tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10366343980908167792024-03-14T00:28:45.124-05:00VOSSOne persons attempt at a self taught education in: Virtualization - Open Source - Servers (VOSS)Thumoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01962800430284364320noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036634398090816779.post-64845337264480793202015-11-11T10:36:00.002-06:002015-11-13T10:49:45.827-06:00Using an Orange Pi PC and RTL-SDR usb stick to feed ADS-B data to the ADSB ExchangeIn my last post I outlined the steps necessary to load an .img file so we could get a functional OS on the <a href="http://www.orangepi.org/orangepipc/" target="_blank">Orange Pi PC</a>.<br />
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A fun project I wanted to try out was to start sending aircraft <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_dependent_surveillance_%E2%80%93_broadcast" target="_blank">ADS-B</a> data to an online service.<br />
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This post will outline what hardware you will need and how to load <a href="http://www.rtl-sdr.com/about-rtl-sdr/" target="_blank">RTL-SDR</a> drivers, Install <a href="http://xdeco.org/?page_id=48" target="_blank">ModeSMixer2</a> and <a href="http://xdeco.org/?page_id=39" target="_blank">ModeSDeco2</a> and configure the software to feed the <a href="http://www.adsbexchange.com/" target="_blank">ADSB Exchange</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CQNQuk1gKG8/VkYUKQq65CI/AAAAAAAAFnk/Eo9iip4_bW0/s1600/Fgallery2-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CQNQuk1gKG8/VkYUKQq65CI/AAAAAAAAFnk/Eo9iip4_bW0/s320/Fgallery2-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I ended up using the following commands:<br />
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<b>ModeSDeco2:</b><br />
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./modesdeco2 –gain 49.5 -–web 8000 –sbs10001 10001<br />
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<b>ModeSMixer2:</b><br />
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./modesmixer2 –inConnect 127.0.0.1:10001 –outServer sbs10001:10002 –outConnect avr:feed.adsbexchange.com:30005<br />
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For more commands – visit the source site at: xdeco.orgThumoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01962800430284364320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036634398090816779.post-40675112096644327592015-10-23T00:14:00.006-05:002015-11-03T19:47:34.616-06:00Installing Linux .img files on the Orange Pi PC <div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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I had to dig around for this information and I did a little trial and
error to figure it out but I got a working version of Linux on the $15
Orange Pi - PC.</div>
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The first place you need to look is: <a href="http://www.orangepi.org/orangepibbsen/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=342&extra=&page=1" target="_blank">Orange Pi Forums - Thread on Installing .img files</a><br />
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<a href="http://tech.scargill.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Orange-Pi-PC_thumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img align="right" alt="Orange Pi PC" border="0" src="http://tech.scargill.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Orange-Pi-PC_thumb.jpg" height="313" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Orange Pi PC" width="396" /></a>This thread will answer 90% of your questions because forum moderator <a href="http://www.orangepi.org/orangepibbsen/home.php?mod=space&uid=7168" target="_blank">Loboris</a> knows his stuff.<br />
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He has good instructions but I am not the most proficient Linux user in the world, so I needed a little extra help. I hope this helps someone else like me that is not proficient at the command line.<br />
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I am going to assume you have a Linux computer with a GUI like Gnome or KDE, LXDE, Etc. <br />
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<b><u>Step 1.</u></b><br />
Create a folder on your PC where you can store some files that you will download. I just put my folder on the desktop. I created a folder called opi<br />
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<u><b>Step 2.</b></u><br />
Download any of the available distro images (<i><b><u>xz archive</u></b></i>) from the <a href="https://mega.nz/#F!wh8l2BjK!OBep3nMldBletvNNwkH2Jg" target="_blank">Mega</a> or <a href="https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B1hyW7T0dqn6fndnZTRhRm5BaW4zVDVyTGlGMWJES3Z1eXVDQzI5R1lnV21oRHFsWnVwSEU&usp=sharing" target="_blank">GoogleDrive</a> sites Loboris has listed.<br />
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You have lots of options: Debian, Arch, OpenSuse, Ubuntu, Fedora, Etc. I downloaded<code class=" language-bash"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>OrangePI_Lubuntu_Vivid.img.xz</b></span></span></code><br />
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<u><b>Step 3.</b></u><br />
Download <b><code class=" language-bash">scriptbin_kernel.tar.gz</code></b>, it contains the latest Linux kernel (uImage) and script.bin.<br />
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<u><b>Step 4.</b></u><u><b> </b></u><br />
Navigate to the folder you created and unpack, unzip, uncompressed, extract or whatever you want to call it <u><i><b><span style="color: red;">BOTH</span></b></i></u> files you just downloaded. Most modern versions of Linux let you right click on a file and extract it. I used the <a href="http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/utopic/man1/engrampa.1.html" target="_blank">Engrandpa</a> archive manger that come with the Mate desktop but yours may be called Ark, File Roller, Etc.<br />
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<u><b>Step 5. </b></u><br />
Open a terminal program like Xterm so we can get to the command line. The first command we need to run is <b><code>df -h</code></b> to see what devices are currently mounted. <br />
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<u><b>Step 6.</b></u><br />
If your computer has a slot for SD cards, insert the card. If not,
insert the card into an SD card reader, then connect the reader to your
computer<br />
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<u><b>Step 7.</b></u><br />
Run <b><code>df -h</code></b> again. The new device that has appeared is
your SD card. The left column gives the device name of your SD card; it
will be listed as something like <b><code>/dev/mmcblk0p1</code></b> or <b><code>/dev/sdd1</code></b>. The last part (<b><code>p1</code></b> or <b><code>1</code></b>
respectively) is the partition number but you want to write to the
whole SD card, not just one partition. Therefore you need to remove that
part from the name (getting, for example, <b><code>/dev/mmcblk0</code></b> or <b><code>/dev/sdd</code></b>)
as the device for the whole SD card. This will be important in step 10.<br />
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<b><u>Step 8.</u></b><br />
Now that you've noted what the device name is, you need to unmount the SD card so that files can't be read or written to the SD card while you are
copying over the SD image. Run <b><code>umount /dev/sdd1</code></b>, replacing <b><code>sdd1</code></b> with whatever your SD card's device name is (including the partition number).<br />
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<u><b>Step 9. - The hard part</b></u><br />
In the terminal, write the image to the SD card with the command below, making sure you replace the input file <b><code>if=</code></b> argument with the path to your <b><code>.img</code> </b>file, and the <b><code>/dev/sdd</code> </b>in the output file <b><code>of=</code></b>
argument with the right device name. <span style="color: red;">This is very important, as you
will lose all data on the hard drive if you provide the wrong device
name</span>. Make sure the device name is the name of the whole SD card as
described above, not just a partition of it; for example <b><code>sdd</code></b>, not <b><code>sdds1</code></b> or <b><code>sddp1</code></b>; or <b><code>mmcblk0</code></b>, not <b><code>mmcblk0p1</code></b>.<code class=" language-bash"> </code><br />
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Now for the command: <code class=" language-bash"> </code><br />
<b><code class=" language-bash">sudo dd <span class="token operator"></span><span class="token keyword">if</span><span class="token operator">=</span></code><code class=" language-bash">OrangePI_Lubuntu_Vivid.img</code><code class=" language-bash"><span class="token operator"> of=</span><span class="token operator">/</span>dev<span class="token operator">/</span>sdd bs=1M oflag=direct</code></b><br />
<code class=" language-bash"><br /></code>
I ended up using this based on where my files were located and the name of my SD card:<br />
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<code class=" language-bash"><b>sudo dd if=/home/john/Desktop/opi/OrangePI_Lubuntu_Vivid.img of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=1M oflag=direct</b></code><br />
<code class=" language-bash"><br /></code>
Go get a cup of tea / coffee and a snack. This could take several minutes.<br />
<br />
<code class=" language-bash"></code><u><b>Step 10. - downhill from here</b></u><br />
Run command <code><b>sync</b> </code>in the terminal, this will ensure the write cache is flushed and that it is safe to unmount your SD card. You can close the terminal program now.<br />
<br />
<u><b>Step 11. </b></u><br />
I used a graphical file manger for the rest of the steps. Open up your graphical file manager and then physically remove the SD card from the computer and then reinstall it in the SD slot. You should see the SD card appear in the graphical file manager. Right click it and mount the SD card. You should see two items now. One partition called BOOT and the other partition called Linux. If you do not see this you may want to remove the SD card and try again.<br />
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<u><b>Step 12.</b></u><br />
In the graphical file manger double click on the BOOT partition. When you do, you should see a bunch of files. We are only interested in two files: <b>script.bin</b> and <b>ulmage</b>. Rename both files. I renamed them <span style="color: blue;"><b>script.bin.default</b></span> and <span style="color: blue;"><b>ulmage.default</b></span><br />
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<u><b>Step 13.</b></u><br />
Remember that folder you created on your computer at the beginning of this little project and downloaded the two files to which you extracted? Navigate to that folder.<br />
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<b><u>Step 14. </u> </b><br />
Find the file <b>uImage_OPI-2</b> or <b>uImage_OPI-PLUS</b> (depending on the type of Orange Pi you have ) and rename it to <b><span style="color: navy;">uImage </span></b>(The Orange Pi-PC use uImage_OPI-2)<br />
<span style="color: navy;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span><br />
<u><b>Step 15. </b></u><br />
Determine the resolution and refresh rate of the monitor you will connect your Orange Pi to. You may also want to figure out how you will supply the video feed to the monitor. I am using a TV with a resolution of 1080p with a 60Hz refresh rate. I also wanted to use the HDMI cable. <br />
<br />
<b><u>Step 16. </u> </b><br />
In the folder you created on your PC, find a <b>script.bin.OPI-XXXX</b> file that best matches your version of Orange Pi and monitor setup. For my Orange Pi PC and the TV I was going to use as a monitor, the best file was <b>script.bin.OPI-PC_1080p60_hdmi. </b>After you find the best file rename it to <span style="color: blue;"><b>script.bin</b></span><br />
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<u><b>Step 17. </b></u><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;">Copy the the two files you just renamed to </span><b><span style="color: black;">ulmage</span></b><span style="color: black;"> and <b>script.bin</b> and paste them into the BOOT partition. Unmount and safely remove the SD card from your computer.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><b><u>Step 18.</u></b> Install the SD Card into the Orange Pi and boot into your new system! The username and password are: <b>orangepi</b></span></span><br />
<u><b><br /></b></u>
<u><b>Step 19.</b></u><br />
<span style="color: darkred;"><b></b></span>Resize the Orange Pi partition to fit your SD Card size by using the following command in a terminal: <code class=" language-bash"><b>sudo fs_resize </b></code>After running this command you will be prompted to reboot.<br />
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<u><b>Step 20.</b></u><br />
After rebooting it is a good idea to update all system package with the package manger<br />
<br />
<u><b>Step 21.</b></u><br />
Have Fun!<br />
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<img alt="http://www.orangepi.org/photo/footer/footer.png" class="transparent" src="http://www.orangepi.org/photo/footer/footer.png" /><br />
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Thumoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01962800430284364320noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036634398090816779.post-25782689639469547472010-02-15T14:26:00.003-06:002010-02-15T14:38:39.509-06:00TLLTS Discussion About VirtulizationLinc over at The Linux Link Tech Show (<a href="http://tllts.org/">TLLTS</a>) had a very good conversation about Virtulization and VMWare last week. Look for episode 340.Thumoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01962800430284364320noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036634398090816779.post-12166097184751778582009-10-07T19:06:00.018-05:002009-10-07T20:09:32.486-05:00Another Day Another DL<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/Ss0z30-qDEI/AAAAAAAAAo8/lTjBrDeVgmA/s1600-h/DL360G42.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 151px; height: 120px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/Ss0z30-qDEI/AAAAAAAAAo8/lTjBrDeVgmA/s200/DL360G42.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390021363239619650" border="0" />I </a> finally pulled the trigger and purchased my 4th HP DL360 Proliant Server for my brother-in-laws growing IT system. This new sever will be used as an email server running SME Server 7.4. I guess it is the nerd in me but I am always amazed at how much technology you can purchase for so little if you are willing to shop around.<br /><br />The latest server specs are:<br /><br />HP DL360 G3<br />Dual Xeon 2.8 GHz processors<br />Dual 36GB Ultra 320 SCSI Drives<br />Dual Power Supplies<br />Dual 1 GB Ethernet<br />HP 5i on board RAID Controller<br />HP iLo management<br />2 GB of RAM<br />CD-ROM and Floppy Drive<br />On board Video and Legacy Ports<br /><br />And how much for all of this technology? A hefty $99 USD on eBay. The last DL360 I pickup I was able to purchase for $51 USD!<br /><br />What is truly funny is replacement rack rails end up cosing 40% of the total cost of the server!Thumoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01962800430284364320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036634398090816779.post-85902724724437318412009-10-04T17:37:00.006-05:002009-10-04T17:50:20.578-05:00Vector Linux<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/Ssklbjq_nUI/AAAAAAAAAo0/w8WgXuPsPRw/s1600-h/VectorLinux-5-1-Live-CD-2.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 169px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/Ssklbjq_nUI/AAAAAAAAAo0/w8WgXuPsPRw/s200/VectorLinux-5-1-Live-CD-2.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388879584487775554" /></a>I have spent the last few weeks evaluating different distros I can use as an OS on my brother-in-law's administration terminal server. I tried a net install of Debian 5.0 but in the end it required way too much tweaking to get what I was after. Debian with LXDE was very speedy and would have done the job but for some reason I was really having difficulties making OpenSSH and VNC work in harmony. VNC is must because I must administer several applications that use a web interfaces.<br /><br />I did a search on DistroWatch under the category of old computers and it come up with about 20 recommendations. The usual suspects came up; Puppy, DSL, Slitaz, Tiny-Core. The rest fell into two broad categories, the first being Ubuntu based distros using lightweight window managers. The second group were based on Slackware. I have a soft spot in my heart for Slackware. Wolvix was the first distro I could get my wireless card at the time (three years ago) working properly. Because of this Wolvix paved the way towards full time Linux usage breaking my Windows fix. I haven't looked back. <br /><p></p><p>Absolute, AUSTRUMI, SaxenOS and Vector were the Slackware based distros that caught my eye. A quick review narrowed my interest to Absolute or Vector. I decided to install Vector on a 700mhz test machine with 512meg of RAM because they had just released their 6.0 Lite Version. <br /></p>I remember trying Vector early on in my Linux trials and thinking how intimated I was by the installer. I definitely did not get that warm comfy feeling I got when I installed Ubuntu! This time was totally different. I guess after a few Arch Installs my confidence level has raised a few notches (LFS users I bow - I am still intimidated!)<br /><br />After the install I was greeted with a very usable system even on the 700mhz test rig. I was able to configure OpenSSH and VNC without any major issues. At boot, running JWM as the window managers, I was using only 50meg of RAM and CPU utilization was in single digits. I am very impressed with Vector so far!Thumoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01962800430284364320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036634398090816779.post-1738173316552600182009-09-15T21:28:00.004-05:002009-09-15T22:04:38.561-05:00I Like My Time<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/SrBVrezQXkI/AAAAAAAAAoM/EgRLAYe1u4o/s1600-h/clock.jpeg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 137px; height: 103px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/SrBVrezQXkI/AAAAAAAAAoM/EgRLAYe1u4o/s200/clock.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381895760198524482" border="0" /></a>I got my Webmin books and I started to review them. It dawned on me after a few days I was going to have to speed a lot of time setting up the various services in S*M*S. I think this would be a great learning experience but I just do not have the time so I am going with SME Server as my solution. I hope version 8 comes out soon but I have a feeling I will have to install the current stable version which is 7.4.<br /><br />I have also started to looking for a distro that I can use on an administration server at my brother-in-laws practice. This a very old Penguin Computing server that has a 700MhZ processor with 512Mb of ram. I have been using Puppy Linux for a few months but I am looking for a lightweight distro that has a little better out of the box support for OpenSSH. I favor rolling release distros so it will be interesting if I can find something light enough to server my purpose. I could always and should install Arch Linux but I want to see if anything different is out there.Thumoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01962800430284364320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036634398090816779.post-51940628959069518382009-09-04T19:17:00.004-05:002009-09-04T19:28:23.093-05:00Learning Curve<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/SqGvLJ5C_LI/AAAAAAAAAns/VE-89ixTJ8k/s1600-h/Webmin.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 63px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/SqGvLJ5C_LI/AAAAAAAAAns/VE-89ixTJ8k/s200/Webmin.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377772036225694898" border="0" /></a>I finally found time to install S*M*S on the OptiPlex at work yesterday. It turned out to be a a relatively painless install. I fired up Firefox on another computer on the network and was able to pull the Webmin interface up. A quick test drive revealed a pretty zippy system even on this ancient OptiPlex that could serve as a boat anchor. It also revealed I am pretty rusty when it comes to Webmin. I have not used it actively for over 5 years so I started looking for some good books on using Webmin but it appears the most recent ones are around five years old. The good thing about five year old books is you can pick them up dirt cheap on Amazon. Two of the the best user rated Webmin books were only a few clicks and $18 bucks away. I should get them some time next week. If the books turn out to be too out of date I guess I can resort to printing out the <a href="http://mphy.ustc.edu.cn/highenergy/webmin.pdf">800+ page pdf webmin book</a> or sections out of the <a href="http://doxfer.com/Webmin/WebHome">offical Webmin Wiki</a>.<br /><br />The big question now is do I go with S*M*S and deal with the steep learning curve of relearning Webmin or should I just use SME Server to save time knowing it will do most of what my brother-in-law wants.Thumoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01962800430284364320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036634398090816779.post-8347779105681746872009-08-31T20:50:00.006-05:002009-09-01T21:32:21.465-05:00Nothing But Trouble<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/Spx-lyVZSnI/AAAAAAAAAnk/GHRw2q0Wex8/s1600-h/trouble.jpeg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 139px; height: 78px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/Spx-lyVZSnI/AAAAAAAAAnk/GHRw2q0Wex8/s200/trouble.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376311242805299826" border="0" /></a>I took my ebox 1.2 disk to work today and I wanted to see if I could load it on an old Dell OptiPlex I use for testing during lunch but I still got the same errors about the CD-ROM. I even went so far as to burn another copy of ebox at an excruciatingly slow 4x speed just to make sure it was not a bad CD but in the end it still came up with the same error. I guess this rules out ebox, Ebox has had nothing but problems with the various pieces of hardware I have laying around. I guess it is time to move on. I am going to play with S*M*S next.Thumoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01962800430284364320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036634398090816779.post-82960015497661959882009-08-30T20:38:00.006-05:002009-09-01T21:29:47.779-05:00Ebox chokes on install<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/Spss0l86B9I/AAAAAAAAAnc/mn_xpB9CH8g/s1600-h/chocking-400.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 146px; height: 146px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/Spss0l86B9I/AAAAAAAAAnc/mn_xpB9CH8g/s200/chocking-400.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375939862249211858" border="0" /></a>I downloaded ebox over the weekend and wanted to give it a try. The MD5 sums matched and I used the check media option on the ISO image and the CD checked out fine. The system reboots and it appears if it is going to boot without a hitch and then it hangs. I get an error about the CD-ROM Drive and maybe the disk is not Debian based, I installed it twice for good measure and it still hangs at the same spot with the same error. I have installed about two dozen different operating systems on the old 1 gig machine I have laying around for test purposes. I have installed Ubuntu on it before so I have no clue why ebox which is based on Ubuntu 8.04 chokes on this box.<br /><div> </div>Thumoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01962800430284364320noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036634398090816779.post-1297316754266840952009-08-24T16:25:00.004-05:002009-08-24T16:33:20.406-05:00FreeNAS to CF to PCI = Cool<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/SpMGFqBzypI/AAAAAAAAAnU/Qh_lEiZoG-M/s1600-h/12-186-075-TS.jpeg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 180px; height: 135px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/SpMGFqBzypI/AAAAAAAAAnU/Qh_lEiZoG-M/s200/12-186-075-TS.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373645474634123922" border="0" /></a>I picked up a very nice <a href="http://www.supermicro.com/products/system/1U/5014/SYS-5014C-MT.cfm">Supermicro 5014C-MT</a> server for my brother-in-law since he is in the market for a storage server. The big selling point was the four hot swappable SATA hard drive backplane in a 1U form factor. I picked it up for $80 on ebay. I added a couple of <a href="http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=503">Western Digital RE3 1TB</a> hard drives so I could create a simple RAID 1 array. The RE3 drives are designed to be put into a RAID array and have a ridiculous 1.2 million hour MTBF rating. This turn out to be something like 137 years!<br /><br />Finding drive tray hardware and a suitable rack rails has been a minor nightmare. I ended up ordering the wrong rails only to find out the right rails are not listed on the Supermicro website! Supermicro tech support finally help get me straight with the proper part number.<br /><br />The interesting part of the project was installing <a href="http://freenas.org/">FreeNAS</a> onto a 1 gig compact flash (CF) card which was pluged into a PCI card, a poor man's solid state dive (SSD). I found the CF card and <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812186075">PCI adapter card</a> on Newegg for around $35 USD. The PCI card supports up to four CF cards. I guess you could create a small SSD raid 1+0 array if you ever wanted to.<br /><br />The install went with out a hitch. I really like the CF solution since it allow you to dedicate the hard drives strictly to storage.Thumoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01962800430284364320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036634398090816779.post-78887307926099532432009-08-21T16:48:00.005-05:002009-08-21T17:00:54.727-05:00What comes around goes around<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/So8WYisOQ_I/AAAAAAAAAnE/TdqEXdOy8VE/s1600-h/ebox.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 162px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/So8WYisOQ_I/AAAAAAAAAnE/TdqEXdOy8VE/s200/ebox.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372537491361252338" border="0" /></a> <!-- ======================================================= --> <!-- Created by AbiWord, a free, Open Source wordprocessor. --> <!-- For more information visit http://www.abisource.com. --> <!-- ======================================================= --> <style type="text/css"> <!-- #toc, .toc, .mw-warning { border: 1px solid #aaa; background-color: #f9f9f9; padding: 5px; font-size: 95%; } #toc h2, .toc h2 { display: inline; border: none; padding: 0; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold; } #toc #toctitle, .toc #toctitle, #toc .toctitle, .toc .toctitle { text-align: center; } #toc ul, .toc ul { list-style-type: none; list-style-image: none; margin-left: 0; padding-left: 0; text-align: left; } #toc ul ul, .toc ul ul { margin: 0 0 0 2em; } #toc .toctoggle, .toc .toctoggle { font-size: 94%; }@media print, projection, embossed { body { padding-top:1in; padding-bottom:1in; padding-left:1in; padding-right:1in; } } body { font-family:'Times New Roman'; color:#000000; widows:2; font-style:normal; text-indent:0in; font-variant:normal; font-weight:normal; font-size:12pt; text-decoration:none; text-align:left; } table { } td { border-collapse:collapse; text-align:left; vertical-align:top; } p, h1, h2, h3, li { color:#000000; font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:12pt; text-align:left; vertical-align:normal; } --></style>In previous posts I indicated I was leaning away from an all-in-one server solutions like e-box, ClarkConnect or SME Server. My rational at the time was they were too big and inflexible for home use. Having set-up a phone system for my brother-in-law and now looking at the prospect of setting up an email, print and file server for his growing practice I want something that I can easily manage remotely. The web-based interface of these solutions make that pretty easy over a VPN connection but what happens if the VPN goes down? I am going to have to talk someone who is 1100 miles away though diagnosing a problem and getting the system back up and running. The last thing I want to do during this call is to have to talk someone through a bunch of command line kung-fu.<br /><br />I burned images of ClarkConnect 5.0 and SME Server 7.4 and have been evaluating them. For some reason I cannot get comfortable with the ClarkConnect 5 web interface. I guess it really does not matter because the 10 free user account cap is a deal killer. Per the Clark Connect website:<br /><br /><blockquote> "By default, the Community and Enterprise Editions include 10 accounts that have groupware/mailbox functionality. The Enterprise Edition is upgradeable to 250 users (in units of 5) by purchasing additional mailbox licenses from Point Clark Networks."</blockquote><br />I have SME Server 7.4 loaded on an old Dell OptiPlex GX110 and it is running fine. The interface has a dated feel to it. It seems to have all the feature that my brother-in-law is immediately looking for and has additional features he can grow into.<br /><br />e-box looks like it has been under heavy development since the last time I looked at it. I plan on downloading it soon. The interface looks great and it may give SME Server a run for its money.Thumoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01962800430284364320noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036634398090816779.post-25307616014668155282009-08-16T23:56:00.007-05:002009-08-17T00:16:49.492-05:00Wow! Where the hell was this during my searches?<p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/SojkpuJVKMI/AAAAAAAAAm0/_uG63PoSB1U/s1600-h/slack-mini-server.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 254px; height: 191px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/SojkpuJVKMI/AAAAAAAAAm0/_uG63PoSB1U/s200/slack-mini-server.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370793961052252354" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;">I was serching around again and found this jewel at softpedia:</span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;">"The Slack Mini Server (SMS) Project team announced yesterday, August 10th, the release of Slack Mini Server 1.4.5, which celebrates 2 full years of activity. The new release is based on Slackware Linux 13.0 RC2 and it brings Asterisk PBX, Samba 3.4.0, PHP 5.3.0 and many updated packages (see below for details)."</span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;">"It's been 2 years already, and this project I believe matures quite fast. In those two years SMS make a lot of good friends. I want to thank all of you, who are contributing – visibly or not – in any way you can to this project, and for all your kind words. A big THANK YOU to all of you." was stated in the official release announcement.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;">Highlights of Slack Mini Server 1.4.5:</span></p><ul><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Linux kernels 2.6.29.6</span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Dovecot 1.2.3</span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Dovecot-sieve 0.1.11</span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Apache 2.2.12</span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Apr 1.3.8</span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Apr-util 1.3.9</span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Fetchmail 6.3.11</span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">MySQL 5.0.84</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">LibX11 1.2.2</span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Pixman 0.15.18</span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Samba 3.3.7</span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Bind 9.4.3_P3</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Phpldapadmin 1.2.0</span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Cxxlibs 6.0.10</span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">e2fsprogs 1.41.8</span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Nmap 5.00</span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">getmail 4.9.2</span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">iwlifi-4965 228.61.2</span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Gnupg2 2.0.12</span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">dirmngr 1.0.3</span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">libksba 1.0.6</span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">DHCP 3.1.2p1</span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">libXt 1.0.6</span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Subversion 1.6.4</span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">GIT 1.6.4</span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Testdisk 6.11.3</span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Linux kernel headers 2.6.29.6</span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Linux kernel source 2.6.29.6</span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">hal-info 20090716</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></li></ul><p><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;">Light and fast - I cannot wait to play with it as a virtual machine</span><span style="font-size:100%;">. </span></p>Thumoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01962800430284364320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036634398090816779.post-50400476440450433622009-08-14T17:04:00.005-05:002009-08-14T21:33:44.008-05:00Acer Aspire easyStore H340<p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/SoXglmDtGeI/AAAAAAAAAms/odPamac6iwI/s1600-h/AspireEasyStore-02.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 210px; height: 196px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/SoXglmDtGeI/AAAAAAAAAms/odPamac6iwI/s200/AspireEasyStore-02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369945067185052130" border="0" /></a>I came across the Acer Aspire easyStore H340 while surfing the Internet today. On the surface it looked like a pretty nice little atom based home server for about $400. </p><p>Acer states: "Put your photos, music, video and important documents all in one place. The Aspire easyStore H340 Home Server holds up to 500,000 digital photos, 300,000 MP3 files and 4,285 hours of movies (based on 3MB per photo, 5MB per MP3 file and 350MB per hour playing time)." </p><p>"Protect you vital documents and precious family photos from PC or hard drive failure. The easyStore automatically saves a copy of important files from every computer connected to it." </p><p>Digging deeper into the specifications revealed this unit has a personality crisis, It is running Windows Home Server but as its name implies it is being sold as a simple NAS with a 1TB hard drive and backup capabilities vs. a full blown home server. </p><p>A review of the specifications also revealed its running on a Atom 230 single core processor, will only support Microsoft clients and can only accept a maximum of four 1TB drives. 4TB should be more than enough for home users but why put a limitation on drive size when 2TB drives are shipping?</p><p>The The new HP MediaSmart Server also has some of the same problems as the Acer easyStore. The LX195 has a $399 suggested retail price, runs Windows Home Server, and uses the Atom 230 processor, 1GB of RAM, 640GB 7,200-RPM hard drive, one Gigabit Ethernet port, and four USB ports. You can substitute the 640GB hard drive for a higher-capacity option, but the only way to add more storage is by adding USB external drives. No Serial ATA RAID in other words.</p>Thumoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01962800430284364320noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036634398090816779.post-45831842530980968512009-08-13T11:06:00.004-05:002009-08-14T21:56:25.418-05:00More & More RAID<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/SoQ61mBpl6I/AAAAAAAAAmk/WwG4dcovT3c/s1600-h/smalldrive.abw"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 186px; height: 151px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/SoQ61mBpl6I/AAAAAAAAAmk/WwG4dcovT3c/s200/smalldrive.abw" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369481348147419042" border="0" /></a>One of the things that sold me on using DL360 servers was the fact they already had hardware RAID and hot swappable SCSI drives. The HP hardware RAID is very easy to set-up via a bios utility. I made a simple RAID 1 array for the phone systems and I will probably do the same when I roll out an email server for him later on this year. This set-up makes it dead simple for anyone to rebuild the array by simply replacing the hard drive which only takes a minutes if you have spare drives already in caddies.<br /><br />All my research on RAID was interesting but in reality a RAID 1 array is all I will probably need for a home server. RAID 5 and 1+0 would be an interesting mental exercise but is overkill for home purposes. This is additionally true since 1TB drives can be purchased for under $80 and 2TB drives for $200 USD now. The side benefit of only using two drives is a smaller case can used and electrical consumption will be reduced.<br /><br />I still plan on using software RAID in my home server due to the cost factor.Thumoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01962800430284364320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036634398090816779.post-72959225662669330092009-08-11T23:30:00.009-05:002009-08-13T10:44:04.051-05:00Not Dead Yet<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/SoJP1ra5GEI/AAAAAAAAAmc/UW5hFJPtMTY/s1600-h/old_radar.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 156px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/SoJP1ra5GEI/AAAAAAAAAmc/UW5hFJPtMTY/s200/old_radar.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368941489386231874" border="0" /></a> <!-- ======================================================= --> <!-- Created by AbiWord, a free, Open Source wordprocessor. --> <!-- For more information visit http://www.abisource.com. --> <!-- ======================================================= --> <style type="text/css"> <!-- #toc, .toc, .mw-warning { border: 1px solid #aaa; background-color: #f9f9f9; padding: 5px; font-size: 95%; } #toc h2, .toc h2 { display: inline; border: none; padding: 0; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold; } #toc #toctitle, .toc #toctitle, #toc .toctitle, .toc .toctitle { text-align: center; } #toc ul, .toc ul { list-style-type: none; list-style-image: none; margin-left: 0; padding-left: 0; text-align: left; } #toc ul ul, .toc ul ul { margin: 0 0 0 2em; } #toc .toctoggle, .toc .toctoggle { font-size: 94%; }@media print, projection, embossed { body { padding-top:1in; padding-bottom:1in; padding-left:1in; padding-right:1in; } } body { font-family:'Times New Roman'; color:#000000; widows:2; font-style:normal; text-indent:0in; font-variant:normal; font-weight:normal; font-size:12pt; text-decoration:none; text-align:left; } table { } td { border-collapse:collapse; text-align:left; vertical-align:top; } p, h1, h2, h3, li { color:#000000; font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:12pt; text-align:left; vertical-align:normal; } --></style> Wow, I was totally off the radar for a year. During that time I have learned a lot about Linux, RAID, backups, virtulization and servers in general. <br /><br />The Intel Atom processor has really created numerous low power, small form factor server possibilities. Building a small home server using the dual processor Atom 330 makes a relatively high performance sub $300 home server a reality. <br /><br />My brother-in-law asked me to put a phone system together for his small physical therapy practice. I once again evaluated the numerous asterisked based pbx solutions to see if any changes had occured and I still ended up selecting PBX In A Flash (PIAF) primarily due to its focus on security. It is also nice knowing I can post a message on the forums and get a very quick answer to my questions and in some cases directly from the creator himself! More on storage and email servers later....<div> <p></p> </div>Thumoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01962800430284364320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036634398090816779.post-4496493488890030112008-07-25T22:10:00.005-05:002008-12-11T03:50:56.075-06:00Another PBX option and Network Mangement<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/SIq9WDlx69I/AAAAAAAAAXc/6Z0kaPRki4I/s1600-h/coolphone"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/SIq9WDlx69I/AAAAAAAAAXc/6Z0kaPRki4I/s320/coolphone" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5227198504135420882" border="0" /></a>I run a couple of Trixbox systems at work and try to keep up with what is going on in the open source PBX world. In a March post, I indicated I was leaning away from Trixbox due to some company decisions they made. It appears Fonality may be making additional poor decisions if this is true: <a href="http://www.freepbx.org/news/2008-06-02/why-does-fonality-choose-to-deceive-you"><span style="font-size:100%;">Why Does Fonality Choose to Deceive You?</span></a><br /><br />When I came across that link I also noticed a PBX comparison:<br /><a href="http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/1000618.html">Trixbox vs PBX in a flash vs Elastix</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.elastix.org/">Elastix</a> was a new one for me. The limited reviews I have read are very positive. I may want to put that into consideration.<br /><br /><br />Network monitoring is going to be a by-product of running this server. I have never really looked at what the monitoring options are but as it turns out there are a plethora of options. What started this? I saw this headline popup in my RSS reader: <a href="http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/books/network_monitoring_with_zenoss"><span style="font-size:100%;">Network Monitoring with Zenoss: A Reluctant Administrator's Guide</span></a><br /><br />It looks like <a href="http://www.opennms.org/index.php/Main_Page">OpenNMS</a>, <a href="http://www.zabbix.com/">Zabbix</a>, <a href="http://www.hyperic.com/">Hyperic</a>, <a href="http://pandora.sourceforge.net/en/index.php">Pandora FMS</a>, <span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://argus.tcp4me.com/">Argus</a>, </span> <a href="http://collectl.sourceforge.net/">Collectl</a> and <a href="http://opensmart.sourceforge.net/">Opensmart</a> are just some of the solutions. All I know is I want something simple to install and use. <a href="http://www.freepbx.org/news/2008-06-02/why-does-fonality-choose-to-deceive-you"> </a>Thumoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01962800430284364320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036634398090816779.post-38487846782003939872008-07-23T23:06:00.015-05:002008-12-11T03:50:56.833-06:00What Got It All Started<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/SIgDSDZYpsI/AAAAAAAAAW8/zuBmImSpo_o/s1600-h/bubba-front-01.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 163px; height: 123px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/SIgDSDZYpsI/AAAAAAAAAW8/zuBmImSpo_o/s320/bubba-front-01.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5226430976247768770" border="0" /></a>One of the things that got me interested in rolling my own server was a <a href="http://www.linux.com/articles/61263">review</a> I came across over at <a href="http://www.linux.com/">Linux.com</a> about a very small and low powered home server called <a href="http://www.excito.com/">Bubba</a> from a company call <a href="http://www.excito.com/">Excito</a>.<br /><br />After doing a little research, it become pretty clear getting my hands on the Swedish Bubba Server would not be easy since they did not have a United States distributor and the currency exchange rate made purchasing a unit from a UK based supplier prohibitive. After learning this it begged the the question, could I make something similar at a lower coat and learn something in the process?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/SIgHBzg6QSI/AAAAAAAAAXE/zICjPCukxoM/s1600-h/back_400x300-trans.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 175px; height: 102px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/SIgHBzg6QSI/AAAAAAAAAXE/zICjPCukxoM/s320/back_400x300-trans.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5226435095152967970" border="0" /></a>Today I was reviewing what applications the Bubba Server is running and learned they are now selling the second generation of the Bubba which unimaginatively is named the Bubba Two. Specs have beefed up:<br /><br /><br /><table class="full" style="padding-top: 0pt; width: 455px; height: 751px;" border="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr class="subhead"><th style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><strong>SERVICES</strong></span></th> <th style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><strong>BUBBA|TWO</strong></span> </th> </tr> <tr class="even"> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Downloader (HTTP, FTP, TORRENT)</span></td> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"> <span style="font-size:78%;"><img alt="yes" src="http://www.excito.com/assets/images/ok-trans.png" height="16" width="16" /></span></td> </tr> <tr class="odd"> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Itunes music streaming (Firefly/DAAP/Soundbridge)</span></td> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"> <span style="font-size:78%;"><img alt="yes" src="http://www.excito.com/assets/images/ok-trans.png" height="16" width="16" /></span></td> </tr> <tr class="even"> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">UPnP media streaming (Mediatomb)</span></td> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"> <span style="font-size:78%;"><img alt="yes" src="http://www.excito.com/assets/images/ok-trans.png" height="16" width="16" /></span></td> </tr> <tr class="odd"> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Squeezebox Streaming (Slimserver/Squeeze center)</span></td> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;"> Future firmware upgrade </span></td> </tr> <tr class="even"> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">File server (HTTP, Samba, FTP, SCP)</span></td> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"> <span style="font-size:78%;"><img alt="yes" src="http://www.excito.com/assets/images/ok-trans.png" height="16" width="16" /></span></td> </tr> <tr class="odd"> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Web server </span></td> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"> <span style="font-size:78%;"><img alt="yes" src="http://www.excito.com/assets/images/ok-trans.png" height="16" width="16" /> (Lighthttpd)<br /></span> </td> </tr> <tr class="even"> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Webmail client </span></td> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><img alt="yes" src="http://www.excito.com/assets/images/ok-trans.png" height="16" width="16" />(Horde)<br /></span> </td> </tr> <tr class="odd"> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Email Server (Dovecot, Postfix)</span></td> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"> <span style="font-size:78%;"><img alt="yes" src="http://www.excito.com/assets/images/ok-trans.png" height="16" width="16" /></span></td> </tr> <tr class="even"> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Fetchmail Server (Fetchmail)</span></td> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"> <span style="font-size:78%;"><img alt="yes" src="http://www.excito.com/assets/images/ok-trans.png" height="16" width="16" /></span></td> </tr> <tr class="odd"> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Printer Server (Cups)</span></td> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"> <span style="font-size:78%;"><img alt="yes" src="http://www.excito.com/assets/images/ok-trans.png" height="16" width="16" /></span></td> </tr> <tr class="even"> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">SSH connetion to internal Linux</span></td> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"> <span style="font-size:78%;"><img alt="yes" src="http://www.excito.com/assets/images/ok-trans.png" height="16" width="16" /></span></td> </tr> <tr class="odd"> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;"> Linux 2.6 + Debian Etch</span></td> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"> <span style="font-size:78%;"><img alt="yes" src="http://www.excito.com/assets/images/ok-trans.png" height="16" width="16" /></span></td> </tr> <tr class="even"> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;"> Firewall<br /></span> </td> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"> <span style="font-size:78%;"><img alt="yes" src="http://www.excito.com/assets/images/ok-trans.png" height="16" width="16" /></span></td> </tr> <tr class="odd"> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Router </span></td> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><img alt="yes" src="http://www.excito.com/assets/images/ok-trans.png" height="16" width="16" /></span></td> </tr> <tr class="even"> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Wireless access point<br /></span> </td> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Planned<br /></span> </td> </tr> <tr class="odd"> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">DNS server </span></td> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><img alt="yes" src="http://www.excito.com/assets/images/ok-trans.png" height="16" width="16" /></span></td> </tr> <tr class="even"> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">DHCP server<br /></span> </td> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><img alt="yes" src="http://www.excito.com/assets/images/ok-trans.png" height="16" width="16" /></span></td> </tr> <tr class="odd"> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">RAID 1 support with external eSATA disk(s)<br /></span> </td> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Planned </span></td> </tr> <tr class="even"> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;"> </span><br /></td> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;"> </span><br /></td> </tr> <tr class="subhead"> <th style="padding-top: 0pt;"> <span style="font-size:78%;"><strong>HARDWARE<br /></strong></span></th> <th style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><strong>BUBBA|TWO</strong><strong><br /></strong></span> </th> </tr> <tr class="even"> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Internal hard dri</span><span style="font-size:78%;">ve </span></td> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;"> up to 1TB SATA<br /></span> </td> </tr> <tr class="odd"> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Internal memory<br /></span> </td> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">256 MB DDR2<br /></span> </td> </tr> <tr class="even"> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Processor<br /></span> </td> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">333 MHz Power PC<br /></span> </td> </tr> <tr class="odd"> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Network connectivity<br /></span> </td> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">2 x 1000 Mbit/s<br /></span> </td> </tr> <tr class="even"> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">USB 2.0<br /></span> </td> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">2 x 480 Mbit/s<br /></span> </td> </tr> <tr class="odd"> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;"> eSATA<br /></span> </td> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Yes, 2<br /></span> </td> </tr> <tr class="even"> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Power consumption**</span></td> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">7-12W (disk dependent)<br /></span> </td> </tr> <tr class="odd"> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Kensington lock slot<br /></span> </td> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Yes<br /></span> </td> </tr> <tr class="even"> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Fan<br /></span> </td> <td style="padding-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;">No</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/SIgOpjtGFeI/AAAAAAAAAXM/y6tOnxDlPtw/s1600-h/Bubba_linux_server.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 111px; height: 148px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/SIgOpjtGFeI/AAAAAAAAAXM/y6tOnxDlPtw/s320/Bubba_linux_server.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5226443474685269474" border="0" /></a>For a turnkey solution the new Bubba looks compelling but at $452 USD for the 1T version it is still out of my reach. I guess I am going to have to keep learning how I can put something together for myself and that is just fine with me. I relish the learning experience.<br /><br />For the same amount of money I will be able to put together a much more powerful and flexible system that is nearly as thrifty with electricity. The only real drawback will be the lack of Bubba's consolidated web based configuration and management tools.Thumoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01962800430284364320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036634398090816779.post-78469653574703642292008-07-21T22:54:00.005-05:002008-12-11T03:50:57.023-06:005 Reasons Why You Should Use VirtualBox Over VMware Server<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/SIVkizWFXcI/AAAAAAAAAW0/UE0eNp-JBZc/s1600-h/vbox_logo2_gradient.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/SIVkizWFXcI/AAAAAAAAAW0/UE0eNp-JBZc/s320/vbox_logo2_gradient.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5225693491694493122" border="0" /></a><br />I read a very concise post over at <a href="http://maketecheasier.com/">MAKETECHEASIER</a> that outlined five reasons why VirtualBox is better than VMware Server. His five points were:<br /><ol><li><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">File size - 20meg vs. 102meg (small is beautiful)<br /></span></strong></li><li><span style="font-weight: normal;"></span>Easier install due to pre compiled package available for download. (not a big deal for me)</li><li><strong style="font-weight: normal;">Speed Boost (faster is better)</strong> <span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></li><li>Remote File Sharing</li><li><strong style="font-weight: normal;"> Integration with Host OS</strong> via ‘<em>seamless mode</em>‘. With this mode on, you can access the applications from the guest OS from the host’s desktop. (interesting from a system management point of view)</li></ol>I wondered if anyone else had done a comparison recently and I came across a link to this article: <a href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=8880">Virtualization smackdown: Sun xVM VirtualBox 1.6 vs. VMWare Server 2.0 Beta 2</a><a href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=8880"><br /></a><br />This was a much more in-depth look at the two virtualixation solutions. The overview at the end really struck a cord:<br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">VirtualBox has the widest range of host system support and has the lightest hardware demands, and excels for single PC personal virtualization needs</span>, but requires more UNIX/Linux command-line skills when used as server virtualization solution. VMWare 2.0 has an excellent web-management UI with the lightest client payload, but this comes at the expense of heftier hardware requirements for good performance and a fatter software drop on the server.</blockquote>Thumoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01962800430284364320noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036634398090816779.post-19521218094483630932008-07-11T21:51:00.005-05:002008-07-11T23:56:30.196-05:00List Mania Continues<span style="font-weight: bold;">Security</span><br />mOnOwall - <span style="font-style: italic;">Security</span><br />Smoothwall - <span style="font-style: italic;">Security</span><br />pfSense - <span style="font-style: italic;">Security</span><br />IPCop - <span style="font-style: italic;">Security</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><span style="font-style: italic;"></span>Endian - <span style="font-style: italic;">Security UTM<br /></span>Comixwall - <span style="font-style: italic;">Security UTM</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">HTPC</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>MythDora <span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br />Mythbuntu <span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br />Knoppmyth <span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br />Freevo <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span>MythTV<span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span>GeeXboX - <span style="font-style: italic;">Frontend Only</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">File Server</span><br />CentOS Server (roll own)<span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br />FreeNAS - <span style="font-style: italic;">File Server</span><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><span style="font-style: italic;"></span>Debian Server (roll own)<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Web Server<br /></span>Cherokee<br />Abyss<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Virtualization</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span>VMware <span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br />Virtual Box<span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">VoIP</span><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">PBX In A Flash - SELECTED</span><ul><li> Ubuntu Servier was eliminated becuase it was twice the size of a Debian net install.</li></ul><ul><li>Took Yvatta off the list because it is a little over the top for SOHO use IMO. mgrave while making a response to a <a href="http://www.smithonvoip.com/">Smith On VoIP</a> article about the new Netgear WGR614L wireless router summarized what I has been thinking about Yvatta:</li></ul><p class="comment_meta"> <strong></strong></p><blockquote><p class="comment_meta"><strong>mgraves </strong> <span class="comment_time">// <a href="http://www.smithonvoip.com/voip-hardware/netgear-goes-open-source-but-did-they-miss-the-point/#comment-6947" alt="Permalink to this comment">Jun 30, 2008 at 9:01 pm</a></span> </p> <div class="entry"> <p>You are exactly right about this. It will attract very few. However, Vyatta while interesting and truly open source, is totally over-the-top for the kind of application suited hardware such as this. M0n0wall or pfSense are more in line with the target market. Also, pure open source. Well proven and very well supported.</p></div></blockquote><div class="entry"> </div><ul><li>I need to see if a web server was added to FreeNas in a recent release. For some reason I think I saw something about this new feature. The website says "Add generic webserver service" under FreeNAS 0.69b1. Hummmm.....................................</li></ul>Thumoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01962800430284364320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036634398090816779.post-41125948224207172672008-07-10T21:47:00.008-05:002008-12-11T03:50:57.597-06:00A Long VOSS Hiatus - I'm Back<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/SHbKwScfJgI/AAAAAAAAAWc/uqrN-zDsy2c/s1600-h/hiatus.jpeg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 136px; height: 85px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/SHbKwScfJgI/AAAAAAAAAWc/uqrN-zDsy2c/s320/hiatus.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5221583748916520450" border="0" /></a>I pulled the plug on the blog for awhile. I love technology but between tech at work and then more tech at home I was a little burned out. In fact I used the occasion to simplify my life and get rid of all my rigs except 5 of them. The normal person at this point is saying why the hell do you need five computers and is that really simplifying? For those reading this blog I fully expect you to understand.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/SHbQXM3WHaI/AAAAAAAAAWk/1invFXRIMNg/s1600-h/i-want-you.thumbnail.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 94px; height: 122px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/SHbQXM3WHaI/AAAAAAAAAWk/1invFXRIMNg/s320/i-want-you.thumbnail.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5221589914991599010" border="0" /></a>So what did I do with the other 5+ rigs? I fixed them them up, loaded up linux (<a href="http://www.puppylinux.org/home">Puppy Linux</a> 4 - Dingo to be specific), put a <a href="http://www.tuxparty.com/2008/02/26/free-stickers/">I want you linux sticker on the case</a> and pushed them out to the local Goodwill where I hope they find happy new owners.<br /><br />I have been fighting the urge to bring any new toys homes. Of course now that I have paired down my toy collection all these great Craigslist opportunities keep coming up........<br /><br />I haven't been a total tech prude at home. I have been playing around with <a href="http://www.mandriva.com/">Madriva</a> and I must say I am pretty impressed with it. I have never been a big fan of RPM based distros but the Spring 2008 version is very polished, has good hardware detection and a some well thought out software selections which have made me take a second look.<br /><br />I also did a few Debian net installs and got comfortable with the process of installing various packages and figuring out which ones had the least amount of bloat.<br /><br />After spending sometime mulling over my previous posts I made some decisions about which direction I want to go. I decided big monolithic solutions are not what I am after. They require lots of resources and install lots of features I do not have a need for nor do I want them cluttering up my system(s).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://usa.chenbro.com/assets/2007/10/04/product6213780907.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 96px; height: 94px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/SHbYhZD13jI/AAAAAAAAAWs/tY4cT_J1HVU/s320/systn832865862.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5221598886156951090" border="0" /></a>Power consumption and the physical size of the solution are still very important to me. Over the last few months a few pieces of hardware have caught my eye. The first one is the <a href="http://usa.chenbro.com/corporatesite/products_detail.php?serno=100">Chenbro ES34069</a> Mini-ITX server case. It looks great and has some very nice features:<br /><br /><br /><br /><table style="width: 605px; height: 372px;" class="specification" border="0"><tbody><tr style="font-weight: bold;" class="first-child"><td class="first-child last-child" colspan="2">ES34069 Specifications</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="first-child">Dimensions<br />(w x h x d)</td> <td class="last-child">260 mm x 140 mm x 260 mm<br />10.24" x 5.51" x 10.24"</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="first-child">Hard Drive Bay</td> <td class="last-child"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">4 x 3.5" SATA HDD (</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">hot-swappable</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">)</span><br />1 x 2.5" notebook HDD (internal) </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="first-child">Optical Drive Bay</td> <td class="last-child">Slimline CD/DVD drive </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="first-child">Expansion Slot</td> <td class="last-child">N/A</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="first-child">Front Access</td> <td class="last-child">2 x USB 2.0<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> SD/Mini-SD/MMC/MS card reader</span><br />Power button<br />Reset button<br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="first-child">Cooling System</td> <td class="last-child">2 x 70 mm fans (rear)<br />1 x 60 mm fan (front: optional) </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="first-child">Power Supply</td> <td class="last-child">Built-in 180W DC board<br />External AC adapter (brick)</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="first-child">Input</td> <td class="last-child">AC 100 ~ 240V</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="first-child">Output</td> <td class="last-child">DC 19V @ 9.5A</td> </tr> </tbody> </table><br />The second item of interest is the release of numerous low power components. I am particularly interested in the dual core version of the Intel Atom CPU that should be released sometime next month based on a recent article posted at <a href="http://www.digitimes.com/mobos/a20080624PD208.html">DigiTimes</a>. Initial reports on the single core version of the Atom processor have been mix at best but it will be interesting to see what upgrades occur over the next month or two.<br /><br />I have also been looking at small fast web servers and I am interested in evaluating <a href="http://www.cherokee-project.com/">Cherokee</a> and <a href="http://www.aprelium.com/">Abyss</a>.Thumoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01962800430284364320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036634398090816779.post-1383245851308567742008-04-08T20:51:00.004-05:002008-04-12T14:03:12.599-05:00I Am Not AloneSaw an article that caught my eye over at tuxmachines that linked to the <a href="http://whyamistilltyping.wordpress.com/">Why am I still typing?'s Weblog.</a><br /><br />I have no clue why I clicked on it because the post was titled <a href="http://whyamistilltyping.wordpress.com/2008/04/05/the-hidden-world-of-linux/">The hidden world of Linux</a>. I am glad I clicked on the link because it seems Konrad has been pondering some of the same things I have been mulling over. He has indicated he will make some additional posts due to the feedback and response he has received about his initial post.<br /><br />Over at <a href="http://www.junauza.com/">Tech Source From Bohol</a> Jun talked about some <a href="http://www.junauza.com/2008/04/freeopen-source-television-software.html">Free/Open-source Television Software</a> available today. I had seen most of them but I did not know about <a href="http://geexbox.org/en/index.html">GeeXboX</a>. From the GeeXboX website:<br /><br /><blockquote>You may think that such a thing requires a new generation computer ;-) That's where you're wrong !! An old P2-400 with 64 MB of RAM will be quite powerful enough to let the magic play. Also, the GeeXboX ISO only takes about 7 MB on disc. And of course, the whole thing can be managed by a either a keyboard, a remote controller or a joystick, thanks to its full OSD (On Screen Display) Menu.<br />So, what are you still waiting for ?? Xmas ?<br /> <br />Just go to the <a href="http://geexbox.org/en/downloads.html">Downloads</a> section and enjoy ;-)<br /> </blockquote><br /> That is a very small Linux ISO. It almost looks BSD like! It might be a very good lightweight front end to play media files.Thumoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01962800430284364320noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036634398090816779.post-56662767092129518282008-04-01T20:30:00.012-05:002008-12-11T03:50:57.757-06:00Heavy, Big, Bloated, Limiting and ICBMs<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/R_OG9I_9_CI/AAAAAAAAAFI/zJJ3dXmxkbI/s1600-h/icbm.jpeg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5184635980979502114" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; width: 64px; cursor: pointer; height: 79px;" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/R_OG9I_9_CI/AAAAAAAAAFI/zJJ3dXmxkbI/s320/icbm.jpeg" border="0" height="171" width="146" /></a>I have been really pondering the posts about SME Server and Clarkconnect. I do not want to be locked into a solution that I cannot tweak and change to my liking. I want flexibility and these solutions are not going to cut it for my needs. It looks like they would be great, but only if you want to get a small server up and running quickly and you can live with the features and functions provided.<br /><br />I am also getting the feeling that most of these solutions are big and require lots of resources. I picked up an AMD 1.1 GB Athlon machine off of craigstlist for free last week. It is a very nice box with 1 gig of RAM, Onboard RAID, Server Case and lots of other goodies. I just finished cleaning it up and replacing the CPU fan. I decided to load Untangled on it. I have had numerous problems getting Untangled to run on several other test machines, but everyone raves about it so I decided to try and put it on the new Athlon machine. I got it to work finally. It was not happy with a gig of RAM and a 20 GB hard drive during the initial install! I know this is not the speediest machine in the world, but it is no slouch and would be fairly happy running most open source software. This really confirmed my concerns about size and system resource consumption. This was even harder to swallow when I read about mOnOwall and pfSense users running the entire application on a CF card! Granted this is an apples and oranges comparison, but it highlights the vast differences in hardware requirements. Untangled looks like it would be a great UTM solution for a larger small or medium size business. It would be total overkill for my home needs. The proverbial ICBM to kill a fly situation.<br /><br />I am biased towards Debian-based distros, so that is where I am leaning now. I do not know if Ubuntu Server or Debian would be better for the core. Ubuntu Server 8.04 with LTS will be out in three weeks so I am interested in the upcoming reviews. Debian, on the other hand, is much smaller, and from my research a much more stable server platform since Ubuntu is based on Debian unstable (Sid). I could run virtual machines for the solutions that cannot be rolled into the Debian-based distro.<br /><br />BSD still amazes me with what can be accomplished in a mere MB of code!Thumoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01962800430284364320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036634398090816779.post-66917893840245310212008-03-22T07:31:00.006-05:002008-04-12T14:09:58.503-05:00Clark Connect - Anyone Using it?Found this interesting thread <a href="http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/805164.html">Clark Connect - Anyone Using it?</a> over at <a href="http://whirlpool.net.au/">Whirlpool.net.au</a><br /><br />A few of the posts stood out and caught my attention and got me thinking:<br /><br />From KeeWEE:<br /><span class="wcrep1"></span><blockquote><span class="wcrep1"> SME has my vote </span><br /><br />Why?<br /><br />I like SME too, as far as it goes, but am trying to add a RADIUS server and MySQL accounting to it. However in SME both come preconfigured for its server functions so adding further configuration means you have to 'reverse engineer' the built-in configurations a) to work out what you have to do and b) to make sure you're not inadvertently undoing something else. As a relative newbie I often wonder if it wouldn't be a lot easier starting from scratch with the 'standard configuration' that's in the documentation.<br /><br />And as far as I can google - and according to SME's own forum - it's not even worth trying to have the FreeRADIUS GUI dialupadmin on any RHEL distro, and because of the 'non-standard' configurations of SME it's not recommended to use Webmin on it.<br /><br />I'd guess ClarkConnect suffers from the same drawbacks - the difficulty and inadvisability of trying to further modify something that's already been modified by someone else - but I've never tried it and if it leaves the underlying OS in a purer state that SME it might better suit me.</blockquote>From Andrew:<br /><blockquote><br /><span class="wcrep1"></span><span class="wcrep1"></span><span class="wcrep1"> I'd guess ClarkConnect suffers from the same drawbacks - the difficulty and inadvisability of trying to further modify something that's already been modified by someone else - but I've never tried it and if it leaves the underlying OS in a purer state that SME it might better suit me. </span><br /><br />When ClarkConnect was based on Fedora core2, it was outstanding in this regard. You could treat it like any other FC2 install. It was brilliant.<br /><br />So much so that I had quite a task upgrading it - because of my mods being incompatible with theirs. So now I've gone back the other way running a very clean and unmodified CC 4.1 machine, and a separate linux work horse machine.<br /><br />Its a pity because now my dedicated firewall is quite a powerful box and a 330 MHz Celeron would do the job.<br /><br /></blockquote>From RainDog:<blockquote>It's all a matter of what you want to do. As a basis for small business servers I've had many successes with SME. Set and forget. Capable , secure etc.<br /><br />What I dont recommend is messing too much with SME (or CC) builds to run custom application, you see tales of woe all though the discussion boards with attempts at webmin etc. SME does what it does very well. My preferred option is to set SMEs up in gateway server mode and use a second box or board for any specialist application given that most aren't particularly demanding the hardware expense is much less than the labour involved and you can still rely on the SME box for gateway security.<br /><br /><span class="wcrep1"> And as far as I can google - and according to SME's own forum - it's not even worth trying to have the FreeRADIUS GUI dialupadmin on any RHEL distro, and because of the 'non-standard' configurations of SME it's not recommended to use Webmin on it. </span><br /><br />I'd suggest using a CentOS box for this it's getting a little off the SME path.<br /><br /><span class="wcrep1"> I'd guess ClarkConnect suffers from the same drawbacks </span><br /><br />Same drawbacks yes. But those drawback are advantages in another's situation. SME and CC are rock solid quick setup configurations, in doing this they offer little for the experimenter.<br /><br />cheers..<br /></blockquote><br />More about the thinking part on the next post.<br /><a href="http://whirlpool.net.au/"><span style="display: block;" id="formatbar_Buttons"></span></a>Thumoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01962800430284364320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036634398090816779.post-67635867600518271002008-03-15T11:39:00.013-05:002008-12-11T03:50:57.911-06:00Astro Gets Fragged<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/R_OHRo_9_DI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/tJ0_xrBL99I/s1600-h/frag.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 192px; height: 257px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-bP9_19ZJg/R_OHRo_9_DI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/tJ0_xrBL99I/s320/frag.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5184636333166820402" border="0" /></a>I eliminated Astaro from the list based on my previous post. I have also read in many other forums that Astaro can be hard to set-up. It would have been the only SUSE based solution, which was also a deciding factor.<br /><br />Three camps have clearly formed:<br /><br /><span>BSD-based solutions:</span> very lightweight and robust.<br /><br /><span>Debian-based solutions:</span> Lots of options with the potential to roll my own (based on the number of tutorials I have seen on the web).<br /><br /><span>Red Hat-based solutions: </span>Large file sizes are a concern, but there are many options that are well-known and robust.<span><br /><br /></span>Outstanding Decisions:<br /><ul><li>Do I want to mix and match the best solutions or stay with the same distro base, therefore compromising on solutions, but knowing that management will be potentially easier in the long run?</li><li>Roll my own solution (distro with packages) or use off the shelf distro solutions?</li><li>Run multiple Virtual machines or lump all of the packages under one distro or hybrid?</li><li>Pursue a home solution or a more robust SOHO solution (one computer vs. multiple physical machines)?<br /></li></ul>I found some interesting server tutorials over at <a href="http://www.debiantutorials.org/">debiantutorials</a> that I need to check out:<br /><br />Debian Etch as Server <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr align="left"><td><a href="http://www.debiantutorials.org/content/view/110/228/" class="mainlevel">Debian Linux file and print server: NFS, CUPS, LPR</a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td><a href="http://www.debiantutorials.org/content/view/167/251/" class="mainlevel">Stream your music with gnump3d</a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td><a href="http://www.debiantutorials.org/content/view/175/268/" class="mainlevel">Simple local web server on Etch</a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td><a href="http://www.debiantutorials.org/content/view/188/269/" class="mainlevel">Web Server on Debian Etch</a></td></tr></tbody></table>Thumoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01962800430284364320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036634398090816779.post-33201307252487379532008-03-13T23:08:00.011-05:002008-04-12T14:23:57.051-05:00Simple Question on Software-Based Router<div class="smallfont">Found this thread over at <a href="http://www.hardforum.com/">HardForum</a><br /><br /><blockquote>Hello people,<br /><br />I have been looking into useing a software based router like Smoothwall or Freesco for my company.<br /><br />From all the options, i'm leaning towards freesco unless someone here tells me i shouldn't with a god reason why. Basically i need the router for QoS for voip lines.<br /><br />The questions i have a pretty simple. Is there a special way to install two NIC cards? or is it just as simple as plugging in a second one and installing the drivers.<br /><br />Thanks</blockquote></div><br />This response caught my eye:<br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pfsense has my vote</span><br /><br /><!-- / icon and title --> <!-- message --> <div id="post_message_1031939286">Well I have tried a lot of those (Smoothwall 2, Smoothwall 3, Clarkconnect, Endian firewall, Astaro versions 6 and 7, IPCop, Monowall and Zeroshell) in my quest to be able to play COD4 while loading my line with torrents, and I have to give my vote to pfsense (using 1.2 RC4 at the moment). Traffic shaping is by far the best I've tried, at least the ping are satying low and no lag, web access remains very fast. The traffic shaping wizard is not bad to get started but needs a little tweaking depending on the services on your network.<br /><br />I have setup many configurations at various client locations, and for simplicity I agree that Smoothwall is best for newbies, I have used it for a few clients (10 to 50 users) and it has been stable as a rock, easy to configure and maintain.<br /><br />I have also used Astaro for a few clients, great product (not free) but overkill for home use and traffic shaping is poorly implemented. On top of that, if you have never setup a router/firewall before you will find it a bit more complex than the other ones to say the least.<br /><br />Pfsense runs on a toaster almost, is fast and has no extra useless features unless you want to install optional packages.<br /><br />Hope it helps you</div></blockquote><div id="post_message_1031939286"></div> <!-- / message --> <!-- message, attachments, sig -->Thumoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01962800430284364320noreply@blogger.com0