okay i just got a new windows 2k box and i would like to set up my old 98 machine to be a file server... besides the obvious of just clearig it out and useing the space via the lan, what are my options?
thanx
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okay i just got a new windows 2k box and i would like to set up my old 98 machine to be a file server... besides the obvious of just clearig it out and useing the space via the lan, what are my options?
thanx
Honestly... I don't know if I'd trust a 98 box to be stable/secure enough for filesharing/server. Plus, the GUI will just eat up valuable resources. If you ever wanted to use it for something else... like mail server, or DNS server, or ftp server... you will have a lot more trouble.
Why not look into hooking up a *nix box? If you're a newB... look into a more user friendly version. Like, RedHat or Mandrake .
You can use samba to share files and it works well.
If you really have your heart set on using 98 as your file server... do a clean install. Update with all patches/service packs, fiewall, and antivirus. All of which will eat up valuable resources....
Create your shares and password protect them. If you are worried about security... then I wouldn't use this. There are programs that will automagically find the shares, usernames and passwords. Instant access.
It sounds like you wish this to be a file server within the network. You could use windows file sharing, the nice drag and drop interface is pleasant enough, although it sometimes crashes computers, and makes them less stable overall, but, generally, it offers good speeds for file transfers. But, usually the best option is FTP. The protocol delivers very fast speeds, and there are many easy to use, easy on the resources, robust, and very configurable FTP servers out there. A quick search on download.com will yield many results.
I have heard the IPX is very fast, I have yet to confirm that, but, it's always an option, going to have to try it out on my network, when and if I do, I'll post whether or not it was fast.
i had been looking into the idea of using a *nix platform. I am vaguly fimiliar with *nix, however i wouldn't know exactly what to do once i loaded it. could you help me out more there maybe? i have ummm.. redhat 7?! thats outdated but still once i have it up and running how would i go about using it as a fileshare/ftp server?
yes, rh 7 is fine. It also has samba installed by default (last time i checked). All you will have to do is make it start at boot and configure it. change /etc/rc*.d/K*samba to /etc/rc*.d/S*samba so it will start with the computer. Note: replace * in rc*.d with your boot level and the * before samba with the number that comes before it (im not sure what it is). To configure samba edit /etc/samba/smb.conf according to your needs, its pretty well documented.
Windows 98 can/will share files & printers. But it will only handle 1 connection at a time.
Network OS handles multiple connections simultaneously. (If that's a consideration)
Stability is an issue. Windows 98 does NOT have a long run-time between reboots.
You're best to go with a 'real' network OS like *nix or Novell, OS/2, Win 2k server.
Windows 98 will handle being a small fileserver fine - it doesn't have much security or stability, but it's not going to crash if you simply use it as a file server (assuming you reboot every couple of days anyway)
It also does handle more than one connection fine. I don't think the performance is necessarily that good (I've seen vastly differing values) - sometimes it seems to push stuff out as fast as the wire can take it though.
If win98 is what you have, it is much cheaper to stick with that than buy a $$$ licence for Win2k or something.
This is just a pantsy suggestion but you could disable file and printer sharing and install an FTP server on the machine to give it a bit of security.
Alternatively I detect a hint of this is just my home lan in what you are saying.
What I would do in this case is switch on file and printer sharing (Control Panel / Network Settings)
I would then map a drive to it from my other machine
I agree with all of you guys .. my mainframe running Win2K Adv Server and my other comp running SuSE 8.1 and it is wonderfull .. and yes , Win98 doesnt have enought security and stability even u set up the OS as crazy as you can.
Here's some links about RedHat tutorial :
www.cs.uwyo.edu/~tobox/cosc/4750/lab3.doc -- RedHat 7
http://linux.about.com/library/begin...rhinstalla.htm
http://moss.csc.ncsu.edu/~mueller/os/vpc/install/
or u can join the mailist on http://www.justlinux.com
yes its a home LAN... if i mapped the drive then what kind of fileshareing would it be? like the drag in drop of windows, or ftp style?
then if i installed *nix and used it then what would it bee like?? avaiable to the win2k machines? i'd think so right?
so for a home LAN themapping would be best? or should i go through with *nix?
If you map the drives, it depends on the type of share. If you do read only... then it would only be one way. If you did full access, then you'd use a password to get full access and drag and drop. Only one PC can connect to it though.Quote:
yes its a home LAN... if i mapped the drive then what kind of fileshareing would it be? like the drag in drop of windows, or ftp style?
then if i installed *nix and used it then what would it bee like?? avaiable to the win2k machines? i'd think so right?
so for a home LAN themapping would be best? or should i go through with *nix?
If you did it by linux, it depends on they permissions you set for the shares.
You can make it so only you have full access and everyone only has read/execute access.
The connections on a samba share is unlimited... well, up until your resources are all used.
I still think samba is the way to go.
You can find pleny of docs about it...
I can even help you set it up if you'd like. Its not very difficult.
okay kool, if samba is the best choice then thats what i'll do... i want to become more fimilar with linux anyhoo...
in a couple of days when i get off work i'll post after i get rh7 installed... thanx for all the help guys!!
O.K
If its a home lan you do get all sorts of doobries for sharing the drive to other platforms e.g unix but what I would suggest is looking for a freebie FTP server.
This way you don't need to do any tricky emulation or anything.
Look up www.downloads.com for an FTP server (preferably free)
This will allow your *nix to access it problem free without the bother of Cross Fat issues.
If you map the drive then it will appear as a local drive would on your machine.
File Server
1. Enable sharing as detailed on previous post
2. right click on the drive/folder to share and select sharing
3. Select a share name.
Client end
1. Go into explorer or my computer
2. Select the map drive option from tools
3. select a drive letter
4. for the url type in \\machinename\sharename (make sure you select reconnect at logon)
5. All done.
You should now be able to see it as you would a local hard drive.
You sound like a windows user to me so if I were you, I would just turn on file and print sharing. If you're interested in learning though; maybe you should try linux. It's really up to you, whatever you feel comfortable with. : )
yeah i really want to learn linux, but i was just worrie about the complitcity of setting up a server. i had never done that before. but i guess it cant be that hard or atleast not unfixable right :)Quote:
Originally posted here by NeuTron
You sound like a windows user to me so if I were you, I would just turn on file and print sharing. If you're interested in learning though; maybe you should try linux. It's
well redhat 9 is out now should i just burn that out instead of using redhat 7? can you tell me the major differences btwn the earlier release and the newest?