Home Server Projects
I've always been interested in installing servers for home use. The ability to customize Linux based servers to the degree that surpasses what is economically available from any other source makes Linux the obvious choice. Linux also offers the home user more latitude in that it will support practically any other desktop operating system with basic services.
Friday 29 June 2007, 4:37 AM
Debbie and Kraken, Like the Wolf and the Falcon
When one of them is running, the other one is disconnected. I found that its easy to try out or focus on specific features of both systems by alternately connecting the drive with Kraken or Debbie on it and running some tests. Debbie is still running more than Kraken simply because I have a lot steeper learning curve with her than with the beast. His stuff I've seen a lot of already!
Been spending a lot of time reading on-line Debian manuals. Unfortunately a number of them are somewhat irrelevant to the current distribution. Debian Reference seems to have large chunks of fairly good info. I plan on finishing it today.
My Debian server has all of my selected applications with a few additional applications I didn't expect (OpenOffice Writer for one) but they don't seem to be much of an issue. All of the needed applications were a part of the Debian distro or the on-line apt-get system. In that regard -Excellent work! Debian-maniacs (or whatever you've decided to call yourselves!)
I'm still doing research on Debbie and Kraken. I found that the only way to use the backup facilities of either was to use an agent included with each of the respective backup aps that is installed on the target desktops. Windows Home Server (Kraken) uses a install module that can be installed ONLY on Windows boxes. Bacula on Debian has a similar method but has agents that can be installed on practically everything. Advantage -- Bacula.
Apache installed with no fuss whatsoever. In fact I had to pop open browsers on three or four different computers to believe how easy it was. Like nothing had to be done. I'll be checking out the configuration within this next week. Considering my history with IIS4, 5 & 6, advantage – Apache, absolutely no question.
Ice Weasel, the Debian version of FireFox, works very well perhaps faster than the Windows version of FireFox. No Active X support (no popups!), two points for Ice Weasel. Able to use every FireFox extension, plugin and addon, another two points for Ice Weasel. I have been a fan of FireFox since .9 Beta. FireFox gets my vote and usage not only here but at work as Primary Browser. I especially like the fact that Microsoft has bowed to pressure and allows FireFox on most of MSDN to work properly. The only places I have to use Internet Exploder is on the Passport/Live/(whatever-the-hell-they're-calling-it-next-week) websites.
The GNU C, C++ compilers are installed, along with all of the samples, tutorials and docs I could find! I have no idea how to vote on these boys yet. The price was right. Visual Studio 2005's IDE is very attractive and easy to use. Its probably the best piece of software Microsoft has ever put out. Considering the idea was that I wouldn't get into to programming on this project, maybe I should ignore this issue.
DNS caching server, DHCP3 and letting Samba handle WINS. DNS cahing is working very nicely. I haven't starting running DHCP3 yet since my other Linux system is currently supplying IPs.
File Serving is a little bit different obviously since we are matching bananas and pears. (You expected me to use Apples and oranges?) On Kraken, the WHS sets up a workgroup with a set of shares with permissions divided up by users and/or groups. Logon security can be enabled with Kerberos, hashed or not Lan Manager or https. There might be more mechanisms, this was a quick first look. Files can also be set for local workgroup access with and without web serving access. Obviously any access on the Kraken from a Linux client will have to be through Samba client services on the Linux clients which handles Kerberos and Lan Manager, at least in the Debian distro it does. The Linux client's Samba logon will have to be programmed into the WHS as a valid client even for files marked as for Everyone. That is a side effect of dumping fast-user switching and enabling controlled shares on any Windows server or workstation, not unlike leaving security wide open on a bunch of Linux systems or running a workgroup of Win9X boxes (no they aren't EXACTLY the same but just somewhat similar(;-).
My previous experience with Windows says that file sharing with Kerberos enabled will not be really possible on Win9X clients, it will be difficult with Win NT 4.0 and OK with Win2K and XP. So with WHS operating as the server, the security options will require some compromises if the home clients aren't all XP or Vista. All of the above will operate properly as Lan Manager clients. However, “Fast User Switching” can't be used on the XP Pro clients since it breaks the access to shares that are shared with anything other than simple Windows folder shares. Vista clients, who cares? I'm not paying for Vista anything after battling with Vista Beta and Vista RC1, forget it. In any case I would not expect something based on Windows 2003 Server to support those sorts of simple shares.
As you would expect with a Linux server, everything to be accessible by Windows clients has to be served by Samba. Since Samba now has the abilities to operate as a Domain controller in what would normally be a small workgroup, I'm going to take advantage of that to deal with the security issues for all the Windows and Linux clients that way. Samba, as long as you are using Lan Manager sorts of file sharing without Kerberos, will allow all Windows based clients to connect. The Linux clients will connect through the normal NFS. So I have to call this file serving function a tie until I can really exercise both systems.
The characteristics of both operating systems' methods of serving shares are similar. Folders on the WHS are not associated with a drive letter on the server just as the Linux filesystem does not use drive letters.*1 This is somewhat of a departure from traditional Windows file serving systems in the past. Its a sort of cross between the Distributed File System (DFS) and Active Directory “containers” or Organizational Unit folders. The Windows users will see an Icon or object with a label that they can drag and drop a file or folder to put the media files or data files onto the server. In other words nothing Linux users haven't seen for years.
I'm going to have to do a bunch of testing to see which works better but just from looking at it, the windows clients (XP and Vista only) will have a real easy time connecting only to the WHS (Kraken). Whereas the Linux and ALL Windows clients will require a little fussing but it can be done easily enough so that scripting can automate the process fairly well on the Linux Home Server (Debbie) I suspect.
*1. Come on guys! Do you really think that hiding a drive partition with hda, or hdb is
fooling anybody? I agree that most users don't often need physical awareness of where or what is holding your data. But when the physical world slaps you into back into chaotic reality, when you're trying to fix a system with a dead drive and you can't remember which drive has hda or /home/username on it, it might be nice to know what PHYSICAL drive has what! I will eventually get used to it.
PreviousComments on this post
Glad to see you finally got converted to debian & enjoyed it.
This whole endeavor seems to be taking a bit more time than you originally planned, yet you seem on track.
Still not a lot of info transpires about the real meat, what functionalities are already achieved; is samba/nfs server(s) running, how's the configuration & testing of bacula advancing, what about mythtv & streaming media, same questions abouts their WHS counterparts...?
Samba is running as if it had already been installed on the hardware before I got Debian downloaded!
NFS likewise is running just fine.
Apache2 also came up running as if it had always been there. In fact I had to connect to it 2 or 3 times from other computers' browsers before I believed that it didn't need ANY configuration other than a request for a password. I realize now that I have repeated myself but it still amazes me. Actually, that is the point that all software packages should achieve. No configuration needed for basic operation.
To really use Apache though will require that I either write or copy&paste a httpd interface of some kind to match the similar interface of Kraken (the WHS RC1). Obviously there will be some configuration needed especially for security settings and access rights to the various media stores on the system.
Bacula bombed completely because MySql was not running when I tried to install it. Its still not running. Yes its focused pretty tight on tape drives but the propaganda oops, information says it will work on CD and DVD drives.
MySql was a little tougher to get going but I had it running at least as a named process in a couple of days. No actual databases are setup yet but it is reporting empty named objects and configuration options. I'm concentrating now on learning what I need to know to be able to manage MySql first before I start banging away at Bacula. Since it seems as if I'll need to have MySql running up to speed before Bacula will work right.
BTW I'm only working on this project a couple hours a night. So my non-installation efforts on MySql actually were only about 2 to 3 hours of real time.
Streaming media will be handled by server applets that come in Debian for the most part and I expect that that will be the next to last items I'll need to arrange for just before I figure out how to squeeze those streams through Samba for the Windows clients.
MythTV. Oh boy. That looks to be the most like Kraken of all of the Linux applications I've run into. It takes over the entire system. I learned that by mistake by installing it on an early attempt on Debian 4. Whoops. When I get to that stage, I will dedicate another system to that chore since it seems to want to consume the entire box. Kraken actually does not directly support television without add-ons so not adding MythTV to Debbie is pretty much OK.
I've run Kraken with clients and everything at least that I can put onto a system that is going to evaporate at the end of the evaluation period. It works fine so far to the extent that I am willing to commit openly at this point. But I will say that I haven't really hammered either of the two systems since I'm still on the learning curve for Debbie.
You sure will have to fiddle a bit with Apache & Mysql if you plan to have a secure box. Thought i'm confident they should already be pretty secure by default, it's better to make sure, especially if you consider building a framework of your own on top of them. Particularly if you don't plan to have servers running on those accessible from the internet you might want to set them up so they can't be accessed that way.
About setting up your mysql database(s), phpMyAdmin could be very helpfull. There are of course other programs available to do a similar job or to configure Mysql, if you don't want to do that the hard way, i.e. using cli & editing config files.
However up to now all programs i've used that required mysql have set it up correctly without any intervention on my part... the only time i've been touching mysql was to build an apache/mysql/php web-application.
From the info on the Bacula site, hard drive backup is an option, which seems the most interesting to me apart from the case of bare metal backup in which cd/dvd seem to be the way to go to restore the system before recovering the data from Bacula backups.
About mythtv i haven't really played too much with it except trying some livecd's that used it, which i told you about.
However while updating my Sabayon Linux system, i noticed mythtv was part of it, so it must be possible to use it without it taking over everything. I haven't tested it yet on this box, so i can't say much more about this.
BTW, i don't think you should constrain the linux box to the limitations coming from WHS. If linux provides useful functionalities that are not available (by default or not at all) on the other box, why should they be discarded instead of being rewarded by a deserved bonus?
The last time I took anything for granted when a computer and the word security was involved was so long ago I can't remember.
I know that Apache and MySql will need tweaks or edits or what-have-you done to them and that's what I'm concentrating on in my reading right now.
I put Bacula down for a bit since it seems to be fairly dependent on MySql. Once MySql is in my skill set (at least at the caveman-with-keyboard stage!) I'll go back and try to fix what didn't work before.
MythTV looks to be a very powerful application but the configuration issues look to complicate my life considerably. I think at first at least I'd like it on another system so I can isolate or remove the application inter-dependencies. In other words: "I need to get most of my Debbie working right before I dump more work on her."
Actually I've spent a good part of last night and this morning looking at Kraken and the documentation is sparse but also confusing. A for instance, "Disk Management should not be used on the system shares due to the damage it may due to the drive". Well duh. It can't. Disk Manager on Windows Anything works with physical partitions not logical. Usually though you won't get a message like in a MS user manual that unless somebody in the plant actually tried it and it crashed or caused damage to the drive(s). hmmm.
I'm going to eventually write a fuller review of Kraken. I'll see if I end up stirring a hornet's nest!
Actually my plans for Debbie do go way beyond Windows Home Server.
I can see hosting a RSS and website scanner system on her to pull news stories I'm interested in. Setting Debbie up to look for interesting podcasts and videos by subject. I've stopped watching TV news, its easier and faster on the web. Its easier to keep up with news when you get rid of the hair-sprayed bobble-head anchors and the advertising. I read faster than they can speak. Not to mention the fact that you can read the source reports from the reporters that are actually doing the work.
Obviously DVR-like functionality for all programming not just video would be nice. I'd like to record and time-delay both TV and radio programs. Both HD video and radio broadcasting include meta-tags now so it would be interesting to build a library of music oldies especially from artists that are long gone (Mozart etc) or simply doped themselves into oblivion (Jimi Hendrix). Just make a list of meta tags with composer or artists' names and let the system run and collect the songs or concertos from over the air.
When I want some music, I'll go to my screen and pick a mood or mode. I know that when I'm busy programming, Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana, Talking Heads and Stevie Ray Vaughn are my favorites. When I'm writing manuals or documents Mozart, Rossini and Berlioz work very well. Compiling Windows XP Embedded systems seem to go well with vocals from Nat King Cole, blues from B.B. King and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Driving down the road, its the Cars, the Doors, Steppenwolf and Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.
Obviously the typical services of file storage, backups and the like will be useful. Since the MySql system will already be on the box, there's no reason it can't be building a search index when nothing else is going on. The trick might be extending it to the other systems especially the Windows desktops in the other rooms. Both of my kids have P3's and there are 4 systems in my home office along with the firewall, another Debian test system and the Kraken/Debbie server box. I don't generally heat this part of the house in winter.
I'm sure I have other uses for it.
