Building a home server

deadlysyn · Dec 4, 2011

I am working on building a home server out of some spare parts I have laying around. It's nothing special as far as hardware is concerned. Just an old Abit AS8, P4 530J (3.0 GHz), GeForce 6200, and 2 GB of memory. I plan to run Ubuntu on this system, which is basically just going to stream media to my PS3, run backups of the Windows systems here, my FTP server will be moved to it, and my wife will be storing duplicates of all of her photography work to it. For the most part, I have all of the packages I want to use on it figured out, I think. For the media part, I am planning to use PS3 Media Server, vsftpd for the FTP server, Samba for the shares between it and the desktops, but for the backups I am a bit lost. So far, I am tossing the idea around between 3 packages, but don't know which one is going to be the best for my needs. My wife has a tendency to have virus issues every now and then, so I need to be able to create a backup that would be able to be deployed back to the rig via the network. The part that has me lost is the fact that her rig has a wireless connection with WPA2, so with no driver support and without the key, I am unsure how I can accomplish this.

To get to my real question, I have been looking into BackupPC, Bacula, and Amanda for the backups. It would be best if she doesn't have to do anything for the backups to happen, so automation is a huge plus. Deployment over a network if things happen will be helpful as well. I also need something that is very user friendly, since I am not an expert with Linux, and barely know more than just installing Ubuntu and using the app manager (what happened to Synaptic?) to get what I need. Has anyone here worked with either of those 3 programs, and what can I expect as far as what I need out of each one?

I am also going g to be trying to research this further, but reading guides has proven to be confusing to me, probably because I don't have the programs right in front of me yet. I have also had a hard time getting Ubuntu to actually communicate with even the host OS (Win7 Pro x64) from Virtual Box.

onefstsnake · Dec 4, 2011

Last edited by m0r7if3r on 1-23-2011 at 12:45 PM. Reason: I haz uber 1337 h4x0rz 5k1llz

LOL edited the future... :shock:

Adragontattoo · Dec 4, 2011

Syn,

TBH, you would be better served by dropping a network cable to her system for backups and imaging. Even on the corporate side, backups via wireless are notoriously hit or miss and imaging via wireless isnt even discussed.

Wireless can have a hiccup because your neighbor answered the phone, you started the microwave or any number of reasons and an encrypted connection is way too many hoops to jump through in the hopes that you can push a barebones restore out.

Any reason you cant/wont run a cable for her to plug in to?

deadlysyn · Dec 4, 2011

We live in an apartment that we have no plans of staying in beyond our lease, which is only a few months away, and her rig is on the opposite end of the apartment compared to the router. If this weren't the case, I would drop a cable without thinking twice.

Automata · Dec 4, 2011

Since you are using Linux as the server, I would suggest rsync for backups. Instead of copying everything you want to backup every time it runs, it only copies the changes. This will reduce the time and network bandwidth required substantially. On my desktop, I can do a full backup to the server in a few seconds. The laptop is used wirelessly and does the same thing. This should help with your wireless "problem". Rsync is available on any Linux release and Windows has a port called "DeltaCopy".

Then, with all the files are on the server, you can do whatever you need with them (archive, duplicate, etc) using simple BASH scripts. Here is the one I use.

Oulse · Dec 4, 2011

If you can get to a drive remotely, the built-in Windows backup utility would work just fine. Samba or any SMB server would allow remote access for Windows. It can back up changes automatically once per day, with versioning options. Transferring wirelessly would be slower, but you wouldn't encounter any problems.

Stratus_ss · Dec 4, 2011

deadlysyn said:
We live in an apartment that we have no plans of staying in beyond our lease, which is only a few months away, and her rig is on the opposite end of the apartment compared to the router. If this weren't the case, I would drop a cable without thinking twice.

I would get something like this. We use them all over the farm to get internet from the house out to the barn. Distance is a factor however, by the time we get out to the outter barns we get about 200kb.

But inside an apartment I would imagine would be awesome. I have seen these sold in Canada upto 500Mbs which would beat the pants off the performance of wireless

deadlysyn · Dec 4, 2011

thideras said:
Since you are using Linux as the server, I would suggest rsync for backups. Instead of copying everything you want to backup every time it runs, it only copies the changes. This will reduce the time and network bandwidth required substantially. On my desktop, I can do a full backup to the server in a few seconds. The laptop is used wirelessly and does the same thing. This should help with your wireless "problem". Rsync is available on any Linux release and Windows has a port called "DeltaCopy".

Then, with all the files are on the server, you can do whatever you need with them (archive, duplicate, etc) using simple BASH scripts. Here is the one I use.

Thanks, thiddy. I will definitely be checking that one out. It looks like I would set up rsync in Ubuntu, then Deltacopy on the Windows systems to send the files over? I haven't setup a backup system before, so don't really know what I am doing just yet.

Stratus_ss said:
I would get something like this. We use them all over the farm to get internet from the house out to the barn. Distance is a factor however, by the time we get out to the outter barns we get about 200kb.

But inside an apartment I would imagine would be awesome. I have seen these sold in Canada upto 500Mbs which would beat the pants off the performance of wireless

I have actually thought about these adapters, but I only have a few months left of the lease here, and looking to buy. Chances are, whatever we end up buying will get wired with Cat6 if we don't just set up an office where all the computers will be. At that point, they will all be wired.

Automata · Dec 4, 2011

deadlysyn said:
Thanks, thiddy. I will definitely be checking that one out. It looks like I would set up rsync in Ubuntu, then Deltacopy on the Windows systems to send the files over? I haven't setup a backup system before, so don't really know what I am doing just yet.

Correct. You will use xinetd to run the rsync server and your systems will connect to it when you have it configured to do so.

deadlysyn · Dec 4, 2011

My main concern is going to be reimaging her system in case she ends up with a virus. Is this something that can be done with rsync and Deltacopy? I can always drag out my long Cat5e cable for a temporary solution, since we have a gigabit network here, which may make deploying the image quite a bit faster that the N300 that she has now.

I will have her data folders on a daily backup, since she is a photographer, and all of those files are necessary to her work. If she loses those files, it could be catastrophic to her business. As of right now, her data is in a separate drive from her OS and programs, along with a copy of everything done bi-weekly on another HDD that is stored in a fire safe. The server isn't an end all be all, but having something there for easier restoration would make things a lot easier than having to open up a safe to hook an HDD up to her e-SATA.

Automata · Dec 4, 2011

Full imaging is going to be a bit harder. The easiest solution is to have a network drive mapped and simply place it on the share. Do you really need a full image, though?

The wireless speed is going to cause you issues, no matter what you do.

deadlysyn · Dec 4, 2011

As far as the imaging part goes, I just want to create an image of the OS and installed programs, but not the data. It just has gotten to be a pain to get everything reinstalled when she manages to do something to trash the system. The data is on a separate HDD, so I will be able to back those up and restore them as needed.

Automata · Dec 4, 2011

Can you image to the second hard drive instead of sending it over wireless?

deadlysyn · Dec 18, 2011

I have been doing some thinking on this, and in the meantime, got the system built. I had a customer a few weeks ago that just happens to be a computer guy as well, so he had some hardware lying around, and he offered it up as a tip. The system now consists of an Intel E6600, Asus P5QC, 4GB of Kingston ValueRAM (forget the speed, but I think it is DDR2-667), an XFX HD5450, and a Samsung Spinpoint F4 2TB.

I actually spent a few hours, and a lot of text messages to turbohans, trying to get Samba working. It seemed like forever that I would try

Code:

sudo restart smbd

But I kept getting errors (I guess they were errors) like

Code:

restart: Unknown job: smbd

And trying different commands that I could find online would give me similar errors. The strange thing was, it looked like all the necessary files were in place. I was able to edit smb.conf, and it would pass the "testparm" command. Finally, I got irritated enough that I was ready to start over, and ran

Code:

sudo apt-get install samba

Which took a lot less time than I had remembered, so I figured I would try checking from my Windows rig, and was a le to get right in to the share with no troubles.

As far as my wife's rig, I picked up a WD 1.5TB AV Green drive, to set up as her data drive, for a Christmas gift for her. My plan is to move all of her data to it, and run her images to the 320GB she is using now, where I am going to try to find a script to copy those to the server. This way, I have the images stored locally for easy restoration, and, if need be, a copy on the server for safe keeping.

I also got PS3 Media server set up, but seem to have run into a snag with that. I was trying to take a break last night, from getting irritated with Samba, so I decided I would go watch a movie. I started transferring all of my media files from my rig to the server, and ordered a pizza. There was only about 140GB of files, and with gigabit, the transfer took a little less than half an hour (or so it felt). When I went to load up a movie on the PS3, I noticed all of them weren't showing up, and the ones that weren't are all .mkv, while a few .mkv were showing up, but every time I tried to open one up, the PS3 would give me an error saying the data is corrupted. AVI files play fine, so I am wondering if I missed something. I should probably mention that this is with Ubuntu 10.04 (I wanted to go with an LTS version) 64 bit. I am using TightVNC from the Windows rig to do everything, but TightVNC is a pain in the neck. Basically, I have full control over the server, but I can't see anything I am doing unless I switch inputs on my monitor.

Anyone have any suggestions for a better VNC client for Windows, and any thoughts on why I can't play any of my .mkv files? I thought the E6600 would be better for what I want to do, but if I keep getting corrupted data errors, having the better processor might be pointless.

Stratus_ss · Dec 18, 2011

First on your samba issues, you are not issuing the correct commands, upstart commands start with the word service

Code:

sudo service smbd (start/stop/restart)

As for VNC, are you asking about windows software? I am not really sure, you could see if NoMachine NX has free windows clients (I know it has free linux clients). You can also try something like TeamViewer,

or simply use putty to ssh into the box and go all CLI on its arse.

As for the mkv and processor, in the scenario you are mentioning I believe (but dont have a PS3 so I am not sure) that the file is not actually being played by the server so the processor shouldnt make a difference.

However if it is being played by the server perhaps its a codec issue?

Unfortunately, not having a PS3 there isn't much I can do to help you except provide some guidance?

johan851 · Dec 18, 2011

I've used TightVNC. It's ok. But for a home server I'm not sure what I would use VNC for. Using VNC to get a desktop and then open a terminal is a little roundabout compared to SSH.

deadlysyn · Dec 18, 2011

Stratus_ss said:
First on your samba issues, you are not issuing the correct commands, upstart commands start with the word service

Code:

sudo service smbd (start/stop/restart)

As for VNC, are you asking about windows software? I am not really sure, you could see if NoMachine NX has free windows clients (I know it has free linux clients). You can also try something like TeamViewer,

or simply use putty to ssh into the box and go all CLI on its arse.

As for the mkv and processor, in the scenario you are mentioning I believe (but dont have a PS3 so I am not sure) that the file is not actually being played by the server so the processor shouldnt make a difference.

However if it is being played by the server perhaps its a codec issue?

Unfortunately, not having a PS3 there isn't much I can do to help you except provide some guidance?

johan851 said:
I've used TightVNC. It's ok. But for a home server I'm not sure what I would use VNC for. Using VNC to get a desktop and then open a terminal is a little roundabout compared to SSH.

I was actually following a guide for Samba, and just following the directions here. When I followed those same directions in the VM (I wanted to get a feel for what I was doing first), everything worked following those exact directions. I am not sure what might have happened, but now, since I have run

Code:

sudo apt-get install samba

I have had no problems getting it to restart by just typing in

Code:

sudo restart smbd

I am actually looking at this Nomachine NX, since I am hoping to not need an extra mouse and keyboard for the server. I am a bit on the noob side when it comes to Linux, so I opted for one of the desktop flavors, atleast until I get a bit more used to it. :chair:

So far, most of everything I have done has been from Terminal, and I think I am starting to get the hang of it. It does look like there is a free Windows client on the Nomachine NX site, but I can't tell if I actually need the server application on the Nix install, or if having remote desktop enabled is enough. I am going to have a look through some of the documentation to see what I can find on that.

PS3 Media Server does the decoding on the fly, so I guess it would be similar to the server playing the file, which is why I thought the dual core would be better suited for the uses of the server than the P4. I found the directions I used to install it, here.

johan851 · Dec 18, 2011

Enabling remote desktop in Ubuntu is enough for clients like TightVNC.

Sounds like Samba wasn't installed correctly in the first place.

deadlysyn · Dec 18, 2011

I am not sure what could have happened with Samba, but it did seem a bit weird that I couldn't restart it, but seemed like all the files were in /etc/Samba.

As for TightVNC, it seems a little weird that I can't use it like Logmein. Basically, if the server is idle long enough that it shuts the screen off, when I log in to it from TightVNC, I will see the password prompt to get back to the desktop, but if I switch the input on my monitor, I will see the desktop, and the screen that is shown in TightVNC never changes. I never see any of the clicks, or anything. It almost seems like the client isn't actually taking control, but just transferring what I am doing over the network. I don't know if it is because I do actually have a monitor hooked up to the server, or if TightVNC is not able to do real time control, but it is getting annoying, especially if I am trying to do something with both machines. I really don't like the idea of trying something like Logmein for something like this, since it is on the local network.

deadlysyn · Dec 19, 2011

I just wanted to post an update to the mkv problem I was having. I got it worked out. It was a fairly simple setting in PS3 Media Server. There are a couple of decoders it seems to use, one called tsMuxer, and the other is called MEncoder. I basically disabled tsMuxer, restarted PS3 Media Server, and all is good. It's a little slow loading the files, but has been working well so far. :thup:

Building a home server

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