Help a newbie with networking 3 machines


Recommended Posts

Hi all, I have a question that has probably been answered a thousand times, but due to time constraints (and laziness) my quick forum/Google search did not give me a meaningful answer.

Firstly I`ll start by explaining my setup. I have my main PC (1) connected to a broadband router. PC2 & PC3 are connected to an Ethernet switch which in turn is connected to the router. All 3 PCs are running OpenSuse 10.3.

On my main PC (1) I have a number of partitions (NTFS) which hold my media (Music on one, Video clips on another, HD Media on another and so on and so forth). All these partitions are mounted within PC1`s Linux system.

What I am wanting to do is share these partitions to the other two PC`s, effectively making them media centers (and capable of accessing all my documents, which are on yet another partition).

I have tried messing about with the NFS SERVER options within YAST on PC1 and the NFS CLIENT options within PC2/3 but this did not do what I thought it would (In fact, it seemed to do nothing).

What exactly do I need to do to get the results I want. Bearing in mind I am completely new to Linux (I do plan on buying a number of Linux books within the week though as I want Linux to be my primary OS).

Any step-by-step, hand holding advice would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What did you expect the NFS server to do? That it didn't? Did you export whatever you wanted to share, an then mount it on the client side?

Here is everything you should need to get NFS working on your network

http://nfs.sourceforge.net/nfs-howto/

curious -- if your OSes are linux, why would you be using NTFS?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi there BudMan, to tell the truth, I didn't know what to expect the NFS Server to do. I thought it would just magically work and allow my other two machines to view all the mounted drives on my main PC. As for the "media" drives being NTFS, its from my Windows days, it is my next goal to convert the file systems to something Linux can write to (as far as I`m aware it will not write to NTFS atm). I need to get my network up and running first. Thanks for the link btw, I`m going to check it out as soon as I have some spare time (having a 2yr old takes up most of my time).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Linux can write to NTFS just fine, but there would be no point to using that file system if your just using linux.

http://www.ntfs-3g.org/

The NTFS-3G driver is an open source read/write NTFS driver for Linux, FreeBSD, Mac OS X, NetBSD, and Haiku. It provides safe and fast handling of the Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000 and Windows Vista file systems. POSIX file system operations are supported, and full file ownership and permission support is available as well.

As too "I thought it would just magically work"

I don't mean to crush your world view, but I'm sorry to inform you -- since you seem to have been unaware, but there is no such thing as "magic" ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't mean to crush your world view, but I'm sorry to inform you -- since you seem to have been unaware, but there is no such thing as "magic"

next you`ll be saying theres no Santa :o

With regard to NTFS, like I said, its on my to-do list, I`ll worry about it when the time comes. The only concern is each partition is ~100GB and almost full, so converting it to another FS is a bit of a concern. I might be plesantly suprised when the time comes though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I am not aware of any safe way of doing the conversion.. Other than move the data off, create the new file system -- move the data back.

If that is pleasant surprise? So be it -- but I tend to doubt that ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, if you haven't already set up network sharing, might I recommend SMB (Samba server on Linux) over NFS? I don't think NFS is supported natively by Windows. And this isn't a deal-breaker, but it does mean that any machine you want to see the share would need a little extra software to see the share. If a friend comes over and wants to use his laptop... add software.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Valid point Mark, but there is no reason why he can not use NFS an Samba at the same time. Or for that matter he could just use FTP for his guests to use to move files about his network, etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, I am going to set up an FTP later today (if I get chance) for work mates etc. to connect to. I think that this will be the easiest solution for both parties. I have yet to get NFS working (havent had the time) but its on my high priority list. I`ll report back; hopefully later this afternoon, and let you know how I got on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If your talking about connections from outside your network, I would suggest you look into SFTP vs FTP for security reasons. Or atleast tunnel all traffic thru ssh or vpn solution.

If you are looking a easy secure way to allow access to your network -- check out SSL Explorer, http://www.sshtools.com/showSslExplorer.do You can not beat the price FREE for the community version.. Or you can get a FREE 2 user license of the full enterprise version.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.