Topic: Newbie: A few good questions...

[Stuart Tener]

SME Server users:

I am interested in learning a little about SME Server before I actually go and install it for use.

I am interested in findout what I must do, and how difficult it will be to support some of the following hardware using SME Server:

(a) PCMCIA 802.11b cards

(b) HighPoint Technology 370 IDE RAID (can I add the latest driver into the CD somehow?)

(c) ISA 3Com Ethernet Cards

What distribution is SME Server based on?

Is there a way to customize its kernel?

My first target machine is a PII-233, with about 128MB or so of RAM to support a small office for windows file / printer sharing, and perhaps a small web/ftp site.

This software looks like it is very easy to use, and install.

Any comments?

Stuart
Beverly Hills, CA

[Drew]

Stuart,

I have used and set up e-smith/SME servers since last year (June 2001) in versions from 4.1.2 thru 5.1.2 - and it has been a fantastic server.

Have had e-smith/SME boxes setup for file/print server, CD-Rom sharing, fax server (via Hylafax), web/ftp/email server, proxy server, and Windows domain controller (NT4).  There are a ton of add-ins and support from the folks here on the phorums is excellent.

> I am interested in findout what I must do, and how difficult
> it will be to support some of the following hardware using
> SME Server:
>
> (a) PCMCIA 802.11b cards
> (b) HighPoint Technology 370 IDE RAID (can I add the latest
> driver into the CD somehow?)
> (c) ISA 3Com Ethernet Cards
> What distribution is SME Server based on?
> Is there a way to customize its kernel?

**  Check out the FAQ here - http://e-smith.org/faq.php3.  That will get most if not all of your questions here answered.  **

> My first target machine is a PII-233, with about 128MB or so
> of RAM to support a small office for windows file / printer
> sharing, and perhaps a small web/ftp site.

Should be enough horsepower to get you started - at least to test and get a feel for what you might be able to do running SME...and I bet you will be very surprised.

> This software looks like it is very easy to use, and install.

It is!  Easy to install, stable, secure...I have nothing bad to say about e-smith/SME servers.  Outstanding Linux distro.

Give it a shot and get back to us with your thoughts and/or follow up questions.

Drew

[Bill Talcott]

Do some searches here (make sure you change how far back you want to look) for the hardware info. From http://edocs.mitel.com/6000_SME_Server/smeserveruserguide/English/supportedenet.html, "Note that only PCI adapters are supported. The PCMCIA adapters used in many laptops and the older ISA adapters are not supported." While the FAQ even links to a page about making ISA cards work, it's not supported out of the box. If you don't have previous experience with Linux, you might be getting in too deep, though the howto's here are often done well enough even for a total newbie to follow. I'm not sure about the HPT370, but wireless, PCMCIA, and ISA are all unsupported, so you're in for some tweaking. You'd probably be best off to start with a system of completely supported hardware, then try adding each thing one at a time, rather than fighting with everything from the getgo.