Would love suggestions on what flavor to go with here.. 1

[ei8ball]

I have been in the IT field for almost 10 years now and have recently gotten a little more comfortable with linux. I have a client that wants a file server and I'm trying to go as cheap as possible since it's only a 6 person network and the only thing they will use this for is to store a very small amount of files (say 1gb) and I need to have a backup system in place as well. I don't need to go as far as taking the data offsite for backup, but if they mess up something they want to be able to restore it.

I've got an older ibm desktop that I plan to use for the pc (1Ghz, 256mb ram, 30gb hd). Do I really need a server version of linux? What flavor would I have the best luck on getting an external HD (USB) to play nicely with linux? Does linux have a free backup program?

Any help would be very appreciated. Thanks!

Jason

You were born an original. Don't die a copy!

 

[Chacalinc]

you don't need a server version. you just need linux with samba installed in it. I recommend Debian or Ubuntu (based on debian :} )

Does linux have a free backup program?

Take a look to Amanda. Anyway, tar and/or cpio will help you a lot!

Cheers.

 

[ei8ball]

I should of told you I'm still pretty green when it comes to linux. Is it safe to say I might not have any great difficulty installing Debian or Ubuntu? I realize this is tough to say since you don't know my knowledge of linux.
Thanks for the suggestions

You were born an original. Don't die a copy!

 

[Chacalinc]

hmm.. may be with debian you can get confused.. so I recommend Ubuntu. Tha installation process will ask you whether you want to instal ubuntu as workstation or server... what's the difference? the services to install: as server, apache, mysql, php, etc. As workstation, openoffice, etc.

Ubuntu is very simple to install (better than debian).

the good one is if you need to update your os you just issue as root: [tt]apt-get upgrade[/tt]

if you need to install some package: [tt]apt-get install package[/tt]. e.g. apt-get install ssh-server

Cheers.

 

[ei8ball]

Great, in your opinion could this work out...

Linux installed on an IBM PC acting as a server for MS PCs. That same linux server backing up that data onto an external drive. If that server were to die for some reason, could I unplug that external HD and plug it into a MS PC and read those files fine?

 

[Chacalinc]

If that server were to die for some reason, could I unplug that external HD and plug it into a MS PC and read those files fine?

it depends on your filesystem type. By default, linux uses ext3 -not supported by windows- but if your external HDD is using VFAT, FAT16 or FAT32 as the filesystem type, then yes, no problem. (NTFS is currently supported in read-only mode)

BTW, if you plan to have this HDD shared with windows environment, be carefull about what kind of files are you saving... if you use amanda as backup software.. I'm not sure that amanda going to run in windows. cpio is not used in windows, so I recommend to use tar and gzip (both supported by winzip in windows).

 

[tristezo2k]

Well, let me start saying that Debian Should be your choice.
Just because you can presonalize, a just get what you need.
That is called Samba.
and it´s easy config program called swat.
And in any way, try webmin for your needs could be usefull
with debian woody, go install the base install, add the security.debian.org to /etc/apt/sources.list
and then do
apt-get update && apt-get install samba samba-doc swat webmin-samba
after that, if you love webmin you can get a
apt-get install webmin-quota webmin-exim .... ad nauseam
for options, try
apt-cache search webmin |less
Good Luck

 

[tristezo2k]

Oh! and btw, if you want to remove the hdd for dos reading,
you _must_ make a vfat partition
install dosfstools
withch will give you mkdosfs
with that you will be able to do a
mkdosfs -F32 /dev/hdxy
and edit /etc/fstab to get it mounted
then you can add the shares via

http://ip:901

(that woul be swat)
or

http://ip:10000

(that would be webmin)
If you ever need to reconfigure the default install of a package use (for example)
dpkg-reconfigure samba
More luck!

 

[BobMCT]

One of the easiest installing distros is xandros version 3 available from

http://www.xandros.com

as a FREE version, a personal version or a deluxe version.

This too is based on the Debian system and includes an extremely easy configuration facility. It is definitely worth a try.

Also, for EASE of administration (local and remote) try webmin from

http://www.webmin.com.

This is a browser based administration tool which will assist you with the configuration of most if not all Linux facilities.

Good luck,

Bob

 

[ei8ball]

Well, I'm using Xandros, which was almost too easy to install I rebooted it with my external HD in power up and attached and it works without me doing anything else. The HD was using fat32 fyi. I can easily share the drive to windows pc's on the network and did it all without a lot of linux knowledge.

The only roadblock I face now is backing up. Basically I have a shared directory on my linux box that windows users can save files to. I want to run a nightly backup that will backup to the external hd in seperate folders for each night.. like Monday, Tuesday, etc..

I downloaded Amanda and quite frankly am having problems installing it. I cd to the folder that I believe contains the source code like it instructs me. Then I run ./configure and it starts saying things such as checking build system type...

checking host system type...

But it hangs up on

configure: error *** --with-user=USER is missing

I think well, maybe I can get past this and run the make command like instructed.. but no go...

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[ericbrunson]

Please remember when reading all the distro fan-boy FUD that linux is linux. It's capabilities come from the kernel, it's modules and the packages you install. Notice that whatever distro anyone promotes, they all say you need Samba. The ability to mount a USB drive is in the kernel modules, along with filesystem support. Automounting done by a daemon that can be installed on any distro.

The basic differences between distros are: installer, package management and system administration tools, though more and more the package management "meta-tools" are becoming more and more alike.

Once the box is installed and updated and you've familiarized yourself with YAST, Synaptic, apt, yum or whatever package meta-tool they've provided, you're pretty much in equivalent environments.

That being said: FEDORA RULES! All other distros must kneel before its greatness! Convert or be destroyed, resistance is futile, you will be assimilated.

Just kidding, it's all personal preference and what you're familiar with.

 

[Chacalinc]

That being said: FEDORA RULES! All other distros must kneel before its greatness! Convert or be destroyed, resistance is futile, you will be assimilated.

and god says: so let apt live!

hehehe...Debian rules!