Free/Easy file server from the junk pile.

[1ColdBeer]

My example uses the hardware and software that follows:

HARDWARE
Etower 466 found in the trash. (floppy drive is a must).
128 meg ram.
Pci ethernet card and cat5 cable from junk box.
3 ide drives (software supports 1-4).
Used monitor, keyboard and mouse for setup. Removed after setup and use telnet to manage the server.

SOFTWARE
NASLite-SMB from "Server Elements" It's a FREE download
BurnCDCC It is a FREE Windows utility to burn iso images to disk. (optional) from Terabyte Unlimited.

THE BUILD
Add the drive(s) I set the jumpers to master (end of cable) and slave (middle of cable).
Add the nic card if your box needs 1.
Monitor, keyboard and mouse for setup. (ps2 round plug)
Plug cat5 cable from server to router/switch

NASLite-SMB boots from floppy and loads into ramdisk. Settings are saved to the floppy too.
The floppy needs to be formated to 1722 kB. This should be no problem for linux users and more adventuris Windows users that want to boot a linux live disk.(easy instructions on website) The instructions say there is no known way to get it done under Windows, but in my mind Rawrite should do it. I'm to lazy to fiddle with it these days.

Then the SMBLite image needs to be written to the floppy...... The info above applies to this step too.

If you want to spend $5.00 US Server Elements sells the “Floppy Disk Utility CD-ROM” It boots to a nice little screen that lets you make bootable floppies for all the free server products they offer. After my server was running I went back and bought the disk for my out-n-about bag of tricks and it works fine.

Windows users will need a program to write the iso to disk. A FREE utility to do that can be found HERE. (BurnCDCC)

Quick Start (Nice PDF full manual on website)
Boot the new server from the floppy and if all went well you should be able to log in with username: admin and password: nas

Adjust the network settings by giving the server a unique ip address. You can just change the last 3 numbers of the default to make it easy. The subnet needs to be the same on all machines on the network. Default setting of 255.255.255.0 should work for most.

Change the workgroup to match the network. All machines that want to use this server must be in the server workgroup. I think with Windows it can be found: Control Panel – System – Computer Name

Go to “Configure Storage Disks” and let it format each disk.

Set the date and time.

The server is open so there is no need to change the password.

SAVE CONFIGURATION

REBOOT

If all went well You can enter the server ip in the address bar of a browser and hit the server. If you can hit the server shutdown and remove the monitor, keyboard and mouse. RESTART In a terminal or dos window type: telnet 000.000.0.0 (replace 0s with ip) and hit enter to log in. (If you want to test telnet)

If you get stuck here just take a look at the manual....... NASLite makes different tones to let you know what the problem is.

In windows you can map the server as a network drive with: My Computer - right click – Map Network Drive.

In linux file browser.......... smb:/

This is a screenshot of my T60p running SLED 10.1 with XP in a Vmware window logged into the server under XP and browsing it under linux at the same time.... Works fine

Good luck

[bigtiger]

thanks. Just what I needed. I will experiment with a junk machine soon.

[carbon_unit]

Server Elements makes a fine file server. I have had a P75 with 40 MB ram running NASlite for the last 4 years. One of the hard drives began failing recently so I moved all the files off of it onto one of the other disks and removed the failing one. That is all the trouble I have had in 4 years, and it has ran every day of those 4 years.
I'm glad someone else finds it useful.

[tfflivemb2]

Can this program be used on a system as a Internet File server, for hosting large files?

[1ColdBeer]

Can this program be used on a system as a Internet File server, for hosting large files?

Hi,
Server Elements products are for network servers. They should be behind a firewall, so the answer is no.

A quick google search should find many free http servers, both windows and linux.

Good luck.......

[carbon_unit]

I suppose you could put it in front of your firewall and let the internet access it but I don't suppose it would take very long to get hacked.

[Stargate199]

This looks interesting. Unfortunately, I can get the same BASIC, functionality with Windows XP and a few hard drives. Too bad I just gave Alphakilo470 my last spare desktop. I did try a linux project on there and this is something I would of liked to try. I may of misread it or missed it completely, but can you also network printers off of it? That would be something I would like to try someday. Perhaps when I get a new computer, then I will try this with my current one.

[carbon_unit]

The point of interest in using NASLite is that it will run on a 486 or better machine, way below the minimum specs for XP.
It is a good use for an otherwise useless (less than 366 mhz) machine. I can find 366mhz or less computers for free any day of the week.

[rkawakami]

Any idea if this would work on a 486DX4-100? I have a home-built tower system just sitting at home collecting dust. Be nice if I could answer the wife when she asks "what's it good for?" .

It was running Windows 3.1 pretty well in its day but that's not saying much...

[1ColdBeer]

Hi,

Any idea if this would work on a 486DX4-100? I have a home-built tower system just sitting at home collecting dust. Be nice if I could answer the wife when she asks "what's it good for?"

Tell the wife it's your new smb server.... See specs. from Server Elements.

Code: Select all

   
 * 486DX or better processor
    * PCI bus
    * 16M or more of RAM
    * 1 to 4 IDE fixed disk drives (any size)
    * PCI or on-board network interface adapter
    * 3.5" floppy disk drive 

Good luck

[schen]

Thanks guys. Exactly what I needed. I'm in the process of rebuilding an old server case w/ PII CPU/MB into a file server for our church and trying to decide whether to use Ubuntu or some old Windows load. This this is perfect.

By the way, the Server Elements people have a version that boots from a flashdrive now.

[gator]

This needs to be made a sticky. Very useful guide, I just completed one at my friend's place with his old desktop.

[Harryc]

I'd like to get a machine to run NASLite-SMB. It has to be extremely quiet, cheap, and meet the minimum specs mentioned in this thread. I'd want to run larger IDE drives in it. .e.g 500GB x 2. Any suggestions? Age of the machine doesn't matter, low noise and price matters ...

What about something like this Netvista?

Or this Netvista?

If anyone has an old desktop they want to get rid of for shipping plus a few bucks that would be appreciated ...

[carbon_unit]

Those machines are overkilll. I run it on a P75 with 32mb ram. It is quiet because it only has a fan on the power supply. No CPU fan is needed, just a big heatsink. The most noise coming from it is the sound of four hard drives spinning.

[Harryc]

Those machines are overkilll. I run it on a P75 with 32mb ram.

What is the model of the machine?

[carbon_unit]

It is an old ASUS motherboard in a generic case. I'd have to open it up to see exactly which model. It has been years since I opened it last. Just find a 166mhz or less computer and it can run without a CPU fan.

[Harryc]

C_U thanks!. Is there something I should look for/avoid in the way of an older machine as far as supporting larger (.e.g 500GB) drives?

[carbon_unit]

Just make sure it is new enough to support IDE drives. Some 486's didn't. Rip all the optical drives out, load it up with 4 big hard drives and make the floppy for naslite. You'll need one nic and a video card for initial setup. After it is setup make sure it will boot without a keyboard attached then put it in a closet with only an ethernet cable and a power cable attached. Then just telnet into it to administer it. It will beep if a hard drive fails a SMART test so you might not want to bury it real deep in the closet so you can still hear the beeps. Mine just now beeped and one of the disks is failing after 4 years power up 24/7 and the HD was used when I put it in. naslite ignores any BIOS limits so you can put in the biggest hard drives you can find.

[bonestonne]

interesting solution, really is. my server was given to me by a friend of my father, i'm amazed that it was just given to me. its a P2 Xeon rig that i updated enough to take P3 Xeons. not too shabby, but i've run out of power cables with 4 drives in it >.<

its able to run XP without too much trouble too. sometimes its faster than my Pentium D 940, but my newest computer is mostly experimental, running 64bit XP, 64bit Linux and OSx86.

if my work gets done, i'm happy. soon it'll be strictly a music/video server within the house, i may not allow sharing via wireless though.

i haven't heard of NASlite-SMB though.