Overview of how I should best set up a file server?

[OS Newbie]

Ok, all you Linux masters,

I don't mean to have anyone launch into the details. But I want to set up a file server for a small LAN, where I can have users of Mac, Linux and Windows machines write files that may be needed by other users or by they themselves on any of the other platforms. For instance, say that a bunch of sound files get digitized by Mac, Linux and Windows-based machines, and some Mac user has done a lot of graphics work, creating images using things like Photoshop, Illustrator and Painter. Say that somebody wants to take any or all of those files, and make something with them (like a film), or maybe wants to use Final Cut, to make a narrated slide show. Another thing that would likely happen is that a programmer would want to create a database application to be the "big jukebox in the sky" that would allow people to play any of the sound files from a menu. In any case, you get the idea. It would be great to be able to set up directories for various kinds of files, and have them be accessible to Mac, Windows and Linux platform users.

I understand many of the the issues of file format compatibility between platforms. So I don't need to hear anything about that. What I'm wondering here is whether or not Linux in general (and Gentoo in particular) is the way to go, to create such a server, and if so, what pieces are needed to do it. Should I set up a Samba-kind of thing, make everything look like Windows, or what? I wish it were as easy as it used to be when one could bring up a Novell server, and make it look like a Mac hard drive to Mac users, while simultaneously make it look like a Windows hard drive to Windows users. Well, actually, now that I think about it, there were more interplatform file format compatibility issues then.

Anyway, if you have any general thoughts, recommendations, etc., I'm all ears. Thanks in advance.

[John R. Graham]

Split from Old computer hacker (but Linux newbie) seeks guru... as it really is (and deserves) its own topic.

- John
_________________
I can confirm that I have received between 0 and 499 National Security Letters.

[1clue]

OK so if this were me with the project, I have 3 possible alternatives and different reasons for them. The order I give is the order of my preference. Keep in mind I went through the first thread with OS Newbie too, so I kind of know what you're after. Please read before getting angry.

One: Buy a NAS.

Reasons:

1. Features. If you look at these things, they're not just file servers with RAID and an easy control panel, but they're also media servers for your (or your kids' or grandkids') ipods and ipads and Android devices, and a host of other things that someone our age just doesn't think of, but it's there.
   
2. Easy. Hook up some disks, turn it on, go to the web page configuration, go to town.
   
3. Price. If you consider your time to be worth anything, then you can't build a one-off for even close to the cost of these things, feature for feature. NAS devices are extremely competitive right now.
   
4. Time. I have way too many projects and not nearly enough time, and this would be WAY down on the list.
   
5. Linux. Most of these things run Linux or some other free OS anyway, with a few closed-source packages in there for good measure.
   

Two: A NAS distro.

Reasons:

1. Somebody already thought of the things a good modern NAS needs, and they've set up a Linux distro (or FreeBSD or whatever) specifically for it.
   
2. You still build your own hardware.
   
3. You have more control over what's on the basic system.
   
4. You get easy configuration through a control panel.
   
5. Some of the NAS devices on the market are based on these distros anyway.
   

Three: Full-on DIY from source.

Reasons:

1. Build your own hardware.
   
2. Install software piecemeal.
   
3. You control everything on the system.
   
4. You learn the most.
   

I'll put my approach into another post.

[OS Newbie]

[Jaglover]

You install Gentoo.
Decide where your shared volume will be, say /mnt/shared.
You export /mnt/shared via NFS, will work for Linux and OS-X.
You can share it via AFP for Mac if you like it more.
You share /mnt/shared using Samba/CIFS, for Windows machines.
It is irrelevant what filesystem is used.
You can keep sharing it over different protocols, like http for read only access, ftp, whatnot.
_________________
My Gentoo installation notes.
Please learn how to denote units correctly!

[1clue]

NTFS: You're going to want a good NTFS driver for your Mac. Linux works well enough.

I'm a big fan of sneakernet too, I have a slot-load SATA drive cartridge bay in most of my server hardware. I have enough bandwidth problems on my network.

[OS Newbie]

[OS Newbie]

[creaker]

I would install samba.
1. Windows, Mac and almost all the linux distros has built in protocols to connect to samba server. For Gentoo clients you have to install a small piece of software - cifs-utils
2. No matter what a filesystem do you use at server - ext, ntfs or something else - for clients it's just hidden under the hood. They operates with shares as with regular native partitions.
3. No need for any kind of drivers (ntfs or whatever else)
4. As for me, the main advantage of samba is ability to play movies and music directly from server. No need to download them to client before starting playback. FTP doesn't allow such a thing, you have to download file previously. Assuming the same with http and nfs protocols, though I'm not pretty sure.

[OS Newbie]

[John R. Graham]

No. All files accessed on a Samba share look like they're on a Windows filesystem, which is the downside for the *nix clients: file permissions aren't fully correct for the *nix model. However, if your Windows clients all use a sufficiently up-to-date version of Windows (7 and later), an NFS client is included (just not installed by default). That means that you can have a unified solution for all clients.

- John
_________________
I can confirm that I have received between 0 and 499 National Security Letters.

[creaker]

[Atom2]

[1clue]

Following the "what could possibly work on everything" path is unsatisfactory. There's always something that doesn't work, and most of it doesn't work very well.

In order to make this seamless enough for the tech-unsavvy in your family or friends group is to have a share for each platform.

Macs CAN share NFS but it's not really all that friendly about it. Mac wants their particular breed of networking, especially if you want a Time Machine backup. Even though they CAN go to a cifs share or an nfs share, they generally don't show them when you browse the network, unless you know how.

I know that it's possible to make the same partition on the server look like NFS and CIFS and AFP, because I've seen it on commercially available NAS devices. According to the apple forums, the drive should be HFS+ shared over AFP, and Bonjour for time machine discovery. They also use Bonjour for media servers and networked audio systems, probably more. I'm sure there's some way for the same partition to look like the proper thing to each platform, and that includes Android and ios devices.

This link might give you an idea about the Apple side of it: http://blog.west.uni-koblenz.de/2013-04-24/timemachine-backup-of-mac-on-a-linux-fileserver/

[OS Newbie]

[1clue]

Interesting. I'd never have a Windows that wasn't pure straight from Microsoft. I only use it for testing software that customers will use from Windows.

Yes, there are lots of NFS drivers, some of them are good, and most of those cost money. Which one is best depends on the phase of the moon IMO and I haven't looked for awhile so you have to ask somebody else.

[OS Newbie]

[Roman_Gruber]

[1clue]

@OS Newbie,

If you can reasonably dictate which operating systems connect to your home network then your task is much easier and the commercial NAS approach loses its appeal.

Frankly the only mainstream consumer operating system that doesn't currently connect to my network on a semi-regular basis is iOS. That's random chance AFAIC. The people who connect want all the bells and whistles.

@tw04l124,

Skype is a huge problem for me. It doesn't work on Linux at all and it works marginally on Macs. I use it extensively for my work, and my wife uses it privately to talk to her family. I'm desperate for a replacement. We need text messaging personally and in groups, voice personally and in groups, and desktop sharing personally and in groups. Sometimes during a meeting we point a camera at a whiteboard for video. My wife uses video a lot.

[Spanik]

Interesting thread, have been thinking about such a thing for some time. But something hasn't been touched and that is power consumption. Now what would be the most economical? I understand that in a commercial setting this would be second to reliability. But for home use power consumption is important (well, to me at least).

How would a Gentoo setup fare against a commercial NAS in that aspect? I'd prefer a Gentoo setup to a bought NAS for the learning experience. What would be the minimal requirements that result in low power with acceptable performance for such a file server? Let's say for 4 people with enough spread use. So not streaming 4 HD while at the same time doing other stuff, Gb ethernet available.
_________________
Expert in non-working solutions

[1clue]

@Spanik,

Normally I'd say this should be a different thread, but somehow I think OS Newbie would want to go there.

The commercial NAS vendors have a lot going for them. They've already done a LOT of research (more than you could justify for a single box, or even a dozen of them) into hardware and found something they like. They've done a LOT of research into software and have come up with something that works best with that hardware. It's unlikely IMO that your hardware selections and your software configuration would come up with something that beats theirs in all ways, especially if you include cost into the mix.

Most of the SOHO NAS products are running Linux or FreeBSD under the covers, so technically speaking if you come up with hardware you like and that hardware is fully compatible with a Linux kernel, then you should be able to do as well as the NAS vendors aimed at the SOHO market would if they were using the same hardware you chose. As well, your priorities may be different from what the NAS vendors used, and because of that your home-brew NAS might match your specific needs much better than the commercially available options.

One thing I would emphatically say is stay away from WD green drives on Linux. I followed all the instructions and had 6 at one point, only one survivor left, the other 5 died within 9 months of purchase. I'm giving WD a break altogether for a few years, though I doubt they'll notice.

If you factor "learning experience" into it as any sort of significant factor, then I say go build your NAS from scratch. If your focus is just to get a cost effective NAS with all the standard bells and whistles -- especially if you have a flock of other people who want iOS and Mac and Windows and Android and whatever-kind-of-TV-that-is, and blu-ray and media servers -- then I say go buy a NAS. By the time you've finished, if you're a full time employee with a decent income, you can't possibly do all that as cheaply as the NAS vendors do.

[OS Newbie]

[1clue]

I'm speculating here, but I suspect that the NAS units probably use HFS+ volumes underneath. It seems to me that HFS+ has more sophisticated permissions than the others, which might mean that NFS and CIFS could fit inside HFS+, so to speak.

Again, speculation.

Really I think you don't want it to be time machine anyway, time machine takes over the entire drive (or partition in this case) and keeps stuffing data in until you run out, then deletes the oldest to make enough room for the next one. It's really a backup-only solution.

[causes]

I'm also interested in setting up my server computer to work as network storage. Currently i'm using just sshfs. I wish that the network storage would work just like locally mounted filesystems. Seems like i have to look into samba or NFS?
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[OS Newbie]