Topic: Can SME server be run from a memorystick?

[tlicht]

Hi,
I an a n00b to CME server.... so I have a couple of questions I hope you might have the time  to answer....

A couple of years ago I installed and configured an SME server/domaincontroller/firewall/router for a friend. I imagine it must have been a 6.xx version. It has been up and running without any problem ever since.

1. Is it possible to just update/upgrade it with the latest version?

2. Do the advantages with version 7.3 justify the possible risk of something going wrong and thus loosing everything?

I am considering to build an SME server for my own use. I am using an IPCop firewall since many years which seems to work just fine. I have 4 - 6 PCs i my network configured as a workgroup and would need a reasonably safe storage for some of my files.

3. Should I make SME server also act as a firewall/router and thus scrap the IPCop?

4. I suppose that I will have to make the SME server also act as a domain controller in order to minimize the logging onto it for accessing files. (this might be a strange form for a question  )

5. Is it possible and/or advisable to install the SME server on a memorystick and then use the two 500 GB harddisk in raid 1, formatted with FAT, so that if the SME server 'dies' the harddisks would still be readable by windows machines (naturally removed from the SME machine). Also I imagine that it would be easier to ghost the memorystick than the proper partition(s) if the server OS is on the storage harddrives....

5. Would drives connected via external SATA connectors be viewed by SME server as ordinary SATA disks? I think that drives connected via usb cannot be part of a raid.....

... this is all for now,,,,,

[CharlieBrady]

... this is all for now,,,,,

Please make a separate thread for each of your questions.

[raem]

tlicht

That is a lot of different questions for one post.
If you need better answers than these then repost seperately as Charlie has suggested.


> I imagine it must have been a 6.xx version. 1. Is it possible to just update/upgrade it with the latest version?

Yes, but check the version in server manager and follow recommendations for removing incompatible contribs & custom templates etc. See http://wiki.contribs.org/UpgradeDisk and the long thread referred to in that article ie
http://forums.contribs.org/index.php?topic=30745.0


> 2. Do the advantages with version 7.3 justify the possible risk of something going wrong and thus loosing everything?

Yes, of course, 7.x is much better in many ways than 6.x. With care there should be no risk of losing everything. You should always do a backup first, and see this article as it details howto restore while still keeping your old disk intact.
http://wiki.contribs.org/UpgradeDisk


> 3. Should I make SME server also act as a firewall/router and thus scrap the IPCop?

Depends on your networking & firewalling requirements, but if you want to keep it simple, then yes sme server doing gateway (firewall) & server duties will run perfectly well and very securely too.
I would personally advise you to use sme as server & gateway and configure your router/modem in bridged mode.


> 4. I suppose that I will have to make the SME server also act as a domain controller in order to minimize the logging onto it for accessing files.

Yes preferred.


> 5. Is it possible and/or advisable to install the SME server on a memorystick and then use the two 500 GB harddisk in raid 1, formatted with FAT, so that if the SME server 'dies' the harddisks would still be readable by windows machines

Not advisable (& I think not possible to install to memory stick), just install with the 2 x 500Gb drives in software RAID1 (& ideally with a third hot spare drive). If a drive fails it can reboot in degraded (but still functional) mode. In many cases you can plug the drive into different hardware and it will still boot up. You may need to do a CD reinstall/upgrade to install drivers for different hardware.
It is much simpler just to accept that the OS & data are on the same partition, and this won't complicate things when doing upgrades. sme server works perfectly well that way.


> 5. Would drives connected via external SATA connectors be viewed by SME server as ordinary SATA disks?

Just guessing on this one, but I believe/assume that to be correct.


> I think that drives connected via usb cannot be part of a raid.....

Don't know.

[Confucius]

> I think that drives connected via usb cannot be part of a raid.....

Don't know.

With a little fiddling, trial & error I created a RAID 1 setup with 2 Toshiba 320 USB drives. It is possible.

[tlicht]

Please make a separate thread for each of your questions.

Thanx Charlie, of course you are right.... though since RayMitchell gave such a detailed reply I may not repeat all the questions...  Still, I will take your advice ad notam and just use one question in each thread in the future.

[arne]

About the boot from USB option:

I have done a number of boot from USB and other electronic memory Linux installations, and I also used a couple of hours to try to get the SME server to run from a USB stick. The SME server was actually the one I had to give up. It did not work (for me ..)

One thing that ha to be taken into consideration is that USB booting Linux distros, they does not work against "the harddisk" like other ordinary Linux distros. They work more or less from a virtual ram image, due to the properties of the USB flash memory. (Limited number of write and read cycles before it is destroyed.)

It would be interesting if some other had some other experiences, but my experiece with my sme server from USB stick project was "this can not be done".

(Of cource anything can be done, but this will not, be to easy, I believe.)

[jester]

Selintra made SME 7 work from a flash disk, shouldn't it then also be possible to run it from an usb disk?

[arne]

I made a flash disk installation of Astlinux for approx a year ago (and it is still running nice).

I have some problem with my memory and I'm not sure if I remeber things right, but I believe that there is a major difference between a USB memory and a flash disk memory when it comes to how you (the hardware) access the datas.

I think that the flash disk is working much like a ide harddisk so I only used a cheap ide to flash adapter to do this installation. (While the USB memory uses a usb serial communication protocol.)

I believe that the flash memory is also subject to the limitation in writing and reading cycles, so that the Astlinux installation is a "read from the flash while booting up and running from the ram" installation.

By the way I believe the only issue about installing SME server to a flash disk will be to be able to limit the read and write cycles. The installation will work anyhow, I beleive and the installation to a flash memory running on e ide fladh adapter will be like a harddisk installation, but depending of the number of read/write cycles the flash memory might be destroyed after a while. It might possibly be possible to do some modifications on the SME server so that the traffic to and from the harddisk is minimized.

[raem]

I think the original poster, tlicht, was really referring to "out of the box support", ie for default installations of sme.

Of course any amount of modifications and tweaking can be done to a Linux OS, but that is only applicable to a limited number of knowledgable users, and in many cases not really a recommended approach due to the need for ongoing specialised maintenance at upgrades and such like times.

[tlicht]

Yes RayMitchell, maybe not necessarily 'out of the box' or CD, but at least so upgrades/updates can be painlessly applied.
And BTW, thank you for your detailed answer 

.... I haven't even given the limited number of writes a thought.... so memorystick is obviously our of question.

but....
What if SME is installed on a single disk first and then the two SATA disks are added. Can they be made to be raid1? That would still make them 'stand alone' i a sense.... or?

[CharlieBrady]

What if SME is installed on a single disk first and then the two SATA disks are added. Can they be made to be raid1?

Yes.

[arne]

Today I red in another forum about a rather unusual Linux distro, named something like Bel business server.

I downloaded it to give it a try, and my first thought was that it it looked like a distro that should be easy to modify to do a USB boot. The big surprice was then that it looks like it has a automated function for installing it on a USB stick.

I haven't tested it much and I think it propably looks more like a toy than a business server, but here is the link:

http://pclosbe.org/mwiki/index.php?title=What_is_BEL_Server-Basic

[tlicht]

Arne,
I tested the BEL server from CD today, the graphics were not very impressive - the screen refresh didn't seem to work very well. Running it from memory was better..... It feels a little unfinished yet, but it is certainly an interesting distro.

[arne]

I don't know what the requirement for running a sme server from a memorystick is, and certainly not the Slax distro is not a business server, but if the reurement is to run a stable Apache Web server from a USB stick, over time and with some stability, I think that the Slax distro can do this.

The Slax project is now haltet in some way, as the gui doing the project is just telling on his web page that he is now doing something else, for a while.

The Slax distro is by its basic design a live linux distro, basically designed to run from RAM, from CD or from aSB plug. The old versions from the project that used to be can be downloaded (I believe) from a copy of the old web page:

http://slax.hosting4p.com/?lang=en

There is "workstation" and "server editions", and when it is installed on a USB stick all updates, modifications and changes in datas can also be done by plugging the Slax USB memory in a Windows workstation, editing with Word pad, etc.

Here is a link to the other project that made a Windows program, MySlaxCreator for an automated USB installation.

http://myslax.bonsonno.org/

I have used a customized version og Slax over time with, OpenOffice, Opera Web browser, etc and it was not any issues at all.

I also tried it with a Apache module and php and mysqul as well, I believe, and I think it worked.

You can use the Slax server edition or you can modify one of the other versions by downloading extra modules (if they still exist.)

Slax can not be compared with SME server at all, but it can give a Apache web server from a USB stick.

*****
They exist: http://slax.hosting4p.com/modules.php?category=all

[tlicht]

Thanx Arne,

Slax seems to be great fun! I'll check it out on my old laptop.
For my current project I am not certain that it will do - I mainly need a box for safely keeping and serving my files on my private network.

I got a feeling that you are scandinavian.... ?