Questions about Linux and Networking.

[minofifa]

Hi,

I have searched around here and at linux.org a bit but cannot seem to find what i am looking for. some help would be most appreciated.

Here's my situation: I have my main computer, with windows XP, but the storage is getting used up pretty quickly. I want to build a frankenstein computer / server for storage only. I have an old computer i would like to use but i have lost the windows 98 disk so i have no operating system. I don't want to buy one for this purpose and i see this as a chance to finally give linux a try.

What i want to know is:
1. can is set up a network where one computer running windows XP, gets info from a storage computer running a distro of linux?
2. What is the learning curve to setting up somethign like this if it is possilbe? I'm willing to put in some time to learn but i do get frustrated when things blow my mind.
3. Is there a particular distrobution of linux that would serve this purpose well? if not, can somebody suggest a distro to try.

I realize that these questions have probably been answered here before, sorry for any doulbe-posting.

thanks for your help.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: minofifa
What i want to know is:
1. can is set up a network where one computer running windows XP, gets info from a storage computer running a distro of linux?

Yes.

2. What is the learning curve to setting up somethign like this if it is possilbe? I'm willing to put in some time to learn but i do get frustrated when things blow my mind.

Take frequent breaks, get used to reading instructions, and learn about a new site here and you should be ok.

3. Is there a particular distrobution of linux that would serve this purpose well? if not, can somebody suggest a distro to try.

Just about anything should be ok. I'll recommend Fedora Core 3 in this thread.

 

[bersl2]

I've always found that vanilla Google is better for Linux searches than the special search is.

 

[minofifa]

cool, thanks a lot for the help.

may i ask why you suggest fedora core 3? did you just pick that off the top of your head or is there something about it that is notable?

i'm gonna search for it on linux.org to see where i should start. thanks again

 

[minofifa]

holy crap,
i found the fedora core distro of linux as suggested and its friggen huge. it's like 4 CD's worth of files. why is the setup so large compared to windows XP?

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: minofifa
holy crap,
i found the fedora core distro of linux as suggested and its friggen huge. it's like 4 CD's worth of files. why is the setup so large compared to windows XP?

Unlike Windows XP it probably includes a few thousand applications.

I recommended it because it's one of the more widely used systems out there.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: bersl2
I've always found that vanilla Google is better for Linux searches than the special search is.

They're different, but I've been able to get better results from the Linux and BSD versions. This depends on what I'm looking for though. :beer:

 

[minofifa]

oh ok, thanks again nocmonkey

one more stupid question for tonight. It says on the red-hat website to download the iso images and burn them to CD. It says burning iso files is different than other files. how do i go about making an "iso disk"? i have some generic cd burning software on this computer and i think i have nero express on my other computer. will it be an option in the cd burning software or something?

 

[Nothinman]

I recommend Ubuntu, mainly because it's based off of Debian and RH derived distros get on my nerves.

 

[minofifa]

hmm well that's not good, i don't want anything to get on my nerves either....

I just want a simple and FREE and legal OS to hold my files so i can access them via a home network on my XP machine.

 

[silverpig]

Fedora will be fine. rpm distros are more of a pain in the ass as desktop systems because of how much hair you can pull out trying to find dependencies. In your case you just want an easy install (fedora), easy set up (fedora), and have everything just work (fedora).

 

[Nothinman]

Ubuntu (and Debian sarge IMO) meets all of those requirements as well.

 

[s8v4o]

Mandrake has been pretty straight forward for me. I am a noob to linux but have had no problems setting up SAMBA in linux. SAMBA is a linux protocol what you'll have to use to have the networked PC's "talking". Almost any buring APP you use should be able to burn the ISO's for you. Heck even DVD decrypter can work. Like I said I'm by no means LINUX savvy but mandrake works ok for me. Hope this helps.

 

[timswim78]

If you are a first time user and want do networking with a Windows PC, I would definitely recommend Fedora. Why? Because it has very easy to use GUI's for setting up your netwrokign stuff. The other distro's will require more command prompt stuff, which isn't bad, it's just not as easy for the beginner.

Also, a GREAT website for asking linux questions is http://www.linuxquestions.org. Also, they have good guides on how to get things running.

 

[Sunner]

Any distro will be fine for this, I agree Fedora will be fine, as would Ubuntu, Gentoo, Slackware, etc etc.
But I guess a Windows user would feel reasonable at home with Fedora.

When you burn ISO files, you don't just put them on a CD as you would other files.
Under Nero for example, go to "Recorder -> Burn Image...", then point at the ISO file, and you're pretty much set.

 

[Nothinman]

SAMBA is a linux protocol what you'll have to use to have the networked PC's "talking".

To be pedantic, Samba is a daemon, package, whatever that implements the SMB/CIFS protocol which is MS' specification. Just like Apache is a daemon that implements the HTTP protocol, there's nothing Linux specific about Samba (or Apache).

 

[halfadder]

Originally posted by: Nothinman

SAMBA is a linux protocol what you'll have to use to have the networked PC's "talking".

To be pedantic, Samba is a daemon, package, whatever that implements the SMB/CIFS protocol which is MS' specification. Just like Apache is a daemon that implements the HTTP protocol, there's nothing Linux specific about Samba (or Apache).

Well said. Mac OS X uses Samba for Windows file sharing, and I've used Apache on my Windows PC!

 

[minofifa]

thanks for all of the input guys, much appreciated.

I am in the process of downloading fedora core 3 right now (it's just the first one i found that was suggested). anywho, once i have my 4 ISO install CD's ready, can i put the first one in, boot from it, and have it install? basically i want to completely wipe the harddrive clean and remove windows and EVERYTHING, and have linux install fresh. will this be part of the install process like it is with windows where it asks you if you want to reformat? Or, do i have to go about getting things cleaned up before i install.

 

[timswim78]

You can save a lot of time if you download the mini installation CD. You boot from this CD and select the pacakages that you want. They are then downloaded for you.

 

[Sunner]

Originally posted by: timswim78
You can save a lot of time if you download the mini installation CD. You boot from this CD and select the pacakages that you want. They are then downloaded for you.

True, bor someone new to Linux it might be a good idea to have the CD's handy, in case they screw something up, forcing a reinstall.

 

[minofifa]

Originally posted by: Sunner

Originally posted by: timswim78
You can save a lot of time if you download the mini installation CD. You boot from this CD and select the pacakages that you want. They are then downloaded for you.

True, bor someone new to Linux it might be a good idea to have the CD's handy, in case they screw something up, forcing a reinstall.

haha i'm sure i will screw something up... i'm pretty good at that. I have the fedora package all downloaded now, i just need to make my iso cd's. hopefully it will let me format the entire beast while installing, i can't think of any other way. keep in mind i don't have my windows disk....

 

[Zelmo3]

To answer your last question, yes, the Linux installer will take you through partitioning and formatting the hard drive. If you're not familiar with partitioning, don't worry--the installer will offer a suggested scheme which will probably be what you want. If Windows is still on the disk, the installer will want to leave it there and take some free space for Linux, giving you a dual-boot machine. In that case select the option to use the whole disk, unless you want to dual-boot just for the halibut.

 

[BujinZero]

I would recommend MEPIS linux for you, as I too shy away from most RPM distros. It's one live CD that allows you to install it to the hard drive through an incredibly simple graphical installer. Make sure you play around with it a bit before you install it, just to get comfortable. Run 'apt-get update' and you have access to huge software repositories which you can view through the Synaptic graphical front end. MEPIS can also automatically install ATI's fglrx drivers or nVidia's drivers, saving you a bit of a hassle (especially with ATI). Samba shares are super easy to add by editing smb.conf, and I think KDE has graphical ways to do it, too.

But I use Slackware.

 

[TSDible]

If you want something to set up a quick and dirty file sharing server, I haven't found anything easier than Xandros. I'm running their new OCE edition and it is great.

To share a drive with withdows... open the file manager... right click on the folder --> sharing --> windows sharing

It basically works almost identically to windowsXP

The new version (3.1 I think) also sticks closer to the generic debian, so it is much easier to update apps.

 

[Felis]

Originally posted by: timswim78
You can save a lot of time if you download the mini installation CD. You boot from this CD and select the pacakages that you want. They are then downloaded for you.

That only works if you have a fairly standard network card and a high speed connection that "just works"... even with both I've always had trouble with net installs caused by anything from network latency to power outages... the most reliable way is the ISO images...