Win2K Pro box as a server/NAS?

[bmartin1984]

Hello,

I finally got my gigabit network up and running. All the XP computers use the same workgroup. I was thinking of using an old Win2K Pro computer as a file server for storing my multimedia files, streaming audio, secure backup to a USB HD, etc. Will this work? I can see the Win2K computer in My network neighborhood from my XP machine. However I can't see the folder I shared. I tried manually typing in the address \\machine name\folder name\ but I got a warning box saying there was no network. I'd appreciate some help with this. If I can't get Win2k Pro working I guess I could try FreeNAS.

The 2k machine is one of those Shuttle shoebox computers running a P4 2GHz. I'm hoping it will be ok being on 24/7 but am concerned about power use compared to getting one of those HP MediaSmart x195 servers. I suppose I could down clock the cpu since I won't need that much processing power but would like help with configuring power management settings given this is a server and not a desktop computer.

Thanks much!!!

 

[thiggins]

Win2k's permission system is more complicated than XP's, so check the folder permissions first and see if "everyone" is added for at least read access.

 

[00Roush]

Win2K should work just fine. Is your goal to have anonymous access to the files on the server without the need to provided credentials? I used to run Win2k on my server here at home and from what I recall it is very similar to Win XP PRO with simple file sharing off. I will dust off an old machine here and go through the steps to double check.

Just a heads up on the power usage of your P4... Recently I did a clean up (Windows reinstall) of a friends computer (2.4 Ghz P4 Dell) and found that power usage was actually pretty good. Measured around 50 watts at idle. Highest I remember seeing was around 80 watts. So your power usage might not be that bad. I think the P4's that used the most power were the later models that were dual core.

00Roush

 

[bmartin1984]

RE

OORoush,

I'd like to spring for one of those fancy HP servers but... I really want a place where I can keep files important to the family for easy, shared access, that can be automatically backed up to a external drive (can't afford to lose my digital photos), that allows my family to watch videos or play audio files, etc. I'm not hip on what 'streaming' is as I usually just open the file with WMP. I was planning to build a music jukebox computer for my rec room but figured it would be easier to just provide the app software that uses the ripped WAVs or MP3s from the file server (WMP?). Not up to speed on iTunes could do to make this easier. I'm not too worried about restricting access except for some R rated movies I don't want my kids to view.

I may one day try to set up game servers for things like BF2 but my boys seem to be doing fine doing multiplayer with just their two desktops.

I'm also hoping to have enough room on the server to allow me to run backup programs on the clients that will backup the my documents folder AND (if I can figure it out) the email from Outlook (I figured out what to copy for OE though but O is different). Have been just adding a second hard drive to each computer to do this.

Simple peer to peer stuff I guess as I'm not up to speed on setting up domains, etc. The server will be in the basement so not good for sharing a printer on it. My Slingbox doesn't need a server I believe since it is a single user device using application software on each PC. I'm sure there is much more that could be done that I'd like to explore once the basic needs are met.

I have a NEXSTAR LX 'NAS' that is supposed to do this for me. I seems to work fine for a week or so and then the network PCs start getting that error message that 'shared drive not found.' I tried giving it a dedicated IP address but still kept losing access to it. The tech supt folks said it should be bulletproof but it's just been frustrating for me. Plus it seemed the HD wouldn't always spin down to conserve power like it should.

Appreciate any help you can provide.

 

[bmartin1984]

RE

Thiggins,

Yes, when I set up the shared folder on the 2K machine, the persmissions showed full access for every user. I don't have NETBUI running if that makes a difference. When I used network neighborhood I could see the 2K machine but not the shared drive. And when I tried a manual address I may not be doing it right.

 

[00Roush]

So I just setup a fresh install of Windows 2000 on one of my old machines here and went over the steps needed to share files.

For basic anonymous file access to all of your files in a particular folder here is how I did it:

Right click on the folder you want to share and select sharing.
Check the share this folder box.
Click on the permissions button and ensure the Everyone group has full control.
Click OK to save.
Then move to the Security tab.
Click the add button.
On the next screen select the Everyone group and click the add button in the middle of the box.
Click OK to save.
Now you should see the Everyone group is in the list on the Security tab.
Click on the Everyone group to highlight it then check the full control box.
Click OK to save.

Now the folder is ready but you need to ensure you have enabled the guest account.

From the desktop right click My Computer and select Manage.
Select Local Users and Groups.
Then open the Users folder.
Double click the Guest user.
Uncheck the Account is disabled box.
Click OK to save.

Now you should be able to see and access this folder over the network.

If you are trying to share a folder that you already have files in you might need to reset the permissions on all of the files in that folder. This is found by using the advanced button which is on the Security tab. This will force all of the permissions on all of the files within that folder to be set.

Let me know if this works. Then I can walk you through setting permissions on the files you want to be restricted.

Almost forgot... By default I don't think you can share a whole drive like D: just by enabling sharing on the drive. I believe it would be possible but it is just easier to share a folder or folders. For example I share a folder named "shared" that is located on my D drive.

00Roush

 

[bmartin1984]

Still puzzled

First, thanks for detailed instructions.

Ok, I followed the directions and everything seemed ok on my 2000 machine. I was able to see the shared folder under my local workgroup and machine name plus map a drive to it. Then I tried mapping a drive from my XP machine. No go. I couldn't see the shared folder or machine. I'll try from one of my other XP machines tomorrow. Seems like I had some issues with this XP machine mapping to an old NAS I have as well. I could get it to work and then 3 or 4 days later it couldn't see it again. I wonder if there is something I need to be doing with the XP machine.

Darn it. I'm so close. I got this shuttle box pared down to bare bones so it runs quiet and uses less energy. I was ready to buy a gigabit lan card and large hard drive for it. I got a USB drive ready to go to do daily syncs with this fileserver.

Seems like it should be easier than this. I want to make this work before I take the plunge on Maximum PCs guide this month on using FREENAS or trying to find a reasonably priced copy of XP on eBay. I guess I could upgrade my XP machine to Win7 (can get the student discount) and move the XP to the Shuttle box. Then again I don't know if Win7 and XP will play together any better. Ugh!!

Thanks again for you assistance with this. And yes...I will want to somehow restrict access to a specific folder or files as I have some R rated movies I don't want my boys having access to. Don't know how this is done under that Everyone acct or if I need to create a login for each user.

S/

 

[bmartin1984]

Eureka

Found out that my old CheckIt Firewall on the 2k machine had a setting to a allow shared files and printers. I checked it and all is good now.

Ok, so now how do I restrict access to specific subfolders or files I don't want my kids to have access to?

Also, with an "everyone" group access, is there risk a hacker could get through my DSL modem's firewall and get my files? Can I add a password or only allow specific users/machines/IPs to access?

Big thanks!

 

[00Roush]

Well first up, do your boys use the same account that you do on your XP machines?

Also are you planning to map drives to network folders?

Yes you can restrict access to subfolders. I was hoping to get the answers to the above questions before going through how to set that up.

I think that using the everyone group definitely is less secure but generally hardware firewalls are enough to discourage most hackers. But really most people use simple file sharing without passwords to share files on home networks... So you wouldn't be any worse off than anyone else.

00Roush

 

[bmartin1984]

RE

Accounts? Each boy has his own XP based computer. Each computer was set up initially, long ago, with a user name, machine name, etc. They all are assigned to the same workgroup.

Yes, I was planning to map a drive on each XP machine to the "FileServer" folder on the Win2k machine. Mapping drives is the only way I know how to access shared resources.

Had another heart stopper today when I could no longer use the mapped drive. Finally figured out that the new gigabit LAN adapter I put on the Win2K machine required that I go back into it's software firewall and recheck the box for allowing shared resources. Phew!

 

[00Roush]

Alright... since everyone has their own user accounts on the XP machines it shouldn't be too difficult to restrict their access and still allow you to have access.

First up create user accounts on your Win 2000 machine that match the user accounts on the XP machines. For example you have a user name of Bob on your XP machine so you would create a new user named Bob on the Win 2000 machine. First start out with no passwords to make it easy to test. Later you can add passwords. I recommend using the same password for the Win 2000 accounts that you do on the XP machines. This should allow you to connect to shares on the Win 2000 machine as that user and avoid logon boxes showing up when trying to access shares.

While you are in setting up the new user accounts on the Win 2000 machine disable the guest account.

Now you need to setup your shares to allow access to the users you setup instead of everyone. I recommend leaving your current share setup as it is and test with a new folder. I tested by just creating a new folder named "thing" on my Win 2000 desktop and then creating a sub folder named "test". This way you can get a feel for how to setup the correct permissions without messing with what you already have working.

So let me walk you through an example using two users, Bob and Mike, and the folders I mentioned above. My goal is to allow all of the users access to "thing" but only allow Mike access to the sub folder "test".

For the folder "thing" I basically followed the steps I listed in my previous post on how to setup for everyone. The difference is I remove the everyone group and add the Users group to the sharing and security tabs. This allows all of the users access to "thing" and all of its sub folders. To ensure all the file access permissions for the files and sub folders in "thing" get set I need to also check the box for "Reset permissions on all child objects...". This is found by using the advanced button which is on the Security tab.

For the sub folder "test" I right click, select properties, and then move to the Security tab. I unchecked the box at the bottom that talks about inheriting permissions from parent. A box pops up... clicked Copy. This basically makes it so this folder can have different permissions than its parent folder. Then I removed the Users group and added in Mike. Clicked full control and apply. To ensure all sub folders and files inside of "test" also got these permissions I did the same as above and checked the box for "Reset permissions on all child objects...".

Once all of that was done I tested by logging on to my XP machine with the Mike user account. Then I tried to connect to the Win 2000 machine and was able to access both "thing" and "test". I tried the same test but logging on to the XP machine with Bob and I could only open "thing". Trying to open "test" would give me an access denied error as it should have.

I hope that all makes sense...
Let me know how it goes.

00Roush

 

[00Roush]

So were you able to get this working how you want?

00Roush

 

[kievit72]

Guess you got this working fine... it should do!

I build a DIY NAS with Win server 2008 R2 64bit, on an Atom based board with RAID5 set
- low power
- user management
- web management
- download software (torrent, newsgroup)
- standby when idle
- etc...

Works perfect, wonderful performance!

check http://nas.kievit.me for details