Home Network File Server

[fraso]

Some background: I've have a peer-to-peer home network and one of the computers on the network is a file server. The file server uses an Asus P3B-F board with a 20 GB c: Windows XP OS drive and a 1TB d: NTFS data drive using a pair of SATA drives plugged into a Vantec UGT-ST220R controller with RAID 1 configuration. When I set up the 1TB drives, they were configured as a dynamic disk - don't recall exactly how that happened. It was working perfectly for several years until I noticed that I was running out of free space on drive c: and started screwing around with drive indexing. While turning off drive indexing, my 1TB drive disappeared and now appears unformatted. With a recovery program (DiskGenius on Hiren's BootCD), the files appear intact and I am in the process of copying them to an external drive. Request for advice: The RAID 1 1TB drives are obviously for redundancy. If one fails, I would like to be able to use the remaining good drive to copy my files to a new mirrored drive setup or to install that drive in another computer. My understanding is that the best way to do this is for the 1TB drive to be configured as an NTFS basic disk. Long term, Linux might be a better option than Windows XP.

• Would Lubuntu work satisfactorily for this purpose as the OS in my file server?
• What would be the best way to configure Linux for remote access on my home network with my other Windows 10 computers.
• Any other advice?

 

[EdwardC]

Have you looked into FreeNAS? I'm not an expert, but I would think that'd be the way to go since it's pretty much made for this exact application. GL!

 

[fraso]

I've looked into it but I believe it uses the OpenZFS file system that I don't think easily plugs into a W10 computer.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: fraso

I've looked into it but I believe it uses the OpenZFS file system that I don't think easily plugs into a W10 computer.

That's not going to matter if you are access things through SMB.

 

[Andrew1972]

FreeNas if you want to tinker I ended up with a WDCloud 2tb for $100 that plugs into Ethernet and wall and added external usb drive for daily redundancy and more space. It was Apple Timemachine comapatible. Uses way less space and power.

 

[fraso]

I know enough about computers to be dangerous and I'm not familiar with SMB. If my file server were to crash for whatever reason and I have one good 1TB drive left, my concern is easily restoring that data. If that 1TB drive had an OpenZFS file system, then wouldn't I only be able to access it with another device that used the OpenZFS file system? I suppose if that were the case, I could build a new file server running FreeNAS and plug my old 1TB drive into it with a USB interface. I also asked Vantec for advice and they replied with this link: Best Free and Open source NAS or SAN software What concerns me about FreeNAS is this statement from the above link: One thing should be noticed before installing this OS on some Old specs system is that it needs a good amount of RAM to work, especially when you planning to install ZFS file system. FreeNAS Hardware Basic Requirements:

• 64-bit hardware is required for current FreeNAS releases. Intel processors are strongly recommended
• 8 GB of RAM is required, with more recommended.
• FreeNAS 9.2.1.9 was the last release that supported 32-bit hardware and UFS filesystems.
• SSDs, SATADOMs, or USB sticks can be used for boot devices. SSDs are recommended.
• 8 GB of RAM is the absolute minimum requirement. 1 GB per terabyte of storage is a standard starting point for calculating additional RAM needs, although actual needs vary. ECC RAM is strongly recommended.
• Directly-connected storage disks are necessary for FreeNAS to provide fault tolerance. Hardware RAID cards are not recommended because they prevent this direct access and reduce reliability. For best results, see FreeBSD Hardware Compatibility List for supported HBA disk controllers. LSI/Avago/Broadcom HBAs are the best choice with FreeNAS.
• NAS-specific hard drives like WD Red are recommended.
• Intel or Chelsio 1 GbE or 10 GbE Ethernet cards are recommended.

My file server has 640 MB of RAM (1024 MB max). Windows XP runs fine on this hardware and I thought Lunbuntu was designed for older machines like mine. Lubuntu System Requirements: Our tests show that until version 14.10 lubuntu can be installed on a Pentium II or Celeron system with 256 MB RAM to get a usable system. With 512 MB of RAM, you do not need to worry much. The recommended "lubuntu Desktop" from version 15.04 onwards is 1 GB of RAM. For Internet services like Facebook, Youtube, and Google Docs about 1 GB RAM are needed. For local programs like Libre Office and simple browsing habits 512 MB RAM are usually sufficient. For PCs with less resources, there are alternative lubuntu installers on the download pages, that provide a basic running system for those systems.

 

[simple_gifts]

As mentioned you need RAM to use ZFS If one drive crashed you would still be able to access the data via a mapped drive (SMB) Your clients use SMB (windows sharing) to access the data, not ZFS; the NAS machine shares out the ZFS filesystem using a native windows file sharing protocol (SMB) You could copy the data off to another disk (USB3 external) or just replaced the failed drive with a drive of equal size (exact =) or larger and resync the data to the new drive. That is how RAID 1 works. Practice doing this before you need to know how to do it JMO BTW, ZFS RAID1 allows you to increase the size of the mirror with larger disks without copying the data off or reformatting. ZFS is the shizzle.

 

[uc50ic4more]

Originally Posted By: fraso

[*]Would Lubuntu work satisfactorily for this purpose as the OS in my file server?

Using a file server that also runs a display is unnecessary. There are plenty of purpose-built Linux distros that have a nice web-based GUI (the web server running on the file server, not the internet) to act as a NAS. If a GUI is not that important you could Google instructions on how to set up Debian, Ubuntu Server or CentOS as a file server and never think about the machine again until some hardware fails. :^)

 

[OVERKILL]

SMB is the file share protocol used by Windows, and on Linux/Unix/BSD via SAMBA. Sounds like you are bound to a 32-bit setup. Are you at all comfortable managing a Linux or BSD box via SSH? FreeBSD is a favourite of mine but it is definitely not as friendly to get setup as a Ubuntu derivative.

 

[fraso]

I set up Lubuntu on a spare computer I was going to put out in the garage but never got very far. Its purpose was to access the internet (look up manuals and YouTube videos) and to access manuals on my file server. I'm not at all familiar with SSH but would give it a try. I mapped the 1TB drive to my other network computers and was accessing the WXP file server with remote access in W10 from my main desktop computer.

 

[Kawiguy454]

I would do some looking around for reviews of network appliance servers. Many will handle the raid for you and can notify you isf a disk is going off. There are also other online services they are capable of beyond simple file sharing. In the long run you'll save time and money unless you like tinkering aspect of a PC baced server.

 

[EdwardC]

Dang, sorry, I completely missed the hardware specs on the machine you're using. I think even the older x86 FreeNAS versions may not run on that hardware (not sure if you can even download it now). I do like the idea of running headless like has been suggested above.

 

[fraso]

I think I have all of the hardware I need and that hardware worked fine for several years and didn't require much maintenance once I got it set up. Using a web-based GUI (like cPanel?) for a Linux server installation sounds pretty good.

 

[2heeldrive]

The simplest (and IMHO, the best) way is to buy an off the shelf dedicated server. I've been running a raid 5 (four drive) Synology NAS for almost 8 years now. I had to replace the fans a few years ago... it sent me an e-mail alerting me to a failed fan. It has been the most trouble free piece of computer/networking equipment ever. I would by another one in a heartbeat.