Yes using MOUNT works for all of my shared folders on the other computers just fine, but for some reason it doesn't work with the NAS. But you have to have a program written to MOUNT all the drives when you boot up, or you have to do them manually. The program I was using worked with the DNS using names instead of IP addresses which was great.
I got into the NAS set-up programs and a KEY feature is missing, the one shown in every set-up video on-line.
I downloaded an upgrade for it, but that didn't help.
I also managed to get the NAS to quit working for a short time.
Can't use RESET because that deletes everything on it. So does RESTORE to factory settings.
I did find the program that showed me the full pathname to the NAS, and one part I was missing was Volume1 in the path.
It all boils down to I wanted to use RSync with the NAS, and that is where I hit the brick wall.
But some good did come out of it. I found out I don't have to MOUNT shared folders to use RSync if I use SSH.
I can save directly to the hard drives in my computers as well as to the external drives connected to them using RSync by going over SSH using a password. I hit a snag trying to set up Keys for Public and Private, and I also learned than if you do set up SSH using keys, and you lose your private key, you are SOL on recovering the data because it is encrypted.
I tested this on an old external drive I had to see if that was true, and it sure is.
But it is not encrypted if you use SSH with a password. You use the firewall to block connections from the Internet and only give certain users access.
I can FTP into the NAS but RSync does not work on FTP, it needs to use the RSync protocol, hmm.
I need to find all the hidden files created when I was trying to set up SSH and delete them all, so they don't cause other problems later on.
I know I mentioned this before, but RSync cannot write to a folder MOUNTED on my Desktop.
I think this is because that type of MOUNT is done using SMB. It starts out saying Network:/// then after the NAS opens it shows SMB://FolderName with no other path associated with it.
Perhaps I should study how networking works, eh!
Peppermint Linux
Re: Peppermint Linux
With my Windows computers I can see everything connected to the LAN by using the file explorer. Should a device support file sharing I can password protect it or use public access. To be sure I cannot access the NAS file system that way, but all my Window shares on the NAS are just a click or two away from my desktop. I don't need to know anything about about networking protocols, although I am fairly certain it's all done via a transparent SMB service; possibley netBIOS. On the other hand Linux is so flexible and customizable that it is useless for my application. I don't use Linux as the backup mechanism. Too much to learn that way. I'm still stuck on how it implements UEFI. LOL All that being said, I can get to the NAS file system via telnet from my Windows computers.
Re: Peppermint Linux
Windows shares work just fine on Linux systems using the Network via Samba, no problems there.
I found an old note that applies to both Windows and Linux regarding backing up files or mirroring them.
You can't easily put a file on remote storage, but you can fetch it without problems.
On this same note, it showed how I managed to save all of my data on the external HD located at my brothers place.
Here too, I was not connecting to the external HD from here. His machine was connecting to my external HD named File Server and copying over any changed files to the external drive I owned on his machine.
Seems like the name of the program was RoboCopy or something like that.
I haven't had time to play with it, but the NAS does have RSync in it, so maybe I can tell it to go fetch, hi hi.
I found an old note that applies to both Windows and Linux regarding backing up files or mirroring them.
You can't easily put a file on remote storage, but you can fetch it without problems.
On this same note, it showed how I managed to save all of my data on the external HD located at my brothers place.
Here too, I was not connecting to the external HD from here. His machine was connecting to my external HD named File Server and copying over any changed files to the external drive I owned on his machine.
Seems like the name of the program was RoboCopy or something like that.
I haven't had time to play with it, but the NAS does have RSync in it, so maybe I can tell it to go fetch, hi hi.
Re: Peppermint Linux
That NAS of yours is run by a Linux kernel; tiny Linux or mini Linux or something like that. I found the name one day and realized that I never heard of it. I think what I did discover is that it was some version of Linux that was stripped down to the bare essentials. Looking at the /bin directory gave me some idea of what it could do, but only a small idea. I never wanted to run things from the shell, but I do think I tried. If I recall correctly they boogered it up so you could not do that. LOL The packages provided by Synology were more than enough for my purposes, but I obviously didn't use many of them. If you are sure that you are missing something, it might be worth contacting Synology Tech Support to see if they can give you the missing software, or tell you why you can't have it.
I never got to the point where I needed a remote desktop or access. I did do a few remote sessions with friends to try and fix their computers, but that was all done in Windows. I'm certain the same can be accomplished in Linux if you know the right commands for the CLI. I have checked into backup software recently and found there is a lot of free stuff for Windows. Most of the useful capabilities require a purchased upgrade. For now I'll stick to my manual backups, thank you.
I never got to the point where I needed a remote desktop or access. I did do a few remote sessions with friends to try and fix their computers, but that was all done in Windows. I'm certain the same can be accomplished in Linux if you know the right commands for the CLI. I have checked into backup software recently and found there is a lot of free stuff for Windows. Most of the useful capabilities require a purchased upgrade. For now I'll stick to my manual backups, thank you.
Re: Peppermint Linux
What is missing on it is the control panel to get to the servicing items.
Every instruction says to go to this or that and turn on this or that.
However, even though I couldn't do it that way, I could get around it and use the features I needed.
Here was my problem, I have a few HUMONGOUS folders, and although I keep them backed up to a second drive and to an external drive, both of those are in this building. Using GRSync I can make sure any change I made is added to both backups.
I did back up manually over the Network to the NAS so have a copy on their. The problem here is, when I'm making changes are adding, I'm often doing so to 10 to 30 files at a time. GRSync takes care of that FAST. But then I have to copy the entire file to the NAS each time, which takes roughly three hours. GRSync could do it in seconds.
As far as mounting shared folders, I finally have that down pat for all of my other computers, since I know the pathname to them. I can use NFS, CIFS, or SSHFS with Fuse, from this machine to all the others now, but not the NAS simply because I cannot figure out the exact pathname it uses, and using PWD does not give that info for the NAS.
I can type in the IP number of the NAS in a browser, and up comes the set-up program.
I looked at examples of how some others get to their Synology NAS and almost all of them are using Volume1, or Volume_1 in the pathname. I've tried adding that and shifting things around to see what might work.
I may have hit on a couple of ways, but then it won't accept my password.
OK, to get around all of this, I took an older small external HD and connected it to the frau's computer. Set up a single shared folder that simply says NASuploads. I can use GRSync to copy a file to it, and keep it updated there. Then every so often I will just upload the file to the NAS manually from her computer.
I think I mentioned there is a reset program for the NAS that will restore it to factory settings and programs. It has to be on-line to do this, but the warning is, it reformats the hard drive. So, before I try that, I would have to move everything off the NAS onto an External Drive. Now I'm supposed to be able to do that using the NAS itself, but as I said, I can't get into the control panel or the Main Folder shown on all the websites, including Synology's website on using the NAS.
I'll figure it out some day, hi hi.
Every instruction says to go to this or that and turn on this or that.
However, even though I couldn't do it that way, I could get around it and use the features I needed.
Here was my problem, I have a few HUMONGOUS folders, and although I keep them backed up to a second drive and to an external drive, both of those are in this building. Using GRSync I can make sure any change I made is added to both backups.
I did back up manually over the Network to the NAS so have a copy on their. The problem here is, when I'm making changes are adding, I'm often doing so to 10 to 30 files at a time. GRSync takes care of that FAST. But then I have to copy the entire file to the NAS each time, which takes roughly three hours. GRSync could do it in seconds.
As far as mounting shared folders, I finally have that down pat for all of my other computers, since I know the pathname to them. I can use NFS, CIFS, or SSHFS with Fuse, from this machine to all the others now, but not the NAS simply because I cannot figure out the exact pathname it uses, and using PWD does not give that info for the NAS.
I can type in the IP number of the NAS in a browser, and up comes the set-up program.
I looked at examples of how some others get to their Synology NAS and almost all of them are using Volume1, or Volume_1 in the pathname. I've tried adding that and shifting things around to see what might work.
I may have hit on a couple of ways, but then it won't accept my password.
OK, to get around all of this, I took an older small external HD and connected it to the frau's computer. Set up a single shared folder that simply says NASuploads. I can use GRSync to copy a file to it, and keep it updated there. Then every so often I will just upload the file to the NAS manually from her computer.
I think I mentioned there is a reset program for the NAS that will restore it to factory settings and programs. It has to be on-line to do this, but the warning is, it reformats the hard drive. So, before I try that, I would have to move everything off the NAS onto an External Drive. Now I'm supposed to be able to do that using the NAS itself, but as I said, I can't get into the control panel or the Main Folder shown on all the websites, including Synology's website on using the NAS.
I'll figure it out some day, hi hi.
Re: Peppermint Linux
My DS116 has a control panel icon right on the desktop. To be honest I don't recall if I ever used it on the DS109. I probably did because I set up different privileges for different users. Of course I had the original software at the time. If I recall correctly the software was updated and I sent you a copy of it. Perhaps the Control Panel never was installed with that update. Regardless, it is an essential part of managing the server and you should have access to it.
I also recall running into a "volume" issue. Setting up a share defaults to volume 1, but I never was able to add volumes to an existing share. It probably can be done, somehow. Also, the volume would be required in the path address only if you had more than one. I'm guessing you don't since you can't get at the control panel. My only guess at what might reveal the path you are looking for would be to use ifconfig. You might be able to pick it up from a remote machine, but you certainly would be able to see it from the DS109 itself. I'm just guessing. Linux servers are too complicated for me to understand. LOL
If you have a spare hard drive you can swap out whatever is in the DS109 now and reformat that. Once that is done you just need to copy over the files from the drive you removed.
I also recall running into a "volume" issue. Setting up a share defaults to volume 1, but I never was able to add volumes to an existing share. It probably can be done, somehow. Also, the volume would be required in the path address only if you had more than one. I'm guessing you don't since you can't get at the control panel. My only guess at what might reveal the path you are looking for would be to use ifconfig. You might be able to pick it up from a remote machine, but you certainly would be able to see it from the DS109 itself. I'm just guessing. Linux servers are too complicated for me to understand. LOL
If you have a spare hard drive you can swap out whatever is in the DS109 now and reformat that. Once that is done you just need to copy over the files from the drive you removed.
Re: Peppermint Linux
When I have time again, that is what I will do. Copy everything off of it to an external and then reset, reformat, and restore the entire NAS, there is an option to do that. Supposed to make it just like it came from the factory.
I access the NAS for set-up by using the IP address which brings up the admin screen. It is this screen that is missing all the features. It only shows the file folder and help, none of the other options are there.
There is a set-up feature that you use when doing a fresh set-up, this is the one that deletes everything and reformats the HD, and reinstalls everything from on-line. This is what I plan to do the first chance I get.
As far as finding the path, even pwd cannot figure it out. And without access to the control panel, I can't run terminal that is inside the NAS which would show it easily, using any number of commands to do same.
I access the NAS for set-up by using the IP address which brings up the admin screen. It is this screen that is missing all the features. It only shows the file folder and help, none of the other options are there.
There is a set-up feature that you use when doing a fresh set-up, this is the one that deletes everything and reformats the HD, and reinstalls everything from on-line. This is what I plan to do the first chance I get.
As far as finding the path, even pwd cannot figure it out. And without access to the control panel, I can't run terminal that is inside the NAS which would show it easily, using any number of commands to do same.
Re: Peppermint Linux
Look into telnet. You don't need a terminal on the NAS to use it. You would use it from your localhost command line (Bash).
I like the idea of resetting the NAS to factory defaults. Hopefully the defaults are what you want. It may be that the current DSM is the factory default state, which would be a problem if it is. As I said, the original DSM software has been updated. Perhaps it actually has been downgraded.
I like the idea of resetting the NAS to factory defaults. Hopefully the defaults are what you want. It may be that the current DSM is the factory default state, which would be a problem if it is. As I said, the original DSM software has been updated. Perhaps it actually has been downgraded.
Re: Peppermint Linux
I did the total restore last night and it is up to date now with DSM 4.2
However, although I now have control panel back again, the program itself does not have the folder named File Services.
It does have several features it did not have before, but without that File Services folder in control panel, I can't follow the directions shown on-line for setting up the NAS properly.
It is a good thing I did copy all the files over to an external drive first, because they were right, it reformats the HD and reinstalls the operating system with the lastest.
Why I don't have the File Services part I don't know yet.
I am getting a pop-up message that says I need to download the latest Java, but when I check, I already have the latest version installed. I even tried uninstalling and reinstalling Java, just in case that is why File Services is not showing up.
I do have Telnet, NSF, SSH, SSHFS, and a few other services turned on, and set to both admin and gary users.
Rsync uses SSH if it is available, and I've also tried FTP.
Maybe I should clarify something here. I have no trouble viewing or saving files to the NAS from any computer, it is done using either Network, or by clicking on Network in File Browser. I assume it transfers files using SMB. This part works OK.
I can also do so via http or https with no problems, opening it as web browser and copying and pasting into the folders.
I happen to talk to someone on-line last night who said you cannot use Rsync to write to an unmounted folder, and it has to be mounted in either Media, Mnt, Mount or some other root folder. Mounting a folder to my desktop does not provide a link Rsync can use.
I told him YES, I used to have to run a program as root to mount a shared folder in Mnt as root.
But an IT guy where my frau used to work came by and set up my GRSync so I didn't have to do that step.
And I know he did not make a program that ran on startup to mount the folder when I booted up.
If I looked in the Mnt folder, it was always empty, unless I ran GRSync, then a folder was in there with everything, and also on the destination drive as well.
He thought about it for a bit and then said, if it was GRSync I was using, he could have added a program in the Run Before Rsync box that mounted the remote folder before RSync ran.
I think he was right, because I seem to remember having to go into GRSync and change the IP number sometimes after our electric was out.
Unfortunately, I don't have that computer to check anymore, it is one that was destroyed by the lightning hit a few years back.
Another thing GRsync is doing to me, even though I have the pathname correct now. Is it tries to do a mkdir using /home/gary/ before the gary@192.168.x.xx/Backup/ so naturally it fails. Don't know why it is trying to do that either.
I've tried using RSync on command line, copying the exact wording shown on several different websites, and have not got a single one to work yet. And I've tried nearly every protocol method they suggested.
There is an old saying. If I don't know what a Fork looks like, how can I get one from the drawer for you?
I'm sure I'm simply missing something that everyone knows, so don't put it in the directions, hi hi.
On the bright side of doing a manual copy over to the NAS, I found several files that could not copy due to illegal characters. Sure enough I checked, and some of the files did have illegal characters.
Although I'm glad to have found them, I don't understand why copying from EXT4 to EXT4 made them show up.
At least that is what file system the NAS says it has on it. But it is designed for Windows users too, so maybe it uses a Windows file checking program to make sure files can be read by Windows machines too.
FWIW: I don't have any problems copying files to the HDs or external HDs on any other computer here. Only to the NAS when using using GRSync. It doesn't show me, but I'm pretty sure it is using SSH automatically now, since I have the newer versions of RSync and GRSync. Hmm. I wonder if that's the problem, the old RSync could use NFS or CIFS, while the new version uses SSH but you have to have SSH Installed on the other machines too else it don't work.
I know, because I don't know something, I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill for myself here, hi hi.
However, although I now have control panel back again, the program itself does not have the folder named File Services.
It does have several features it did not have before, but without that File Services folder in control panel, I can't follow the directions shown on-line for setting up the NAS properly.
It is a good thing I did copy all the files over to an external drive first, because they were right, it reformats the HD and reinstalls the operating system with the lastest.
Why I don't have the File Services part I don't know yet.
I am getting a pop-up message that says I need to download the latest Java, but when I check, I already have the latest version installed. I even tried uninstalling and reinstalling Java, just in case that is why File Services is not showing up.
I do have Telnet, NSF, SSH, SSHFS, and a few other services turned on, and set to both admin and gary users.
Rsync uses SSH if it is available, and I've also tried FTP.
Maybe I should clarify something here. I have no trouble viewing or saving files to the NAS from any computer, it is done using either Network, or by clicking on Network in File Browser. I assume it transfers files using SMB. This part works OK.
I can also do so via http or https with no problems, opening it as web browser and copying and pasting into the folders.
I happen to talk to someone on-line last night who said you cannot use Rsync to write to an unmounted folder, and it has to be mounted in either Media, Mnt, Mount or some other root folder. Mounting a folder to my desktop does not provide a link Rsync can use.
I told him YES, I used to have to run a program as root to mount a shared folder in Mnt as root.
But an IT guy where my frau used to work came by and set up my GRSync so I didn't have to do that step.
And I know he did not make a program that ran on startup to mount the folder when I booted up.
If I looked in the Mnt folder, it was always empty, unless I ran GRSync, then a folder was in there with everything, and also on the destination drive as well.
He thought about it for a bit and then said, if it was GRSync I was using, he could have added a program in the Run Before Rsync box that mounted the remote folder before RSync ran.
I think he was right, because I seem to remember having to go into GRSync and change the IP number sometimes after our electric was out.
Unfortunately, I don't have that computer to check anymore, it is one that was destroyed by the lightning hit a few years back.
Another thing GRsync is doing to me, even though I have the pathname correct now. Is it tries to do a mkdir using /home/gary/ before the gary@192.168.x.xx/Backup/ so naturally it fails. Don't know why it is trying to do that either.
I've tried using RSync on command line, copying the exact wording shown on several different websites, and have not got a single one to work yet. And I've tried nearly every protocol method they suggested.
There is an old saying. If I don't know what a Fork looks like, how can I get one from the drawer for you?
I'm sure I'm simply missing something that everyone knows, so don't put it in the directions, hi hi.
On the bright side of doing a manual copy over to the NAS, I found several files that could not copy due to illegal characters. Sure enough I checked, and some of the files did have illegal characters.
Although I'm glad to have found them, I don't understand why copying from EXT4 to EXT4 made them show up.
At least that is what file system the NAS says it has on it. But it is designed for Windows users too, so maybe it uses a Windows file checking program to make sure files can be read by Windows machines too.
FWIW: I don't have any problems copying files to the HDs or external HDs on any other computer here. Only to the NAS when using using GRSync. It doesn't show me, but I'm pretty sure it is using SSH automatically now, since I have the newer versions of RSync and GRSync. Hmm. I wonder if that's the problem, the old RSync could use NFS or CIFS, while the new version uses SSH but you have to have SSH Installed on the other machines too else it don't work.
I know, because I don't know something, I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill for myself here, hi hi.
Re: Peppermint Linux
I have to reach way back in the corners of my memory box, but I distinctly recall seeing that warning to update Java when I used that DS109. After much angst and unneeded installations, I think I determined that I was incorrectly reading what the message was saying. It was wanting me to be sure that Java was updated on the source machine (my WIndows computer) before I did any messing around with the NAS. It didn't actually know what I had installed, but it was trying to warn me to keep up to date, just in case. After a while I just ignored that message.
I have limited experience with Linux mount command, but each time I used it the target was in the root directory. I've only used it to explore the ESP partition but they said that I can mount to any directory, or more than one directory. The only requirement was that the directory already existed, and /mnt is very convenient for that purpose. Transferring files is just a matter of mounting the specific directory (e.g. /EFI/ubuntu) on the ESP partition. Then execute the transfer via cp command. If Rsync gets any more complicated than that, I'd be looking for better ways to move files.
It does seem like you are doing more than what needs to be done, but I'm at a disadvantage. I have no idea what needs to be done, and even less of an idea how to do it. That's why I use Windows whenever I can. I don't need to know such things. LOL
I have limited experience with Linux mount command, but each time I used it the target was in the root directory. I've only used it to explore the ESP partition but they said that I can mount to any directory, or more than one directory. The only requirement was that the directory already existed, and /mnt is very convenient for that purpose. Transferring files is just a matter of mounting the specific directory (e.g. /EFI/ubuntu) on the ESP partition. Then execute the transfer via cp command. If Rsync gets any more complicated than that, I'd be looking for better ways to move files.
It does seem like you are doing more than what needs to be done, but I'm at a disadvantage. I have no idea what needs to be done, and even less of an idea how to do it. That's why I use Windows whenever I can. I don't need to know such things. LOL
As I said above, one of the few things I know about the Linux mount command is that the target directory must already exist. If it does not, you must mkdir first.Another thing GRsync is doing to me, even though I have the pathname correct now. Is it tries to do a mkdir using /home/gary/ before the gary@192.168.x.xx/Backup/ so naturally it fails. Don't know why it is trying to do that either.
Re: Peppermint Linux
The Java warning was to turn on Java in the web browser using their webman page.
Finally figured out that meant to turn on the Plug-In for Java in the web browser.
I did that, but it didn't make any difference on the screen or the functions it does.
The missing service folders never showed up after I turned on Java and even rebooted.
As far as the other problem, it appears I as trying to do it all wrong.
What I thought I did in the past was missing some of the instructions.
Although, that way no longer works since RSync now uses SSH by default.
In fact, that is what was throwing me off track.
If I ran RSync from an older computer it worked, but from this computer with a newer version of RSync it didn't work.
However, the set-up program in the NAS gave me a way to do it from that end.
And fairly simply as well. It has a built-in backup program, that lets you mirror a drive instead of running an actual backup.
I tested it first on an old external drive I have plugged into another computer up here, and it made a duplicate of it on the NAS. So then I set it up again to mirror an external drive connected to this computer to the NAS. It took a couple of hours for it to collect all the files and store them on the NAS, and after it was done, I set it to run at 3am. Then I changed a couple files and saved them to my external as a test. First thing this morning I checked, and the NAS had run at 3am like it was supposed to, and it only took about 20 seconds for it to connect and find the changed and new files and copied them over to the NAS.
Everything on the NAS is still accessible from any computer on the network, including the NetBackup folder I made on it for the mirror of my external drive up here.
I also left the other program running to the old computer at 2:30am but forgot to change a file on it.
I can turn that off since I don't use that computer, hi hi.
At least now I have off-site backups again! I don't copy system files, only data files I place on the external hard drive.
Finally figured out that meant to turn on the Plug-In for Java in the web browser.
I did that, but it didn't make any difference on the screen or the functions it does.
The missing service folders never showed up after I turned on Java and even rebooted.
As far as the other problem, it appears I as trying to do it all wrong.
What I thought I did in the past was missing some of the instructions.
Although, that way no longer works since RSync now uses SSH by default.
In fact, that is what was throwing me off track.
If I ran RSync from an older computer it worked, but from this computer with a newer version of RSync it didn't work.
However, the set-up program in the NAS gave me a way to do it from that end.
And fairly simply as well. It has a built-in backup program, that lets you mirror a drive instead of running an actual backup.
I tested it first on an old external drive I have plugged into another computer up here, and it made a duplicate of it on the NAS. So then I set it up again to mirror an external drive connected to this computer to the NAS. It took a couple of hours for it to collect all the files and store them on the NAS, and after it was done, I set it to run at 3am. Then I changed a couple files and saved them to my external as a test. First thing this morning I checked, and the NAS had run at 3am like it was supposed to, and it only took about 20 seconds for it to connect and find the changed and new files and copied them over to the NAS.
Everything on the NAS is still accessible from any computer on the network, including the NetBackup folder I made on it for the mirror of my external drive up here.
I also left the other program running to the old computer at 2:30am but forgot to change a file on it.
I can turn that off since I don't use that computer, hi hi.
At least now I have off-site backups again! I don't copy system files, only data files I place on the external hard drive.
Re: Peppermint Linux
You are the A-#1 system administrator. LOL I don't want to hear from you again that you don't know anything about servers. That NAS is a server and you seem to have mastered it. Mirror backups are beautiful but I don't see from your description how they are off site. If I understood you correctly you are copying files from one computer hard drive on the network to the NAS on the same network. It's all located physically in your office. That's not off site. If you did that to the NAS I have sitting next to me, then I could agree with your conclusion. What you do have, and it is fantastic, is mirror backups of some critical data. But if your office should ever fall into a sink hole, all your dives and data are going with it. Hopefully you won't be there at the time.
Re: Peppermint Linux
Well, when I saved to my brothers place in St. Louis, now that was truly off-site and in another state.
However, isn't saving to another building also considered off-site?
I have 200 feet of Cat5e cable from my garage office to the router in my house, even though the garage itself is only about 80 feet away from the house.
It is unlikely a fire in the garage would spread as far as the house, or vice versa.
Also, the chance of someone breaking into my garage office at night is much higher than them breaking into my house.
So I don't want to trust keeping all of my data stored on one or two external HDs kept up here in the garage office.
It is possible a tornado would take out both the house and the garage, taking out the house is more likely though hi hi.
This garage is like a fortress. The house is concrete block but all above ground. The garage is partly earth sheltered.
Where I sit at my desk, my shoulders are below grade level, although my head is above grade it is still below the window ledge. I feel pretty safe up here, hi hi.
FWIW: My office is nicer than most folks master bedrooms. Or I should say, when I built it it was, hi hi.
Honestly though, I don't know diddly squat about servers. Sure I can install LAMP, but would have no idea how to use it.
20 years ago I had a Print Server set up to drive 24 independent printers all printing part of the same document set.
So if I needed 250 multi-page newsletters printed, I only had to print 11 pages to each printer at a time, then flip them over and print on the backs.
I used to have a printer called a crash printer, but I only had one and it was expensive. It printed around 40 pages a minute or more, after it loaded up the copy to print. Same with it, I had to turn the page over to print the backs.
Now, if you have a client who is sending in what they want on Friday night, to pick up Saturday before noon, and that crash printer breaks down, and it takes a week to get repaired. You end up with some very disgruntled customers who relied on you. This is why I went out and bought 25 Lexmark inkjet printers that I could feed the ink from gallon jugs.
Now they only printed about 2 pages a minute, maybe more, but with 24 of them running and one on the shelf as a back-up should one break down. I could actually get my work out faster than I could with the crash printer.
I had a program on my computer that all I had to do was send a single document to the print server, even though I needed 250 copies. Then on the print server screen is where I would select 250 copies, and it would divide up the work to each of the printers that were turned on or activated. This was just a set of check boxes on the screen as to how many printers I wanted the order divided up to. I usually just hit the ALL printers button, hi hi.
One thing of interest I remember is not all 24 printers would start at the same time when I hit Print.
There was a 3 to 5 second delay between when each started, and it was never in a straight line down the two rows of printer. Since they all printed from the same single document, the only reason I can think of for the delay is the fact they were all connected to a USB hub and it had to fetch the document, send it to a printer, then fetch the document and send it to the next printer. Probably running through its range of IP numbers for the printers or whatever USB hubs use to tell them all apart.
OK, anything that dishes up a file to another computer, is considered a file server. And this is why I named one of my external hard drives File Server, hi hi, and the backup I carry back and forth between the garage and the house was called File Server Mirror, hi hi.
But that is not what I meant about knowing how a Server works, I really don't.
I played around with Edubuntu for about a month several years ago, but that was it.
However, isn't saving to another building also considered off-site?
I have 200 feet of Cat5e cable from my garage office to the router in my house, even though the garage itself is only about 80 feet away from the house.
It is unlikely a fire in the garage would spread as far as the house, or vice versa.
Also, the chance of someone breaking into my garage office at night is much higher than them breaking into my house.
So I don't want to trust keeping all of my data stored on one or two external HDs kept up here in the garage office.
It is possible a tornado would take out both the house and the garage, taking out the house is more likely though hi hi.
This garage is like a fortress. The house is concrete block but all above ground. The garage is partly earth sheltered.
Where I sit at my desk, my shoulders are below grade level, although my head is above grade it is still below the window ledge. I feel pretty safe up here, hi hi.
FWIW: My office is nicer than most folks master bedrooms. Or I should say, when I built it it was, hi hi.
Honestly though, I don't know diddly squat about servers. Sure I can install LAMP, but would have no idea how to use it.
20 years ago I had a Print Server set up to drive 24 independent printers all printing part of the same document set.
So if I needed 250 multi-page newsletters printed, I only had to print 11 pages to each printer at a time, then flip them over and print on the backs.
I used to have a printer called a crash printer, but I only had one and it was expensive. It printed around 40 pages a minute or more, after it loaded up the copy to print. Same with it, I had to turn the page over to print the backs.
Now, if you have a client who is sending in what they want on Friday night, to pick up Saturday before noon, and that crash printer breaks down, and it takes a week to get repaired. You end up with some very disgruntled customers who relied on you. This is why I went out and bought 25 Lexmark inkjet printers that I could feed the ink from gallon jugs.
Now they only printed about 2 pages a minute, maybe more, but with 24 of them running and one on the shelf as a back-up should one break down. I could actually get my work out faster than I could with the crash printer.
I had a program on my computer that all I had to do was send a single document to the print server, even though I needed 250 copies. Then on the print server screen is where I would select 250 copies, and it would divide up the work to each of the printers that were turned on or activated. This was just a set of check boxes on the screen as to how many printers I wanted the order divided up to. I usually just hit the ALL printers button, hi hi.
One thing of interest I remember is not all 24 printers would start at the same time when I hit Print.
There was a 3 to 5 second delay between when each started, and it was never in a straight line down the two rows of printer. Since they all printed from the same single document, the only reason I can think of for the delay is the fact they were all connected to a USB hub and it had to fetch the document, send it to a printer, then fetch the document and send it to the next printer. Probably running through its range of IP numbers for the printers or whatever USB hubs use to tell them all apart.
OK, anything that dishes up a file to another computer, is considered a file server. And this is why I named one of my external hard drives File Server, hi hi, and the backup I carry back and forth between the garage and the house was called File Server Mirror, hi hi.
But that is not what I meant about knowing how a Server works, I really don't.
I played around with Edubuntu for about a month several years ago, but that was it.
Re: Peppermint Linux
I think you would be stretching the meaning of "off site" by referring to your setup as such. You are doing just about all you can do to preserver your data, but it's not perfect. Natural disasters such as earthquakes, lightning and storms could wipe out both your house and your garage along with all the data therein. You could argue that if something like that happens it would not be worth restarting your business anyway. Basically you have a good backup plan, but I'd not go that far to describe your disaster recovery plan. I think 300 miles is considered the safe distance for a remote site, but I'm not sure about that. We had redundancy in several key locations on this continent plus a few other continents. The plan actually included the contingency of a nuclear war after which we would be able to come back online quickly; assuming there was a line to come back to.
Personally I don't think you need to worry about losing much. The worst you could prepare for is a second round of ransomeware which would be more devastating than a storm. You can't assume anything is protected because the bad guys are actually pretty good and getting better. Off site mirrors wouldn't even be fully protected from the most sophisticated attacks, but they are a step in the right direction. About the best defense I read of is a data center that is not connected to a network of any kind. Data is transferred by hand, literally, and you better be damned sure the media you are using to carry the data is bulletproof too. Apparently most of the common media (USB sticks) is not all that secure, albeit the best we could get our hands on. So, short of going to extremes, I think you are doing well over there.
I'd agree that you are not the expert server admin, but I still say you are not a novice either.
Personally I don't think you need to worry about losing much. The worst you could prepare for is a second round of ransomeware which would be more devastating than a storm. You can't assume anything is protected because the bad guys are actually pretty good and getting better. Off site mirrors wouldn't even be fully protected from the most sophisticated attacks, but they are a step in the right direction. About the best defense I read of is a data center that is not connected to a network of any kind. Data is transferred by hand, literally, and you better be damned sure the media you are using to carry the data is bulletproof too. Apparently most of the common media (USB sticks) is not all that secure, albeit the best we could get our hands on. So, short of going to extremes, I think you are doing well over there.
I'd agree that you are not the expert server admin, but I still say you are not a novice either.
Re: Peppermint Linux
Having a backup that is not on-line was the purpose of my carrying an external drive from the house up to my office to mirror my file server drive, then tote it back down to the house. Right now it is kept in a fireproof lockbox in the house.
I have tons of data I want to keep for myself, but most of it would be of no interest to my kids or anyone else for that matter.
But the things I do want them to have are all the scanned photo's of our families, some of those are actually tintypes I've scanned right from the originals.
I got tired of trying to remember which photo's belonged to which families, so ended up placing all the folders in a single master file. This made it easier on me when I found a photo to put in the folders, and even though every one has a name and date, I probably should have put an additional letter on the folder to indicate to who's family file they belong to.
But then I thought to myself, would it really matter anyhow? Because they can always look at the genealogy and see who belongs to whom.
In my old hard drives, I've found some photo's I scanned that somehow got left behind, and sadly, even though I know the people, I don't remember their names. I did send about 8 photo's to someone I tracked down, but they never got back to me with the names. They used the excuse they didn't remember their names either, when I know they knew each and every one of them.
It is sorta funny when I have someone new up here and they look up on the shelf and see storage files filled with 5/14 floppies, hi hi. I had copied them over to CDs, and many of those CDs have now gone bad, CD Rot got to them.
But I don't think there is any true data loss since most of what I saved was the output of programs that no longer exist.
However, many of them were the original bought programs with the registration numbers on them, which is why I kept them in the first place. One file has about 25 or 30 paid for font folders in them, as proof I paid for commercial use of those fonts. Most also have a printout of the paid receipt folded and slipped in the jacket also.
On another note: I got Rsync working on everything now. And boy did it suddenly bring back some memories of important details I had long forgotten. For example: The term "Preserve Owner" means exactly the opposite when saving files over the network. It should say, change owner to owner of destination. The same with Preserve Group or Preserve Time, etc.
In my test copies using RSync, it changed ownership to Root with Preserve Owner, which meant you had to be root if you looked at the files using the network later. Took me a while to figure out the problem, but if you turn off Preserve Owner, then it keeps the User ownership intact. I'm going to have to back up my smaller test photo files too, because it changed the dates of the camera photos from when they were taken to the date of the transfer. So Preserve Time works backwards also.
Once I figured that out, then everything was working great.
Ironically, once you figure out what you were doing wrong, then everything works just right and so simply too, hi hi.
Although you can use Rsync to copy to local or external drives on the same machine easily without data getting messed up. When you do so over the network, either your own LAN or Off-site on the Internet, it has to be done as Root.
I also found another bug in the system that could be disastrous.
Since you have the directory for Rsync to write to on your own machine, it doesn't warn you that the remote directory might not be mounted. So if you think you saved something, it shows you did, but the changes don't appear on the destination drive. If you mount the destination drive as it should be, and resave the file again using Rsync it reads the one on your computer where the changed files did go, so again does not copy the changed files over to the destination.
I'm probably the only person in the world that can get Rsync to LOCK UP and become unusable, hi hi.
What I haven't figure out yet is how on earth I was sending data to my brothers computer to save on my external up there without having to Mount the folder on my computer first. All I remember is it just worked, and I know it wasn't using SSH. I think NFS has to be mounted also? Shame I don't have those old computers anymore to look n see how it was done. My brothers IT guy he had back then is who got it working, and I could check to see if my data was there using a web browser, the old Netscape browser to be exact, hi hi.
OK, I've rambled on long enough, hi hi.
I have tons of data I want to keep for myself, but most of it would be of no interest to my kids or anyone else for that matter.
But the things I do want them to have are all the scanned photo's of our families, some of those are actually tintypes I've scanned right from the originals.
I got tired of trying to remember which photo's belonged to which families, so ended up placing all the folders in a single master file. This made it easier on me when I found a photo to put in the folders, and even though every one has a name and date, I probably should have put an additional letter on the folder to indicate to who's family file they belong to.
But then I thought to myself, would it really matter anyhow? Because they can always look at the genealogy and see who belongs to whom.
In my old hard drives, I've found some photo's I scanned that somehow got left behind, and sadly, even though I know the people, I don't remember their names. I did send about 8 photo's to someone I tracked down, but they never got back to me with the names. They used the excuse they didn't remember their names either, when I know they knew each and every one of them.
It is sorta funny when I have someone new up here and they look up on the shelf and see storage files filled with 5/14 floppies, hi hi. I had copied them over to CDs, and many of those CDs have now gone bad, CD Rot got to them.
But I don't think there is any true data loss since most of what I saved was the output of programs that no longer exist.
However, many of them were the original bought programs with the registration numbers on them, which is why I kept them in the first place. One file has about 25 or 30 paid for font folders in them, as proof I paid for commercial use of those fonts. Most also have a printout of the paid receipt folded and slipped in the jacket also.
On another note: I got Rsync working on everything now. And boy did it suddenly bring back some memories of important details I had long forgotten. For example: The term "Preserve Owner" means exactly the opposite when saving files over the network. It should say, change owner to owner of destination. The same with Preserve Group or Preserve Time, etc.
In my test copies using RSync, it changed ownership to Root with Preserve Owner, which meant you had to be root if you looked at the files using the network later. Took me a while to figure out the problem, but if you turn off Preserve Owner, then it keeps the User ownership intact. I'm going to have to back up my smaller test photo files too, because it changed the dates of the camera photos from when they were taken to the date of the transfer. So Preserve Time works backwards also.
Once I figured that out, then everything was working great.
Ironically, once you figure out what you were doing wrong, then everything works just right and so simply too, hi hi.
Although you can use Rsync to copy to local or external drives on the same machine easily without data getting messed up. When you do so over the network, either your own LAN or Off-site on the Internet, it has to be done as Root.
I also found another bug in the system that could be disastrous.
Since you have the directory for Rsync to write to on your own machine, it doesn't warn you that the remote directory might not be mounted. So if you think you saved something, it shows you did, but the changes don't appear on the destination drive. If you mount the destination drive as it should be, and resave the file again using Rsync it reads the one on your computer where the changed files did go, so again does not copy the changed files over to the destination.
I'm probably the only person in the world that can get Rsync to LOCK UP and become unusable, hi hi.
What I haven't figure out yet is how on earth I was sending data to my brothers computer to save on my external up there without having to Mount the folder on my computer first. All I remember is it just worked, and I know it wasn't using SSH. I think NFS has to be mounted also? Shame I don't have those old computers anymore to look n see how it was done. My brothers IT guy he had back then is who got it working, and I could check to see if my data was there using a web browser, the old Netscape browser to be exact, hi hi.
OK, I've rambled on long enough, hi hi.
Re: Peppermint Linux
I'm pretty sure I can set up a shared folder on my NAS and allow you access. I looked over the procedure once many moons ago and it was spooky being as simple as I thought it was. I believe all I would need to do is list you as a user and give you some login credentials. You could then put or take whatever you want on my NAS shared folder. Security is another bag of worms altogether but the basic transfer of data shouldn't need an IT specialist. Perhaps if it was done some way other than simple sharing; then a brainiac would need to be called in.
I know you save everything and it would require me taking pictures if I ever came to see you collections. LOL I do something similar but eventually dispose of those things that can no longer be used, like 5.25" floppies. What's the point? Now and days the media deterioration problem is easily solved by putting things in the cloud. I suppose you can make your own cloud and replace the media every so often, but that's a lot of work. I don't have much I want to preserve for more than a year so that life here in the CCC is pretty simple and easy.
I know you save everything and it would require me taking pictures if I ever came to see you collections. LOL I do something similar but eventually dispose of those things that can no longer be used, like 5.25" floppies. What's the point? Now and days the media deterioration problem is easily solved by putting things in the cloud. I suppose you can make your own cloud and replace the media every so often, but that's a lot of work. I don't have much I want to preserve for more than a year so that life here in the CCC is pretty simple and easy.
Re: Peppermint Linux
Going over the internet to a shared folder is apparently easier than going to your own shared folders over a LAN, hi hi.
I could always check to see if the files I wanted on my EHD at my brothers place were there, simply by typing in a browser
Gary@ALDinc.com/drive-f/garydata, then it would ask for my password. The browser would then show all the folders in a directory and I could click on which folder to view and it would show each of the file names in that folder.
However, the line used in Rsync to get there didn't ready anything like that. It had more codes in it than Carters has pills, hi hi. Plus I had to use two different passwords as well. But at least it worked, hi hi.
I had one old computer I could still read the 5-1/4 floppies from, and was going through the ones had data on to save to CDs, got through the most important ones before that computer died completely.
Heck, I just gave away the CGA monitor for it a couple of years ago, since it wouldn't work with anything I had here anymore.
I took a bunch of stuff to a Ham Swap, lots of old cards out of computers, old power supplies, etc. but didn't lug along anything heavy like old monitors. I found a guy who let me dump like two bushel baskets full of stuff on his table to give away for free. Ironically, it was all gone in under a half hour. They probably scarfed it all up to glean parts from. I probably had half a dozen sound cards, and several envelopes of RAM chips, clearly marked as to what they were.
I tried to find a 5/14 floppy drive to USB converter, and although I did find one, overpriced, it didn't matter, they sold out of them. I have at least a dozen 5-1/4 drives in a file cabinet drawer, and a couple of 3-1/2 floppy drives.
Much of the data I have on those floppy's I didn't copy to CD cannot be read without the program that created them, which of course won't run on today's computers anyhow.
I had to learn the hard way to save anything I wanted to keep in a generic format.
I could always check to see if the files I wanted on my EHD at my brothers place were there, simply by typing in a browser
Gary@ALDinc.com/drive-f/garydata, then it would ask for my password. The browser would then show all the folders in a directory and I could click on which folder to view and it would show each of the file names in that folder.
However, the line used in Rsync to get there didn't ready anything like that. It had more codes in it than Carters has pills, hi hi. Plus I had to use two different passwords as well. But at least it worked, hi hi.
I had one old computer I could still read the 5-1/4 floppies from, and was going through the ones had data on to save to CDs, got through the most important ones before that computer died completely.
Heck, I just gave away the CGA monitor for it a couple of years ago, since it wouldn't work with anything I had here anymore.
I took a bunch of stuff to a Ham Swap, lots of old cards out of computers, old power supplies, etc. but didn't lug along anything heavy like old monitors. I found a guy who let me dump like two bushel baskets full of stuff on his table to give away for free. Ironically, it was all gone in under a half hour. They probably scarfed it all up to glean parts from. I probably had half a dozen sound cards, and several envelopes of RAM chips, clearly marked as to what they were.
I tried to find a 5/14 floppy drive to USB converter, and although I did find one, overpriced, it didn't matter, they sold out of them. I have at least a dozen 5-1/4 drives in a file cabinet drawer, and a couple of 3-1/2 floppy drives.
Much of the data I have on those floppy's I didn't copy to CD cannot be read without the program that created them, which of course won't run on today's computers anyhow.
I had to learn the hard way to save anything I wanted to keep in a generic format.
Re: Peppermint Linux
Yes, It's that simple. All I need do is give you my IP address and you will see my NAS (and the rest of the LAN) on your browser. Then it's just a matter of using the built in FTP from the browser. Of course I have it all locked down at the moment, but it's easy to give a trusted client login credentials. It's considered vulnerable because there is absolutely no protection from outside viewers intercepting what you might see on my LAN. That's where those 2FA schemes come in along with heavy duty encryption.
I never thought about it but I suppose a ham fest would be the ideal place to leave the contents of your closet. Those are the type of people who live to scavenge. LOL When we moved I had a large tub full of electronic pieces from old systems I broke down into metal, plastic, and electronics. It all went to the recycle center.
I never thought about it but I suppose a ham fest would be the ideal place to leave the contents of your closet. Those are the type of people who live to scavenge. LOL When we moved I had a large tub full of electronic pieces from old systems I broke down into metal, plastic, and electronics. It all went to the recycle center.
Re: Peppermint Linux
I had a 20 gallon wooden barrel I filled with glass tubes out of radios. Some of those were the old gandy dancer tubes too.
Most were just the common radio tubes, but I did have quite a few from my older ham equipment too.
I had converted many of my old tube type radios to use transistor replacement modules in place of the tubes. They were much more stable and lasted years longer, hi hi. Plus a whole lot less heat too!
I didn't want the auctioneer to dump all those tubes out on a table for folks to pick through. But he did dump them out and had one of his workers who knew the value of tubes sort out the more expensive ones into three groups, then put all the rest back in the barrel to sell at once. Probably smart he did that because each of those three groups brought more than the whole barrel brought. Probably because whoever bid on the barrel knew they took the expensive tubes out first, hi hi.
I was told by someone only about two months ago how lucky we were to live so close to recycling centers that pay us for what we bring in.
Where my aunt and uncle lived in Denver Colorado, they had forced recycling of which they did not get paid for.
The city supplied these special recycling bins with four sections inside, and they had a truck that could pick up the bins and have the sections go into the right areas of the truck.
You would get fined if a named recyclable was in the normal trash containers.
The people were so aggravated with this, they wouldn't was out cans or bottles and just toss them in the bins.
A few years ago our city started supplying a single bin for recyclables.
Several people who didn't want to bother going to the recycling centers got them, but they were still wise enough to hold onto their aluminum cans, hi hi. And now, instead of running the route, you call when your recycle bin is full and put it by the curb and they will come pick it up.
We never opted to get one, mainly because If I wanted to recycle something, why not take it where I get paid for it.
Ironically, I also buy things from the recycling center from time to time. Bought something like 50 commercial bakers trays from then to use under my hydroponic plants in the greenhouse and under by crawlspace I dug out.
I've also bought brass lamps and other things from them they didn't want to send through the crusher unless nobody offered to buy it.
The other recycling center that takes steel, they also take large appliances to dismantle.
Ironically, they take the copper and aluminum down to the other competitor where we take cans.
Apparently they don't have an account at Alcoa or Rogers smelters, hi hi.
They also do not take cars or trucks since there is a big place in Sevierville that does nothing but cars and trucks, and they do a whole lot more than just crush them. They remove, clean and rebox as many parts as possible. But unlike some junkyards where you can go in and take things off yourself, they don't work that way at all. So I guess they do have some good outlets to ship their reboxed items to. Either that or they have a humongous warehouse somewhere where they put everything. Need a starter for an old Edsel, they probably have one somewhere for you, hi hi.
Most were just the common radio tubes, but I did have quite a few from my older ham equipment too.
I had converted many of my old tube type radios to use transistor replacement modules in place of the tubes. They were much more stable and lasted years longer, hi hi. Plus a whole lot less heat too!
I didn't want the auctioneer to dump all those tubes out on a table for folks to pick through. But he did dump them out and had one of his workers who knew the value of tubes sort out the more expensive ones into three groups, then put all the rest back in the barrel to sell at once. Probably smart he did that because each of those three groups brought more than the whole barrel brought. Probably because whoever bid on the barrel knew they took the expensive tubes out first, hi hi.
I was told by someone only about two months ago how lucky we were to live so close to recycling centers that pay us for what we bring in.
Where my aunt and uncle lived in Denver Colorado, they had forced recycling of which they did not get paid for.
The city supplied these special recycling bins with four sections inside, and they had a truck that could pick up the bins and have the sections go into the right areas of the truck.
You would get fined if a named recyclable was in the normal trash containers.
The people were so aggravated with this, they wouldn't was out cans or bottles and just toss them in the bins.
A few years ago our city started supplying a single bin for recyclables.
Several people who didn't want to bother going to the recycling centers got them, but they were still wise enough to hold onto their aluminum cans, hi hi. And now, instead of running the route, you call when your recycle bin is full and put it by the curb and they will come pick it up.
We never opted to get one, mainly because If I wanted to recycle something, why not take it where I get paid for it.
Ironically, I also buy things from the recycling center from time to time. Bought something like 50 commercial bakers trays from then to use under my hydroponic plants in the greenhouse and under by crawlspace I dug out.
I've also bought brass lamps and other things from them they didn't want to send through the crusher unless nobody offered to buy it.
The other recycling center that takes steel, they also take large appliances to dismantle.
Ironically, they take the copper and aluminum down to the other competitor where we take cans.
Apparently they don't have an account at Alcoa or Rogers smelters, hi hi.
They also do not take cars or trucks since there is a big place in Sevierville that does nothing but cars and trucks, and they do a whole lot more than just crush them. They remove, clean and rebox as many parts as possible. But unlike some junkyards where you can go in and take things off yourself, they don't work that way at all. So I guess they do have some good outlets to ship their reboxed items to. Either that or they have a humongous warehouse somewhere where they put everything. Need a starter for an old Edsel, they probably have one somewhere for you, hi hi.
Re: Peppermint Linux
When we first arrived in O'Fallon they would take anything that is recyclable in a single bin that was picked up every Thursday morning. Apparently before sending it on they sorted things out manually, i.e., separated the glass from the metal from the paper. Now that they don't recycle anything in O'Fallon, they cut a deal with the next town over. That town, however, only takes certain items. No black plastic or paper of any kind, for example. Also, during the switch over they sent out instructions about washing and removing labels being desirable but not mandatory. I do wash but don't bother with the labels unless they fall off during washing. So, now all they need to do is separate the metal from the plastic. O'Fallon stopped recycling but never reduced the rates for trash pickup. I guess they still have to pay the people they contracted with, but it can't be nearly as expensive as was the old system. A lot of people complained, and the only response was they will think about it after the system is working for a while. Going on two years now; they are still thinking. 
O'Fallon stopped recycling, so they say, because the market for recycled plastics evaporated. The Chinese used to buy it but stopped. Apparently not much of the collected plastic is actually recycled so that the only way to get rid of it was to sell it or give it away to any takers. I'm wondering now where all that plastic is going if not to China?
O'Fallon stopped recycling, so they say, because the market for recycled plastics evaporated. The Chinese used to buy it but stopped. Apparently not much of the collected plastic is actually recycled so that the only way to get rid of it was to sell it or give it away to any takers. I'm wondering now where all that plastic is going if not to China?