Topic: How to use SME also as NAS, provide fundamental steps

[UserOfHalde]

I mean a NAS in its layman understanded form.

I have setted up an SME, get an access via web interface, and have created an i-bay.

My question is what have i do to access a ntfs drive with data that is connected to the sme.
And secondly, i want to give two users each different access possibility to this drive.
Again i connected a drive that allready contains data on it and i want to serve two differen user, with to different access to this drive with data from that dirve.
And later i want to connect another some drives.

i mean, i have one of that i-bays with cgi/bin, files, and html file.

should i connect my harddrive to this files (mount in some way ) ?


Do i need some SME based skills or suffice it to have some regular linux skill of connect a drive to system fstab and so on.



Is there such a thing like a compedium for the sme?
Can some one say that if i have enough centos server skills i have the same skills in sme than?

[janet]

Please read the Howtos & Contribs.
Links are at top of forums

[Stefano]

Hi UserOfHalde, welcome here..

I have setted up an SME, get an access via web interface, and have created an i-bay.

ok

My question is what have i do to access a ntfs drive with data that is connected to the sme.

SME doesn't support NTFS drives natively.. BTW, take a look in the wiki and search here in the forums and you'll find how to make SME see a ntfs drive
anyway, even if possible, you're strongly advised not to use it..

And secondly, i want to give two users each different access possibility to this drive.
Again i connected a drive that allready contains data on it and i want to serve two differen user, with to different access to this drive with data from that dirve.

it's not clear to me how and what you want/need to do..

can you give us as many details as you can? why do you want to use a ntfs disk?
have you got enough space to copy temporarily all the data from the disk to the server, format the disk in ext3/ext4 and then use it in a more reliable way?

And later i want to connect another some drives.

IIUC, you want to use/share many external disk.. can you give us a full picture of what you want to achieve?

i mean, i have one of that i-bays with cgi/bin, files, and html file.
should i connect my harddrive to this files (mount in some way ) ?

it depends.. please explain us your problem/aim and not your solution, thank you

Do i need some SME based skills or suffice it to have some regular linux skill of connect a drive to system fstab and so on.

fstab/mounting disks on SME is just the same of any other cents install

Is there such a thing like a compedium for the sme?
Can some one say that if i have enough centos server skills i have the same skills in sme than?

as Janet briefly suggest you, please take a look at the documentation, at the wiki, use the search feature here and there..
everything you need to know about SME is here in front of you

in any case, welcome again here

[UserOfHalde]

format the disk in ext3/ext4 and then use it in a more reliable way

you mean features concerning - group file, directory and device permissions ?

is it possible to convert ntfs to ext4 filesystem with one command without to copy paste the whole content?

ok, for an instance: i have a hdd without data (that i can later format with ext4 fs if you want),  that i connect via cables to my computer on which i have installed the sme.

User A should get access to files alpha, beta.
User B shoulg get access to files yota, zeta.
both do not know about files of each other.
both has each 20% of disk space at one's own disposal.
Admin can grant or remove access.
each user get access over internet and in local network.


now i do not understand how to imagine the process sme wants i do.

i create that i-bay with cgi/bin, files and html files.

if i put some data in the files file, where this data will be lay on, on my harddrive?
and how can i influence this process, i mean which data has to go to what file?

Is there an tutorial that describe only this steps or at least partially this way?


do i need this or is there an other way to  provide  access  for different user to that harddrive.


i found something here : http://wiki.contribs.org/AddExtraHardDisk

is this the right way ?

[janet]

UserOfHalde

Why do you want to or feel it necessary to connect additional drives to your sme server ?

Why not just put the biggest drives you can find
 in at least a RAID1 array, & just use the functionality of sme server to control access ?

Add some Groups & configure ibays to be owned by a different Group, then add your Users to the Group or Groups that gives them access to certain ibays. This is a fundamental part of good management of your sme server.

Setup Quotas for your Users which limits their total data usage/storage.

Re folder/file structure of ibays, if an ibay is web enabled then you see the 3 folders cgi-bin, files, html in samba/Windows networking.
Files you want to share locally on LAN using samba would go into ..../files, web content html files & similar would go into ...../html and cgi type web content would go into ...../cgi-bin

If web access is NOT enabled, then you do not see those 3 subfolders in samba, they still exist but the system does not display them. All files saved in the ibay will be placed in ...../files.

Controlling web access & limiting access to certain users is done in a totally different way, the above controls do not apply, unless your external users connect via VPN or OpenVPN etc to the server & become LAN users then.

Depending on the type of access you want to give web users, you may need to install contribs, configure custom templates & force users to use certain supported remote access software, refer to the Manual,  Howtos & numerous posts in these Forums over the years.

I am sure all this is in the Manual, so I think you should also read the Manual, a link is at the top of these Forums. Read it twice as there is a lot to absorb.

Having additional mounted drives other than the main system drives, complicates backup & major version upgrades, & is more difficult to rebuild your server in the event of a major system failure.

SME server is designed to be simple to use, try to use it that way for best outcome.
You are free to use SME server as you wish, but learn to use it "as is" first, before complicating your setup.

[UserOfHalde]

thx

Why not just put the biggest drives you can find
 in at least a RAID1 array, & just use the functionality of sme server to control access ?

and if i put the next drive of the same size i get a redundant disk, my space will not grow?
i do not need raid.

i realy want to  use it "as is" , if i understand how.

[janet]

UserOfHalde

I suggested RAID1 to give your server some degree of data redundancy (& safety).
You are wanting to spread your data out across multiple seperate drives, so I am suggesting you put all the data on one big drive (by that I mean a pair of big drives in RAID1 array). In so doing you avoid the complexities mentioned about having seperate drives.

You can use software RAID1 on SME server which is very good & very fast, so you do not need an additional RAID card & you do not use the RAID built in to the motherboard (drive controller). Disable m/bd RAID in BIOS.

You need to follow the RAID Howto to add a drive to the array & grow the size, refer Howto.

I think you need to provide much more information about your current setup & what you propose etc.

[Stefano]

you mean features concerning - group file, directory and device permissions ?

no, I'm concerned about ntfs itself (even if it's a journaled fs and quite robust it comes from M$, nuff said) and the ntfs support on linux, that's not so realiable and can suffer of data corruption
moreover, as I said, centos/SME doesn't support natively ntfs and so you'd not use it.

is it possible to convert ntfs to ext4 filesystem with one command without to copy paste the whole content?

no, AFAIK, and even if possible I won't never use such a feature..

ok, for an instance: i have a hdd without data (that i can later format with ext4 fs if you want),  that i connect via cables to my computer on which i have installed the sme.

please, stop telling us what you think you want to do (i.e. "how") and start telling us what are you aiming to, what do you have in terms of hw (disks, data amount and so on), otherwise we can't help you at our best and we all could finish in a classic "X Y problem" case..

User A should get access to files alpha, beta.
User B shoulg get access to files yota, zeta.
both do not know about files of each other.
both has each 20% of disk space at one's own disposal.
Admin can grant or remove access.
each user get access over internet and in local network.

the easier way to accomplish such targets are:
- create all the needed users
- create all the needed groups and add to them your users accordingly to your needs
- create as many ibays as you need and associate them to the groups..
- use quota to limit your user's space allocation

now i do not understand how to imagine the process sme wants i do.

well, the issue is that you aren't giving us all the details and the logic, we're just guessing

i create that i-bay with cgi/bin, files and html files.

if i put some data in the files file, where this data will be lay on, on my harddrive?

on the hd where SME is installed, by design.. you can use other disks, but you must tell us everything..
we (here, the community) are a bit reluctant to give suggestions that may lead to a "error/failure" prone setup, so single hds, mounted anywhere (usb? brrrrrrr) are a BAD idea (but for backup)

and how can i influence this process, i mean which data has to go to what file?

Is there an tutorial that describe only this steps or at least partially this way?

do i need this or is there an other way to  provide  access  for different user to that harddrive.

i found something here : http://wiki.contribs.org/AddExtraHardDisk

is this the right way ?

you can customize your setup (see for example http://wiki.contribs.org/AddExtraHardDisk), but before doing so, please be verbose and let us help you, thank you

[guest22]

You might want to take a look at the SharedFolders contribs, even on top of NAS or equivalent.


http://wiki.contribs.org/SharedFolders

[UserOfHalde]

you can customize your setup (see for example http://wiki.contribs.org/AddExtraHardDisk), but before doing so, please be verbose and let us help you, thank you

Have two HDD, one empty, one full of content.
The empty one should be used by one user, who saves only his photos
And that with content by another user AND it should not be visible by
Photo 📷 hdd user.

[janet]

UserOfHalde

Alternative 2
http://wiki.contribs.org/AddExtraHardDisk#Alternative_2:_Mounting_a_specific_ibay_or_user

[DanB35]

Is there a reason you can't just build your SME server with sufficient capacity to accommodate both users' content?

The rest of what you're looking for, as I understand it, is simply for user1 to have access to user1's content, user2 to have access to user2's content, and neither user have access to the other's content.  That's trivial with SME--every user has a home directory, and the contents of that directory are only readable by that user.  You don't even need to use ibays for this.  SME also supports quotas, so you can limit each user to a certain amount of storage.

It really sounds like you're over-complicating this.  Put a couple of big (i.e., at least 2x the total capacity you think you'll need) hard drives in your server, and unplug any other drives.  Install SME--by default this will make a software RAID1 on your drives, so you'll be protected against one of those drives failing.  Create your users.  Set quotas through the server manager if you wish.  Copy the one user's data over the network to his home directory.  Unless you have other requirements you haven't stated, you're done.

[Stefano]

Is there a reason you can't just build your SME server with sufficient capacity to accommodate both users' content?

I agree 120%

install your server with at least 2 disks in raid1, setup users, groups and ibay as you've been suggested, copy your data, setup your backup and you're done, nothing more, nothing less..

and, again, please be verbose when you expose your needs, thank you

[UserOfHalde]

please forget raid1 2 3, raid. Beacuse, because i am perhaps superstitious what ever...
no raid. please can't read it anymore.

I do not need redundant data have not enough resources to afford any raid. I have only 2 hdd's each 2 terrabyte, two for one user and two for me.

i posted very simple question how ... to connect that hdd's to sme?
i mean not how to mount hdd on a linux sys, i think it is likely not a big deal.
i mean how to connect that drives to that feature named S M E .
i will not install sme again, i wish no raid.

connect, assign permissions, use 

[janet]

UserOfHalde

I answered you, did you read it ?
Alternative 2
http://wiki.contribs.org/AddExtraHardDisk#Alternative_2:_Mounting_a_specific_ibay_or_user