SME Linux print and file 'server'?

[ITCynic]

softRAID, or hardware RAID?

RAID 0,1 or 5?

RAID 1 (Mirrored)
Linux RAID built into ClarkConnect

There are very few hardware RAID cards out there ... and they are very expensive.
Most RAID cards are softRAID, ie Linux RAID on firmware on standard IDE/SATA cards

 

[Gamer]

Spec is fine.

Thanks everyone.

 

[w1z4rd]

RAID 1 (Mirrored)
Linux RAID built into ClarkConnect

Their are very few hardware RAID cards out there ... they are expensive.
Most RAID cards are softRAID, ie Linux RAID on firmware on standard IDE/SATA cards

Well the cheap raid cards anyways.

 

[The_Unbeliever]

best RAID I've seen is the hotswap ones HP uses

one HDD fails, you just yank it out and plug in a new one

but software RAID also have its advantages.

I got a PC with two identical HDD's here, want to install SME server and use that for an .ISO repository

 

[ITCynic]

With ClarkConnect, if 1 drive fails you don't even notice it, I set up my servers to email me in an event of a failure.

I must admit, I have not had a drive fail on me yet. ( on the 8 servers I have installed in a RAID configuration)

 

[warwickw]

SME Server is the way to go, grab it at http://www.smeserver.org/

Awesome product, easy to install and very easy to use from a Windows PC.

TIP when installing have 2 large drives in the machine, the system will install automatically in mirror mode, hence ensuring some disaster recovery. Also get yourself a large external USB drive for backups, SME Server has a simple backup procedure you can run from the console when logging in as the admin user.

 

[Gamer]

Thanks for the advice. It appears the all in one printer, scanner, fax we use is not supported, as far as I can tell.
I'll go the windows route.

 

[ponder]

Thanks for the advice. It appears the all in one printer, scanner, fax we use is not supported, as far as I can tell.
I'll go the windows route.

What brand & model do you have?

This is probably the only hangup, manufacturers not doing drivers for their hardware.

 

[Gamer]

What brand & model do you have?

This is probably the only hangup, manufacturers not doing drivers for their hardware.

Lexmark X7170

I hate Lexmark personally and I think this printer is crappy, but it's there and is not going to be replaced anytime soon.

 

[ponder]

Thats sad, lexmark is not really a good player. In future recommend they buy hardware from a company that supports open source. HP & Epson are good.
That lexmark will probably die soon enough, they all do.

 

[warwickw]

Plug the printer into the closest windows PC and share it there, until you can get a better printer.

 

[Gamer]

Plug the printer into the closest windows PC and share it there, until you can get a better printer.

No, that's the point of the dedicated machine scenario. 4 of the 5 workstations are laptops and the only desktop isn't in a location that's practical for hosting the printers (there's more than one). So much for my first attempt at going Linux...stopped before it even got started.

 

[Gamer]

I've given up with this stupid lexmark printer. I've just ordered a new canon AIO printer from suppliers to replace this piece of junk. The canon will be shared via ethernet cable so linux may be the route I go after all as a file server, or should i just run XP as a file server?

 

[w1z4rd]

I've given up with this stupid lexmark printer. I've just ordered a new canon AIO printer from suppliers to replace this piece of junk. The canon will be shared via ethernet cable so linux may be the route I go after all as a file server, or should i just run XP as a file server?

No, dont use XP as a file server. The system will degrade over time.

 

[MyWorld]

Why not? You have NOTHING to loose by using it and apart from hardware expenses it will be the cheapest option?

I would use Linux as the file server, but then again, I'm very biased towards Linux!

 

[w1z4rd]

Why not? You have NOTHING to loose by using it and apart from hardware expenses it will be the cheapest option?

I would use Linux as the file server, but then again, I'm very biased towards Linux!

Ive often come across XP file servers setup by some person who did a job they were not qualified to do. Theyve never not fallen over.. over time. The file system degrades.

 

[czc]

We have a XP file server and two actual servers lying on the floor unused. Widows SBS is expensive.

How does the file system degrade over time?

 

[w1z4rd]

We have a XP file server and two actual servers lying on the floor unused. Widows SBS is expensive.

How does the file system degrade over time?

I dont know, it just does. Probaly cause the data eventualy fragments too much and the file system starts getting errors in it (that defrag and chkdsk cant fix).

 

[The_Unbeliever]

I dont know, it just does. Probaly cause the data eventualy fragments too much and the file system starts getting errors in it (that defrag and chkdsk cant fix).

Yup.

M$ claimed that NTFS is a journaled file system - but I cannot see that happening as NTFS is an offspring from the OS/2 HPFS system.

Added to that the fact that you can "upgrade" from FAT32 to NTFS by using the fsconvert utility (on WindowsNT, XP etc only) to go from FAT32 to NTFS only proves to me that NTFS is also prone to defragmentation as well.

Ever heard of a disk defragment tool for Linux? I haven't (so far)...

Come next month will I be purchasing a new 80Gb HDD for my Linux file server (and see if I can get a 2nd one for mirroring) and get my SME server back into business

There's lots of new ideas I want to try out

 

[MyWorld]

Ive often come across XP file servers setup by some person who did a job they were not qualified to do. Theyve never not fallen over.. over time. The file system degrades.

I meant why not Linux. I will never say a positive thing of MS in a Linux forum!