JWColby
jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com
Wed Feb 7 11:43:22 CST 2007
>Have a read of the docs, all 8 pages, and that should give you a good idea how little you really need to know. Isn't that what Microsoft tells Joe user about Microsoft Access? Which is really my point. We make a good living doing what REALLY has to be done with Access for all but the simplest things. >What does NASLite buy you over the XP License you already own. Drive space. I am installing a Raid 5 or 6 which is bootable. I will be creating a terabyte raid array with terabyte volumes. I think that a 5 gig volume to install XP is not an issue. >You do NOT need to install it on your PC. Point taken but not a huge gain. >It also buys you the ability to use low end hardware as your file server. I don't have any truly low end hardware, I get rid of it. Not to mention that low end hardware has 10/100 nics by default. My "old" (three year old) motherboards have built-in gbit NICs. >Now, as for when things go wrong. Make a copy of the floppy after you have configured the system and keep it handy. If the OS/software goes for a sh*t, swap floppies, reboot and you are back in business. Point taken. In my case (if I use XP) this will be an OS loaded on a raid volume. Yes, something could go wrong I suppose but XP is stable now and the raid protects the OS volume just the same as it protects the data volume. >NASLite doesn't have web admin, but it does have web status monitoring. Hmmm... What status? Is this a Linux thing? Or the drive stuff? >Yes, that's command line but it is still done remotely. And here we are learning Linux command line stuff. Bryan, I am not saying that NASLite won't do what I need. What I want to know before I get in there is that I will NEVER have to go do Linux stuff for this thing. Not finding a driver for a video card or the raid card or the NIC, nothing! If I ever have to do any Linux stuff then I just lost whatever benefit I might have gained by using it in the first place, and since I know absolutely NOTHING about Linux, I could be in trouble in a hurry. I just have visions of weekends lost 6 months down the road because of (put your favorite unexplained circumstance here). XP isn't beautiful, and it isn't problem free, but it is a known quantity which counts for something. OTOH I have played the XP "where is the share that is supposed to be there" game so I know quite well that it isn't all roses on the XP side of the house either. It sounds appealing, that is for sure. John W. Colby Colby Consulting www.ColbyConsulting.com -----Original Message----- From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Bryan Carbonnell Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2007 12:09 PM To: Discussion of Hardware and Software issues Subject: Re: [dba-Tech] Building a network storage device On 2/7/07, JWColby <jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com> wrote: > Gustav and Bryan, > > What I am not hearing though is why I would do this over just using > Windows XP? I already own licenses to XP Professional. Professional > allows me to remote desktop in to the machine if I need to do "on the > spot admin" without going to the server (It will likely be in another > room down in the basement). I already know and understand XP whereas > I have absolutely zero experience with Linux. It is easy to say "it > just works" but if anything ever does go wrong... > > So what does Linux buy me over using Windows XP and just building a > huge raid array and sharing the root (or even a directory) on that > array? The raid controllers I am looking at also have their own web > admin for handling that side of things. Here are my $0.02. What does Linux buy you over the XP licence that you already own. Nothing. Not a d*mn thing. What does NASLite buy you over the XP Licence you already own. Drive space. You do NOT need to install it on your PC. It runs from a floppy. It's the OS, the admin tools (local and remote), the "file server" software. Everything in one 1.72 MB package and it runs from that package. No installation issues, no upgrades, none of that. It also buys you the ability to use low end hardware as your file server. Now, as for when things go wrong. Make a copy of the floppy after you have configured the system and keep it handy. If the OS/software goes for a sh*t, swap floppies, reboot and you are back in business. If a HD goes south, just do what you'd do with any RAID device that goes south I guess. Never having used any RAID setup I can't comment. NASLite doesn't have web admin, but it does have web status monitoring. All the admin can be done via telnet. Yes, thats command line but it is still done remotely. You can also sit at the keyboard of the box and admin it that way too. I suggested NASLite because it was a prepackaged ready to go solution for what you were looking for. If you are concerned about having to learn Linux, you don't have to to use NASLite. You just need to be able to read a menu and follow instructions. Have a read of the docs, all 8 pages, and that should give you a good idea how little you really need to know. -- Bryan Carbonnell - carbonnb at gmail.com Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "What a great ride!"