Database Develop

Home server help

Hi!
I'm looking to put together some kind of home media/file server and frankly I don't know where to start. Basically I want to be able to have a giant-ass HD with all my media on it that can stream to my TV/Stereo and my laptops can sync up files and get backed up. Would be great if I could get at it all remotely as well. I have a spare machine and am not too afraid of Linux, but also ready to buy Windows HS if that does the simple things I need for a couple-hundred bucks.
What do you guys recommend? Where should I start researching all of this? What do I need to look for in an HD TV so that I can easily access my files from it? Thanks a TON!!!!

mlalahoi said:
Hi!
I'm looking to put together some kind of home media/file server and frankly I don't know where to start. Basically I want to be able to have a giant-ass HD with all my media on it that can stream to my TV/Stereo and my laptops can sync up files and get backed up. Would be great if I could get at it all remotely as well. I have a spare machine and am not too afraid of Linux, but also ready to buy Windows HS if that does the simple things I need for a couple-hundred bucks.
What do you guys recommend? Where should I start researching all of this? What do I need to look for in an HD TV so that I can easily access my files from it? Thanks a TON!!!!
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Click to collapse
From memory in the linux space you have MythTv which works fairly well, if you want windows you've got windows media centre which works very well. Given you are planning on doing file transfers may I suggest that you want 100mpbs wired+ or wireless N (large file copies are painful on wireless G)

I use Windows Home server and it's great. I used to run a Ubuntu server which was great to but was less compatible with stuff and took a lot more time.
Try them both out, you can get a windows 120 day trial.
Alternatively if you just want netowrk storage try FreeNAS. That's very good to.
If you need any help just PM me.

Just make sure that the storage harddrive is external so you can throw it out of the window if the police ever show up Myabe make a thermite cage or whatnot, hide the HDD in the wall or something. Maybe even get a high strength electromagnet in place on a switch or
Easiest of all:
Download and install truecrypt. Lock up that whole drive. Hell even add a hidden partition with Truecrypt. The power goes out and they have a fun of a time trying to guess a 37 character password

Setting up a ftp server on your desktop may be one solution.
I recently installed a Buffalo LinkStation like this one.
http://www.buffalotech.com/products/network-storage/linkstation/linkstation-pro-ls-xhl/
It is a network HD that can be accessed anywhere there is an internet connection. Since I am using it to share files with my independent contractors, the Buffalo Drive was a better option.

Thanks for all the suggestions! I've got some things to google now and a place to start, I appreciate the help and will let you guys know how it works out!

market VNC?

has anyone found a suitable VNC server that works on the G1 android platform? i've been reading a lot of things online but a lot of the reviews i've been reading sound well... "less than informed" about what it's even supposed to do, or they just can't get it working. soooo... i figure if you're on this board who would know better!? i wanna hear some knowledgable VNC viewer/server reviews!!!

vncserver works fine if you install the Debian pieces you can find talked about at XDA. I think this probably requires root access though.

don't remember were I found it but it works for me

That is the vncviewer, and there are newer versions than that one.
Source code and apk can be found at http://code.google.com/p/android-vnc-viewer/

Need help regarding remote connection

Ok so this is the scenario i have 2 computer at 2 different locations (Home and Office). On my main computer there is software which i would like to use on my another computer simultaneously. Like i am using the software on my home computer(Main PC) and brother wants to use the same software at our office, so i have created 2 users on my main PC and i would like my brother to use 2nd user to login remotely and use that software. Let me tell software has capability to be used at 2 place simultaneously.
Waiting for your help
Thankyou

Omg is that so much difficult, ,, no reply yet.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

umm, yeah its possible. all you need is a citrix server ( or similar ), i think there area few bits of software that do work on desktop machines. but i can't remember any of the top of my head. i know i have iraap for my mac, i will take a quick look for you now. But a quick warning if you wanting to do this over the internet. its going to be much harder working out port forwarding ETC over doing it in a lan enviroment. so you possible could use hamachi. ok i'll get back to you in a bit.
and yes this is quite an advanced thing todo. what your technically trying to do is create a server in which multiple members can connect to and do things simultaneously. so your not going to want to do this very much as it will cause a reasonable amount of strain on your system and certainly slow it down. if you are going to do this alot i would recommend investing on a cheap server

ok check this out, fire me off a pm if you need any help. i'm happy to help

Unless your computer is setup as a server (or hacked to allow so) you're only allowed one desktop connection at a time?
Please someone correct me if I am wrong?
Edit: NM, people replied whilst I had the page open without refreshing....

captainstu72 said:
Unless your computer is setup as a server (or hacked to allow so) you're only allowed one desktop connection at a time?
Please someone correct me if I am wrong?
Edit: NM, people replied whilst I had the page open without refreshing....
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just thought you might be intrested. i believe normally a windows machine will allow remote desktop connections, which means you can control the computer from another machine, very much similar as vnc. but a terminal server (citrix) allows multiple users to connect and run completely seperate sessions, but there are program that run the services needed to run terminal server witout a full blown server operating system.
just thought i would clear this up for you

I udnerstand that part, but as his PC is likely to be a standalone windows enviroment, and with him working on it, his brother will not be able to log in from the second location, as standard, due to that policy. I know there is a dll that can be hacked to allow it though. I have an understanding the RDP side, but he is using a windows machine not a terminal server/virtualised server etc, so from my perspective, his question was is it possible as is, not how do I make this possible by throwing money at it.

captainstu72 said:
I udnerstand that part, but as his PC is likely to be a standalone windows enviroment, and with him working on it, his brother will not be able to log in from the second location, as standard, due to that policy. I know there is a dll that can be hacked to allow it though. I have an understanding the RDP side, but he is using a windows machine not a terminal server/virtualised server etc, so from my perspective, his question was is it possible as is, not how do I make this possible by throwing money at it.
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Click to collapse
no these are completely free peices of software that require no dll hacking, they create there own server services that replicate terminal services.

Thanks for the help slamming, but i must tell you i am a noob concerning this.
I have checked out the link. Can you be more specific without all the jargons how should i go about achieving it,i would be really grateful.

samy.3660 said:
Thanks for the help slamming, but i must tell you i am a noob concerning this.
I have checked out the link. Can you be more specific without all the jargons how should i go about achieving it,i would be really grateful.
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Click to collapse
ok well, what your are wanting to create is a terminal server, this is used alot in enterprise and it allows multiple user to connect to the same machine and use all the same applications and share data. But in enterprise they will use a machine called a thin client, this machine will boot straight from the network and connect to the terminal server. but you aren't going to want to buy a thin client so you are going to have to download another application on the second computer. but we will come to that later. what i think would be a good idea is if you were to read up on terminal services, terminal servers and maybe even thin cleints, as i think you do need to be able to understand the majority of the jargon that is going to be used. i would recommend you don't under take this task if you don't have quite abit of time or aren't confident in your IT skills

slaming said:
ok well, what your are wanting to create is a terminal server, this is used alot in enterprise and it allows multiple user to connect to the same machine and use all the same applications and share data. But in enterprise they will use a machine called a thin client, this machine will boot straight from the network and connect to the terminal server. but you aren't going to want to buy a thin client so you are going to have to download another application on the second computer. but we will come to that later. what i think would be a good idea is if you were to read up on terminal services, terminal servers and maybe even thin cleints, as i think you do need to be able to understand the majority of the jargon that is going to be used. i would recommend you don't under take this task if you don't have quite abit of time or aren't confident in your IT skills
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok i will learn it by tommorow all i could about terminal services, and do you think if there is a software available which will be able to this, preferably free, or if not i wont mind paying for it.
Thankyou.

samy.3660 said:
Ok i will learn it by tommorow all i could about terminal services, and do you think if there is a software available which will be able to this, preferably free, or if not i wont mind paying for it.
Thankyou.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
alright then while your learning about terminal server, i will begin looking into software for you for both ends both server and cleint.

Remote Apps on TP

Hi All,
I wanted to share with you something that I think could develop into something quite useful (and cool ). I have successfully managed to launch remote applications from my Linux server onto my TP (similar to Citrix). For those that might be somewhat skeptical I've attached a screenshot below. And yes, your eyes do not deceive you – it most certainly is Word 2007 running! But before everyone starts jumping up and down with excitement, it's not an TP application that I've developed – more proof of concept.
If people are interested in trying this out themselves please let me know and I'll put up some instructions. Just a wording of warning though, this is a little fiddly and requires the user to use CLI via Executah and also a Linux PC (not sure how to achieve this with a Windows PC).
Also, if there are any Xterm/XServer/WebOS Developer experts for the TP here that can help me, please come forward as I would like to push this to be more GUI based so I could really use some help.
Thank you.

How does this compare to splashtop remote?

Wow very neat!
Don't run Linux so not for me but i'd find this useful if someone knew a way to do this via windows?

idealz said:
How does this compare to splashtop remote?
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Click to collapse
it's not as advance as splashtop. It's merely just a remote application running on a linux server. The example I posted was of word running via wine on my ubuntu server. However, I've managed to get rdesktop installed on the touchpad which means there is a possibility of running a windows application. I will try this out and see if it works.
I will report back as soon as I have some info. I post a screenshot of a windows app running, asumming I can get one to run.

[Q] Advice for my project

So i'll be going to pick up my pi from ups tomorrow, and thought i would get somew advice from those wiser then myself.
The main function for my pi will be as a media player, from my external hdd. But i also want it to act as a server for the drive, allowing streaming and file transfers through my lan for both android devices and win vista/7 computers. In addition i would like it to serve as a network bridge for my xbox(i'm too cheap to spring for a wifi reciever) via ethernet. Also some light web broswing/youtubeing.
My big question is: Which OS would be best for these purposes, and what programs/packages would i need. Would i be better off with openelec or raspbmc. Or raspian with xbmc? This is somewhat new territory for me, and i'm anxious to learn. I would love to hear everyone's thoughts on what would work best

As you want to do different tasks I would recommend the standard Debian to you, because it's designed for general tasks. Special distributions like raspmbc are designed for one thing they are good at (my humble point of view )

I would install android on this device, of course with a costum rom spezial for the device... I hope some developers would do it Then I want buy me a Raspberry Pi too

Yeah if you wanted to have the option of downloading applications other than xbmc, like browser, games, etc. then i would suggest installing a Debian based system such as Raspian.
If you want a more automatic install and you are new to linux then use either Debian or Debian-based "Raspian"
Personally i like Arch Linux OS because it is the lightest distro out and most customizable, meaning you choose everything you want to install no bloatware unless you choose to add it. From A to Z you know whats installed. Great documentation out there as far as the fully manual install process.

@akakai, I couldn't disagree more. If you know what you are doing, you can do the same with Debian. I do it myself when I set up servers or desktops.

mihaum said:
@akakai, I couldn't disagree more. If you know what you are doing, you can do the same with Debian. I do it myself when I set up servers or desktops.
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i didnt say you couldnt do it, but im saying Arch Linux if you have ever used it. Starts you out in a terminal with no gui whatsoever. the only way it comes... yeah in Debian you can do the same thing, but there is a GUI option.
Dont disagree on a non issue. Generally Debian is known for being preconfigured where as Arch linux is not preconfigured for you at all, unless you get a derivative of it.
Dont want to start anything, but add to the post by stating facts or how you can help the guy asking for advice not putting down what i have said that is actually accurate info.

For what 4Gb SD cards cost these days, get two or three and load them up with various distros and try them all out to your heart's content.
If you make a hash of something, reload the image and start again.
Eventually, when you have got it to do what you want, put it on to a bigger, more expensive card, if you need that amount of storage.
All images are for 2Gb SD cards. The Debian release has an option on initial boot up to expand the root partition to the available size of the disk. With Arch you will have to roll your sleeves up, and do it yourself first with Gparted Live or something similar.
Good luck!
Update: The Rasbian build now requires a 4Gb card minimum.

Advice for medium length project.
I am thinking about creating a cluster for scientific high performance computing, but I know close to zero on this hardware. where to begin? Start with creating a PC and expand from there? Any advice would be helpful for a multiyear project.