Hi all,

I'd like to set up a server on my home network for some network-accessible drive space, and print server. Would like suggestions for a distro that'll do that with a minimum of setup time & hassles. I use mostly PCLinuxOS, and would like the server to be accessible from the occasional Windoze machine as well.

Thanks.

Hi there.

Good of you to ask. I personally use Debian stable for all my needs - the OS installation can be as minimal as you dare - though flexible enough so you can scale up the operations on the system if need be, at a later date. For a FS/Print Server, I would recommend the Net Installation of Debian Etch over any Ubuntu version (which has a similar package management/set up as Debian), since by default Ubuntu installs a fair bit of stuff that the hard-worn server-builder won't be neding.

Typical set-up time in Debian (assuming you have the 150MB .iso ready to boot) is about one hour.

Ronald.

I would go for CentOS/Redhat, I am using it and just works... So good luck.

Since you're already using PCLinuxOS, try out the server version... You can download it from BEL Projects.

I'm doing the exact same thing as you - setting up a home file & print server. I'm using OpenSuSE (operating system) with SAMBA (server) software. There are a FEW tiny glitches, which I've overcome, so far. We have two XP desktops that we're going to move all the data from, to the server. One glitch was each of us being able to change the files/folders that the other has moved to the server, but we found a fairly simple fix. A previous one was simply being able to access the network drive, but that was a fairly simple fix, also. We've mapped a J: drive from the server to our XP Pro workstations, and are able to access it, but it doesn't show up in Windows Explorer like our other networked drives (shared folders from both XP boxes). You have to type J: in the address bar of explorer to get it to open up, but that's a small glitch and I'm not obsessing over it, yet. I've not yet disconnected the printer from my XP box and connected it to the server, but I do not anticipate much problem. I'm not going to print FROM the server - it'll only be a file & print server, not a workstation.

We built our PCs two weeks ago - AMD Athlon 6000 cpu's on ASUS M3A78-EM motherboards with 8 GB RAM on each. The server is the same setup, but I grabbed the wrong box and so it's an AMD Athlon 6400, instead (& only 4 GB RAM, not 8). I installed an 80 GB drive for the OS and four 250 GB drives configured as SATA in BIOS but as RAID5 in OpenSuSE, giving 700 GB of drive space with some level of reliability and data safety. Total cost was about ... let me check the receipts ... about $700 for the server - motherboard & cpu & RAM purchased locally with drives and case purchased from newegg.com (and 2 120mm fans to keep the drive array cooler than it's original too-hot-to-touch temperature). The desktops cost about $450 each. Keyboards and mouses an monitors are all components we've already had.

The install of OpenSuSE was wonderful. If I hadn't used the hardware RAID configuration, it would have been smoother. All my questions about the little glitches have been answered here at this forum.

The sheer quantity of Linux distros is majorly overwhelming. There is a thread in the Newbie section that tells about the different distros with a link to the Wikipedia on it (surprising to me, Wikipedia.com has TONS of info about Linux and about each of the various distros. It'd take a week of nothing but reading to go through it, but it all seems like GREAT info).

The reason I picked OpenSuSE is because it's a Novel product (at least it is now). I've had nothing but GREAT stuff from Novel. Their NetWare software did the best job of fixing everyone else's problems with compatibility. I expected the same from OpenSuSE, and the installation recognized everything on the system (motherboard has gigabyte ethernet, a great graphic processor, multiple USB 2.0, firewire 1394, sound [I've not connected speakers but don't care about it on the server]). It also booted up from the IDE DVD ROM just fine, and continues to recognize the drive. The fact that it's got RAID5 support is awesome, imho.

I hope this helps you. My server is working now for a few days, and I'm about to completely dismantle it so that I can rebuild it from scratch and document the rebuild fully - so that I can have full documentation for the eventual time when I'll have to do it again (I don't want to have to relearn this stuff!). If you have any other questions about OpenSuSE, or my work with it (I'm definitely a Linux novice - this is my first touching of it, tho I've been working with computers since '76), contact me & I'll tell you whatever I can. However, there are plenty of folks here who know infinitely more than I do, and most of them are pretty quick to respond.

Hope this helps. Remember, we're on a journey, not necessarily looking for a final destination. May your journey be filled with solutions!