Best OS for file servers

[MrSparkle]

I have a computer on the network (connected with a wire) that nobody uses so I'm using it as a file server and I've figured out how to share files properly but I have Fedora 8 installed on it and Fedora is a shit distro IMO.

If I'm gonna install a new OS I might as well install one thats suited for file servers. I heard that BSD is superior server technology but its harder to configure. I don't need anything with high security or anything like that just an OS that will work good as a server for sharing files, printing and whatever else I decide to use it for. I need an easy way to control it and I noticed when I connect to its shell through SSH I can't use any of the GUI applications on it so I still have to run up to it to configure certain things I can't configure with the command line. What program would I use for that? Something similar to Mac OSX's "share screen" feature.

Don't they release like a Server Edition of many Linux distributions?

Fedora 8 will most certainly do the job as a file server, as the majority of distributions.
GNU/Linux is not the same as Windows there is no server/desktop/whatever version of a distro (except a few exceptions).
If you want to play with different distros, you might want to use a different partition than / to store files, create a different partition for /home and don't format it when installing.
How to do this will be in the distribution documentation.
It's not distro specific, but different ditros might use different tools for partitioning.

To use X11 application you need to configure X11 Forwarding. Here is an article i found doing a quick google search:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/659kr3

I do not know if putty supports it, but cygwin with x installed does.
You still have to type the commands though.
There are alternative to ssh, such as vnc, but i still haven't given it a try.

The FreeBSD honeymoon begins only after reading the whole documentation and using it for a couple of weeks.
If free time is a limited resource don't bother learning FreeBSD for a simple home filesever. Unless you already know what your doing, of course.

Originally Posted by villageillness

Don't they release like a Server Edition of many Linux distributions?

In the majority of Free ( as in does not cost anything ) distributions, no.
Often there is a *server* section in the package installation of most newbie friendly distributions.
But the only thing it does is install programs you probably don't need.
Ubuntu is an exception to this unwritten rule.

[MrSparkle]

Yeah they have a server edition for Ubuntu and OpenSUSE.

Zeusy what are X11 applications? Shared Screens for Mac utilizes a VNC server I think. Thats probably what I need a VNC server and client.

One of the many cool things I've noticed with linux networking is that you can create smb shares which Windows can access but you can password them so the Windows comp has to enter a username and password to get into them. I was trying for a long time to do that with Windows to Windows network but came to the conclusion it was impossible without encrypting the network filesystem. Is this a linux specific feature being able to password protect network drives or can you do it in Windows too? If linux can do it I'd say Mac OSX can do it too though.

I also found out that theres a Samba configuration utility in System > Administration on Ubuntu and Fedora. If I had known that was there I wouldn't have wasted all that time trying to set up SWAT and edit the configuration file manually.

[Prometheum]

BSD is great, but it only gets noticeably better than Gnu or Linux options when you have a _lot_ of really heavy iron. If you just want to have a samba share, go with something like Gentoo or even Ubuntu Server if you aren't too serious. If you have enough drives for a zfs pool and you have some gigabit NIC's, FreeBSD is 100% the way to go. OpenBSD is a good option too especially if it's net-facing.

Originally Posted by MrSparkle

Yeah they have a server edition for Ubuntu and OpenSUSE.

Zeusy what are X11 applications? Shared Screens for Mac utilizes a VNC server I think. Thats probably what I need a VNC server and client.

One of the many cool things I've noticed with linux networking is that you can create smb shares which Windows can access but you can password them so the Windows comp has to enter a username and password to get into them. I was trying for a long time to do that with Windows to Windows network but came to the conclusion it was impossible without encrypting the network filesystem. Is this a linux specific feature being able to password protect network drives or can you do it in Windows too? If linux can do it I'd say Mac OSX can do it too though.

I also found out that theres a Samba configuration utility in System > Administration on Ubuntu and Fedora. If I had known that was there I wouldn't have wasted all that time trying to set up SWAT and edit the configuration file manually.

Of course Windows can, I don't know much about Windows. So I'll let someone more experienced with Windows than myself answer this one.
Power-user friendly documentation is one of the main reason why OSS is succeeding, nobody likes black boxes.

Yes there is often Graphical Management Utilities included with newbie-friendly distributions, but they are almost never well documented and/or maintained.

X11 applications are applications that make use of the Xorg. In other words, in unix-like OS they are every applications uses a GUI as an interface. For example:
If i want to start thunderbird in an ssh session i can simply type "thunderbird &" and press enter.
The & signyfies to detach it from the shell.
Try it in a console in the machine if you have physical access, you'll see.


( There is also others than Xorg, such as Xsun but they are not as popular as Xorg )

[Prometheum]

The X server is a server that provides windowing and a GUI to a UNIX (or other implementing) system. In UNIX tradition, it's done on TCP/IP, so you can run X applications remotely over an SSH tunnel.

You really shouldn't have an X server on a server. It's just a security risk. This means no VNC either. Just use ssh.

[MrSparkle]

Originally Posted by zeusy

Of course Windows can, I don't know much about Windows. So I'll let someone more experienced with Windows than myself answer this one.
Power-user friendly documentation is one of the main reason why OSS is succeeding, nobody likes black boxes.

Its just a matter of time before Linux takes over the market altogether and forces Windows to open their source or at least make it more transparent. Mac OSX is actually pretty transparent and simple to learn. Its similar to Linux in alot of ways.

Originally Posted by zeusy

X11 applications are applications that make use of the Xorg. In other words, in unix-like OS they are every applications uses a GUI as an interface. For example:
If i want to start thunderbird in an ssh session i can simply type "thunderbird &" and press enter.
The & signyfies to detach it from the shell.
Try it in a console in the machine if you have physical access, you'll see.

Ah I get it thanks.

I'm a nerd when it comes to this kinda shit I love learning how to use new OS's so I'm gonna give FreeBSD a shot.

[MrSparkle]

Originally Posted by Prometheum

The X server is a server that provides windowing and a GUI to a UNIX (or other implementing) system. In UNIX tradition, it's done on TCP/IP, so you can run X applications remotely over an SSH tunnel.

You really shouldn't have an X server on a server. It's just a security risk. This means no VNC either. Just use ssh.

I understand that but how would a hacker get through the router directly to one of the comps running the VNC server? Theres no port forwarding set up since I don't plan on controlling any of these comps from outside my LAN. I know nothing about hacking so I don't know how hackers deal with routers.