Damn Fine Server
Forum: User Feedback
Topic: Damn Fine Server
started by: CappyCaffeine
Posted by CappyCaffeine on April 30 2004,04:46
Ok, I know what I did may not be a big deal to some of the users on this forum, but I think it is DAMN cool.I had a Pentium 233MMX with 64MB of EDO Ram sitting around, a 6 GB IDE hard drive, a who-knows 6X CD-ROM, a Sierra Screamin' 3D (Rendition Verite 1000) video card taking up space. I had the need to take a bunch of forms from my office and centralize them. This way, they could be accessable from any terminal on our network.
I didn't want to put any additional software on our central server running Linux to a bunch of Windows XP Pro computers and proprietary client software for our electronic medical records. Our server is an IBM X-series dual Xeon, blah blah, lotso memory, big black case. I did not want to run a Samba server or Web server on it. Let it do it's job and leave well enough alone.
We also have a Nortel hardware firewall that allows us to access the internet and allows us to access our server from home with specialized, secure software. (Cool beans, works great, thank goodness)
So where does DSL come in? Well, remember that old dottering system I mentioned earlier. I thought, maybe if I loaded some distribution of linux that doesn't need loads of memory and the latest CPU, I could turn it into a simple file and web server.
Enter DSL version 0.6.2
So I do a hard drive install after seeing that this dang distribution recognized all the hardware in this system. (Yeah, the video is VESA, but who cares? I'm not going to do CAD or complex image manipulation on it, I just need to login and set things up.. to my surprise, Fluxbox comes up just fine at 60Hz.)
I have never really set up a Web Server before. I used the wizards in Red Hat and Suse to setup Apache and it kinda worked. Plus, Samba had been a pain in the ass until recently. I had used Webmin to help on other distros.
So I thought about what I wanted to do, got a Belkin 10/100 NIC for $4.99 with a $5.00 rebate at Office Max, installed it, (DSL of course recognized it and got an address via DHCP, natch) and got to work.
Did a hard drive install, dpkg-restore, apt-get installed samba, swat, man-db, joe, gimp, LinNeighborhood.
Took a look at the monkey.conf file which was pretty self explanatory, dedicated a new folder for the web server root and tested it.
used samba's swat to set up some directories under Monkey's server root directory.
Then got on my regular computer (AMD 2600XP+, Asus A7N8X-deluxe with 2x512MB at DDR400, Seagate SATA 120GB hard drive, Cyberdyne 52x24x52 CD-RW, Pioneer 16x/40x slot load DVD drive, etc) and scanned the forms from my cheapo Visioneer 8100 USB scanner. I used MS Frontpage 2002 to create the website (I know.. but Frontpage is really a good program!) and a duplicate directory on my system that I wanted on the DSL box.
when I set this up, I didn't realize I could activate betaftpd and do a transfer from my main computer to the Pentium233MMX so I used LinNeighborhood to access my computer from the server and transferred the files via SMB shares. either way works.
Ok, I transfer the files, restart smbd, nmbd, and monkey.. Voila, it works.. at home.. but will it work as well when I bring this box to work?
Yup.. All i do is plug it in, connect an old Dell monitor, old keyboard and mouse, and turn it on. I had edited /opt/bootlocal.sh to start inetd and monkey on startup.
The damn thing connected to my network, got an address via DHCP and since I was using SMB and Samba, the Netbios name given was able to be used as the < http://dotteringserver > address in Internet Exploerer on the Windows XP Pro boxes at the office.
I couldn't believe this s**t. To damn easy.What else could I do?
Ok, the hard part was over.. but I wondered: What if I want to update the website or add digitized forms to the server? Would I have to burn a CD and then load it onto the server manually? Seems like more work then it has to be.
So.. I saw betaftpd daemon. Could this be as easy to run as Monkey was? Even simpler, stick the executable into /opt/bootlocal.sh, it's running and I can transfer files from a Windows XP compter to the server after logging in as damnsmall. I use WS_FTPLE to do the transfers.
Now, could I do this from home via the Nortel client that I use to access the main server? Damn right I could! I needed the actual IP address of the system, so I just did an ifconfig from the command line on the server and wrote it down. (actually committed it to memory, but you get the idea)
So, I get home, run the Nortel client to connect, Open a web browser, enter < http://(IP > address committed to memory) and, TA-DA! I am browsing the server via Monkey from home.
How about FTP transfers? Ditto, same principle. No problem.
Ok.. how about this SSH daemon I have heard so much about? I found PuTTY for Windows.. Now i can open a virtual console from any Windows XP box at work AND from home and use MC to move files, change permissions on the dottering old server at the office. So, who cares about the video now? I don't even need a monitor hooked up to my little webserver.
Since I was having so much fun, I decided to load some MP3s (all legally ripped from my own CD collection) onto the little server. Those are also accessible from Monkey or Samba or FTP.
Right now as I am typing this, I am transferring the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack onto the server from home.
It's the balls.
So, now you know about my little project that could not have been possible without Damn Small Linux.
Thank you John and all your excellent helpers!
Cappy
Posted by dslfool on April 30 2004,05:29
Man, I LOVE hearing sucess stories like this one, even if it involves the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. :-) Technology which gets the job done is good, but technology which gets the job done and is easy to set up and maintain is just plain wonderful. Good show Cappy, John and Robert!
Posted by hasty on April 30 2004,14:23
Agreed.Great story, but what a terrible ending
saturday night ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,aargh runaway:laugh:
Posted by gekkokid on April 30 2004,23:14
nice work dude, good story lol can i have the film rights :P
Posted by CappyCaffeine on May 01 2004,04:36
film rights? Guess I better get myself an agent.. Maybe I can start a bidding war for the rights and have myself cast as the lead. Yeah.. a similar pseudo-documentary like Jonathan Demme's Traffic, the intrigue, the dirt, the realizations, and the twists and turns that is all things Damn Small Linux..
Gotta think of a cool name for the movie.. I know!
"This Old PC"!
Whaddya think? I see Jennifer Connely as the love interest, Hugh Jackman as the head of the local linux user group, and David Schwimmer as my network installer.
I can just see the people lining up at the local Cinema.
Cappy
Posted by hasty on May 01 2004,13:41
Naw the sound track would kill it dead 