Eagle wrote:
Greetings, all.
Anybody have any thoughts on a Home Server? I sent this email last week but didn't get any responses. :(
Eagle
Greetings, all.
Before I drop some money on a Mac mini, I wanted to use a spare G3 for a "proof of concept" server. Here's my situation:
- I'm behind a corporate VPN box that has a DMZ interface, but also has the ability to open up Internet access two ways: port forwarding (destination computer still has VPN access to HQ) or "all ports" (destination computer does not have VPN access to HQ; this differs from the DMZ in that the computer is on my subnet, not on a special DMZ subnet)
- I want to use this box to replace my Linux server (accessible via SSH, SMTP, and HTTP)
- I would like an iPhoto server and an iTunes server to my other Macs
- I would like to eventually use it as an iTunes server to feed an Airport Express box that will eventually be connected to my amplifier.
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I have a FP G4 iMac that is currently doing similar. I've not made the jump to wireless yet (speed limitations for LAN file xfers), but I have my modded xbox, PC, laptop, and powerbook all on the network, using the iMac as a central workstation *and* media server. With SMB I'm able to get to my movies and mp3's without a hitch. iPhoto, on the other hand, is a different story.
Unfortunately due to the way iPhoto organizes, there's a very cumbersome directory structure complete with obtuse filenames when attempting to view photos with anything *other* than iPhoto. It's possible on the PC's and xbox...it just ain't purdy.
For anyone wondering, I chose to mod my xbox and archive my games, cd's, and movies in order to store the originals and keep peanut butter covered toddler hands away from them. Things have worked out quite nicely, save for the occasional peanut butter coated keyboard and/or remote control.
So, OK, how to best do this? I'm thinking the "all ports" option on the VPN box because I want to be able to use iTunes & iPhoto sharing, and while I like Rendezvous Beacon I'm not interested in needing it for daily use. Having the box on the DMZ would require Rendezvous Beacon, and forwarding individual ports would give the box access to HQ. No good.
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Before starting anything, you might want to check corp policies before tieing an independent network to any of their gear. You'd need to use a box that bridges between the DMZ and your local LAN, unfortunately in most cases this is a pretty big issue with most companies. Your best bet would be to leave your company network connections as they are and setup your internal LAN to use it simply as a gateway to the internet. You should be able to set something up fairly easy using a couple of network cards or usb adapters. I wouldn't recommend enabling "all port forwarding", as even ports you don't want or need will be routed...with the way broadband networks are hammered with port scans, that could be a really bad idea.
But with my music only on the server (which will eventually be located in a closet) how would I load music onto my 20GB gen 2 & 1GB shuffle iPods? How would I download pictures from my camera in to the machine? I haven't been able to answer those questions yet.
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I basically just browse the iTunes folder on the "server", create the playlist on my iPod, and drag and drop the songs directly to it. It doesn't re-copy the tracks to the music library (just to the iPod), and isn't that difficult provided you're allowing iTunes to organize your library. You should also be able to create a softlink (check macosxhints.com for this hint) to a network mapped drive, setup iPhoto (and even iTunes) to use this link, and add/remove/modify files as normal. There are some caveats when using multiple user accounts and this method, but nothing that can't be fixed within a couple minutes.
I'd spend a bit of time at macosxhints doing some research into exactly what you're looking to do. From the sounds of it, it's not much different than what I'm doing here with the exception of using a corp VPN. I'm rather happy with the setup, which was far easier to accomplish once Macs and PC's learned to play together a bit more friendly :)
-- Brent Randolph
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