghz athlon cpu and 512 megs of ram. It works just fine and has been running continuously for a week now. I knew it wasn't going to be fast, but its fine for my needs.

 

[wetcat007]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
Oh, I think I should mention that the Linux box is going to be directly connected to my primary XP machine, so basically Linux Box -> Windows XP Dual Lan -> Router -> Modem

I'm a little concerned... can Windows handle this? Basically get DHCP info from the router but at the same time forward internet to the Linux box and have it's own little network with it?

Make sure internet connection sharing is setup right in XP, shouldn't be a problem though a gigabit switch might be a better solution.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

I just sent a PM to the mod requesting this topic be moved to Networking