Booting Linux

I detail my experiences with Windows Home Server

Monday, January 11, 2010

Accounts: Crystal Ball Polished!

I've continued to fool around with WHS; instead of fixing one problem and moving on, I've found 3 or 4 more problems! But back to the previous post regarding user accounts:

1. Is the password from the nettop syncing to the backup on the server, or the Remote Connection account?


The password is syncing to the Remote Connection account. Each user has their own "shared" folder on the server; the password (and account) lets the server know who is connecting, and which shared folder to show. Who likes having their own cloud-based storage?!?! (Even if the "cloud" is in the basement!)

2. What happens if I have other accounts on other computers named "Tyler"? Would a backup from another computer overwrite the nettop "Tyler" backup?

As long as they all have the same password, I should be fine.

3. Are backups account-based? For example, my fiancee also has administrator account on the nettop - did that get backed up as well, or just the "Tyler" account?

They are NOT account-based; for some reason, the default backup option only backed up my "documents" partition on the nettop. After changing the backup configuration via the Console, the entire machine was backed up overnight. Things are starting to be clear now!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Placeholder Post

I've found a solution to one of my problems - backups are configured on the server side, not the client side. More info here: http://www.howtobemobile.com/index.php/how-2s/49-software/517-back-up-with-windows-home-server-part-4

First Attempt at Machine Backup

I decided to take the plunge last night and try my first backup, without reading any documentation. I have a Lenovo S10 that I've used primarily for note-taking and general web surfing (and a little World of Warcraft, even). I don't store any important data on it, and I have no reservations about wiping the hard drive, so if the backup isn't successful, I haven't lost anything vital. So the nettop was my guinea pig.

First I created a user account for myself on the server, which is really a Remote Connection task. I should have postponed this as it created some confusion, as you'll see.

My next step was to install the Windows Connector on the nettop. This is client software that automagically connects your client PC to the WHS. The WHS blog "We Got Served" has instructions (and screenshots!) on how to install the Connector (hint: it's really easy).

Installation was relatively quick, but it required the main partition on the nettop to be converted from FAT32 to NTFS. Instructions were included in the WHS documentation - some command prompt work, one reboot and 40 minutes later, the backup commenced and completed successfully. However, a dialog box popped up, saying that my passwords didn't match between my nettop and the server - I assume this refers to my "Tyler" administrator account on my nettop, but I'm left with some questions:
  1. Is the password from the nettop syncing to the backup on the server, or the Remote Connection account?
  2. What happens if I have other accounts on other computers named "Tyler"? Would a backup from another computer overwrite the nettop "Tyler" backup?
  3. Are backups account-based? For example, my fiancee also has administrator account on the nettop - did that get backed up as well, or just the "Tyler" account?
I'm currently doubting that the backups are complete "images" of the machine, for the following reasons:
  1. I'm using several gigs of harddrive space on the nettop, yet the backup was only about 650 megs.
  2. The nettop has 2 partitions - how can I tell if both partitions were backed up?
  3. I did the backup over WiFi via a 802.11g connection, yet it went surprisingly quick. Related to point 1, it didn't seem like the whole physical drive was backed up.
Hopefully the WHS help documentation can fill me in on these points. I hope to report back tomorrow with some answers.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Canonical Missed The Boat

Over a year later, my goals remain the same, but my methods have shifted. I titled this blog "Booting Linux" with the idea of 'booting up' Linux - learning how to use it, in other words. Instead, I will be giving Linux the boot and replacing it with Windows Home Server (WHS).

WHS is built on Windows Server 2003 (now two "versions" old); it's sort of a surprise that the WHS team hasn't migrated it to Server 2008 R2 (in-line with Windows 7 if you have a hard time with the Microsoft server naming). However, this allows WHS to run on older hardware. As mentioned below, I've got a 1.2 ghz Celeron hosting my WHS in the basement; it's not going to win any speed awards, but re-purposed hardware is the cheapest kind!

I've also abandoned the Media Machine for now - the S.O. disparages how it looks next to the TV. Perhaps a few paychecks later we'll be able to get back to it (especially with the upgrades Win7 brought to Windows Media Center). I did find a PCI-compatible video card for hardware decoding of HD media files. I think it was an NVidia 6600, but since this is pushed to the back burner, it's not really worth discussing. So, this blog will be dedicated to discussing my experiences with Windows Home Server.

Specs:
  • 1.2 ghz Celeron
  • 1 gig RAM (only 512 showing...I'll have to check on this)
  • 3 Hard drives (as of now...): 40, 100, 500 (smaller on format) with an additional 200 gig in the near-future.
My original goals (via Ubuntu) included:

  • FTP Server
  • Music Server (Squeezeboxen)
  • BitTorrent
  • Remote Access
  • Proxy Server
My new goals include the previous (minus the Proxy) and:

  • Automated Backups
  • Meebo Repeater
  • Shared Files (media, photos, documents, etc).
  • Possibly a centralized Outlook account for contacts.
With WHS, that boils down to:

  • FTP-->Guest Accounts (Remote Access)
  • Music Server-->Squeezebox Server (WHS Add-In)
  • BitTorrent-->uTorrent Add-In
  • Remote Access-->Native to WHS (more learning necessary)
  • Automated Backups-->Native to WHS, with client installs
  • Meebo Repeater-->Via program installation. Hasn't worked yet - more learning necessary
  • Shared Files-->Native to WHS
  • Outlook-->via Add-In
Despite all these easy-to-implement options, I think my favorite part about WHS is how easy it is to add to the storage pool, and to make files redundant. Just power down the server, slap in the drive, and on power-up, add it to the storage pool via the Home Server Console.

In the future, I'll be detailing installing of Add-Ins. So far, I've copied 100 gigs of music and about the same of movies and TV shows to the server. Watch for updates!

Update: I should clarify what I meant by this post title - I think Canonical still has a fantastic opportunity to create a customized version of Ubuntu to directly compete with WHS. I would gladly pay $50 for a support license for a Linux Home server.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Up and Running

Well, it's been several months, but here's what I've done:

Server

It really surprised me, but I got the server box breathing with the Celery processor and 512 RAM. It's slower than 494 at 5:15, but it works. I've been too busy with everything to play with it lately, however. I'd like to find a way to VNC in, rather than some sort of command-line terminal. I don't have enough Linux command line experience for that kind of tomfoolery. I still need to set up FTP, SqueezeCenter, and a torrent client.

Media Machine

THIS has been a cause for frustration. I've ordered 2 AGP cards from NewEgg that are labelled AGP2.0 compatible. Guess what that last phrase means? Yep. Not compatible--neither of them. Return to factory. Goodbye $20 shipping. I think I need to find a Geforce 5xxx series, or maybe swap out the 6600 in another box. This leads to all kinds of other complications. Stupid old computer gear.

However, I've managed to rip a fair number of movies at full rez to the box. Heh, that was another thing - generic DVD/CD drives aren't reliable for booting an OS install disk. I had tried Myth before putting Windows MCE on there. It was an excercise in frustration.


More in 3 months! ;-)

Friday, September 12, 2008

Obligatory 1st Post

Hi.

Background

I'm going to list my experiences with Linux here. For starters, I'm using Ubuntu 8.04. There's all kinds of different distros to choose from, but Ubuntu is (in my opinion) the friendliest to configure and easiest to use.

I got started by downloading the disc image (.iso) from the site linked above, and burned it to a CD. I also cleared out an old computer. It's a 1g Celeron with ~512 meg of RAM, a 40-gig main drive and 200-gig storage drive. There are lots of guides online to installing Ubuntu--the only thing I'm going to point out is that when it asks what drive to install to, select the "Guided" option, and use the entirety of your primary drive.

Goals

I've actually got two machines I'm working on. The one described above will be an FTP server, music server for this and this, BitTorrent server with remote access, and perhaps a proxy server.

The other machine is a $200 refurb IBM I got at Microcenter. It's a P4 2.26 with 1 gig of RAM and 500 gigs of storage. I've ripped most of my DVDs to it, and plan on using it as a Tivo and DVD jukebox. I'm currently running WinXP Media Center Edition on it, but want to switch over to MythTV. MythTV is MUCH more powerful (and free), but more complicated to get going. More on that later.