server operating system

Hello

I am in the process of building a new file server I wanted to post this in its appropriate forum so theres no confusion.

I am trying to decide on an operating system for this since its dual processors raid configuration and hosting clients I thought it appropriate to stick to an os that is primarily server based I have not had experience in linux or unix or any sun opps only windows but I am hearing that unix based kernels are a lot more stable in places where the server will remain up for long durations.

Just trying some opinions on whether I should try something different or stick to the normal I am hosting only windows computers where data integrity is of the utmost importance so compatibility with files and backups are important and less maintenance is the best.

Thanks all.

 

There are alot of linux naysayers at this site, but linux does have it's niche, and it seems to be exactly what you're looking for. Many companies use linux as a platform for high-availability/reliability servers. Initial cost to deploy is low, and maintenance is simple.

A file server is easy enough to set up in linux. I've done it very recently myself actually. I installed SAMBA (file server app) on a Ubuntu machine. I'm not a *nix guru, but I could've done it blindfolded. It works great for serving files on our Windows network. See this link for instructions on setting it up.

 

Thank you

You are quit the network guru huh you helped me with my first problem and are consistant to this point its good to have help from someone in the field the books really make me :tired

 

Only question

I am using no domain server each client has access to the ftp with permission I set in the server itself I dont have a need for domain hosting since there are no real threats to the ftp since it has only access to sharing files across the lan no access is granted from the firewall to outside wan and the our company router has built in firewall protection. I will however consider domain hosting if necessary but as of now our limited client load and file load suggest only this method at this point you seem to be more in large scale networks controlled through domain access I would like that but my company is also rather tight in some areas as an example I have a old desktop as the ftp running winxp pro and all clients have a username and permissions and upon login to there computers also gain access to the server very unsafe but we do what we have to and get it done I wish I controlled the IT financing but since I cant what ever the safest method is I wish to find it under my current constraints.

 

Well, I didn't get too deep into the complexities of file sharing (although you can), but security seemed fairly easy. With my setup (which isn't far from default), each person (or group) needs a username and password on the server machine, and they authenticate using Windows Explorer. This isn't too far from what you have currently, methinks, except that usernames and passwords aren't transmitted in plain text like FTP authentication does.

 

Well it sounds like the same all I really need to know is are these OS systems based on command line or GUI I dont have with learning the necessary command line functions but if if GUI is available it makes others here easy to instruct on use if I cant be here these guys could destroy a system by looking at it.

 

It depends alot on the distribution of Linux you get. There are GUI components, and for distributions like Ubuntu, they are fairly sophisticated. (I'd say it looks like the middle ground between Mac's OSX and Windows Vista). However, the real power in linux is mastering the terminal commands.

Hey, before you decide on anything, you might want to take it for a test drive. Go to http://www.ubuntu.com and download a 'Live CD' version. With this disc, you can boot into Linux (from CD) without actually installing it. You get a mostly functional Linux environment to play in. It's great for getting a feel without touching any existing installations on the hard drive.

 

Super

Thank you I am greatful to you for the help I am more hardware functional than software but I never cave in I will try it out and see what happens worst case scenario I will have hot swap drives so I could go back and forth till I get functional with the linux system I tolerate the dows but it requires to many restarts gets frustrating again thank you.