Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 15:03:24 -0400 From: Bill Moran <wmoran@potentialtech.com> To: Thomas Moyer <tommoyer@atlanticbb.net> Cc: questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: home directory questions Message-ID: <20040629150324.3ca94637.wmoran@potentialtech.com> In-Reply-To: <40E1AC67.4010307@atlanticbb.net> References: <40E1A6A2.6060001@atlanticbb.net> <20040629134710.68550ab2.wmoran@potentialtech.com> <40E1AC67.4010307@atlanticbb.net>
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[Keep the mailing list CCed] Thomas Moyer <tommoyer@atlanticbb.net> wrote: > Bill Moran wrote: > > >Thomas Moyer <tommoyer@atlanticbb.net> wrote: > > > >>Is it possible to setup a file server with FreeBSD and use that as a > >>home partition and also share other files on a small network? > >>What kinds of utilities would I need to run? I imagine NFS for *nix > >>clients and Samba for MS clients. Also possibly share printers with > >>this computer as well. CUPS for that. > > > >Um ... yes. I assume you're just looking for verification that you're > >selecting the correct technology, and you are. > > > >>Also what kind a minimum system reccomendations does anyone have? > > > >That's impossible to even guesstimate without some idea of what kind > >of load the system is going to be under. I have a fileserver here that > >serves Windows and FreeBSD clients and it's a 200mhz with 96M of RAM. > >But I would never suggest that for a big installation. > > > At most the server will serve 4 to 5 clients at any given time. This > might increase later but for now it is limited to those few. <uses his psychic powers to ascertain how much traffic each of those clients will generate> Seriously. This is one of the biggest misconceptions around - that I can tell you what kind of hardware to purchase based solely on how many clients you have. Without a better usage profile, I can only guess. And here's my guess: With that many clients, it's likely that your reliability requirements will be greater than your performance requirements. Meaning: you could probably get a used computer at Goodwill for $100 that would perform acceptably for that load, but do you really want your server running on used hardware? You could probably buy cheap NICs that are advertised at 100mb/sec but can only really do 70mb/sec, and you'd still think they were fast enough, but that depends on your tolerance for delay, which is a pretty difficult thing to judge until people start complaining. All said and done, you can probably buy commodity hardware at a competitive price and get something that will suit. -- Bill Moran Potential Technologies http://www.potentialtech.com
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