File Servers.

[SurfD]

A friend of mine recently asked me for some assistance in getting a file server program up and running.

He is curently using a program called Http File Server 1.6a.  I think i have his problem solved (It was an issue with being behind a NAT Router), but this has brought up a second question.

Are there better options?

What program do those of you who run their own file servers use?  Which is the best for ease of use, full features, and easy configuration?

Any suggestions?

[Murgos]

SAMBA

edit because one word answers are ghey:

SAMBA really is pretty much the last word in file servers.  It's secure, it's fast, its robust, it just pretty much works and it's stupid easy to set up on most linux distro's.

[SurfD]

Does it come in Win XP flavour?

[Trippy]

Does it come in Win XP flavour?

No. SAMBA is a UNIX implementation of IBM's NetBIOS protocol for file and print sharing, among other things, which is what Windows uses as its native networking protocol (though these days it's NetBIOS over TCP/IP). It basically allows UNIX boxes to act as file/print/authentication servers to Windows boxes and vice versa.

Though it can be used over a WAN, NetBIOS is really meant as a LAN protocol. If your friend is trying to share files over the Internet, using something like SAMBA or native Windows file sharing is very very very dangerous.

I can't really help you with your original question since any file sharing I do is either through HTTP or FTP on a Linux box and not Windows but it would help to know more specifically what your friend is looking to do. Is he just trying to make files available to download? Or does he want people to be able to upload? Is it mostly uploads or mostly downloads? Does he need different levels of authentication/permissions?

[Gong]

From my personal experience, I recommend something like Serv-U FTP or WS_FTP. Me and a couple of buddies administrated a group of FTP servers throughout our dorm LAN, and wrote a little php script that would index the files on each FTP so that users could just run a search from a webpage to see if what they wanted was available on the network.

we dealt with quite a number of people who wanted to share their files, and a good number of them weren't exactly computer-savvy. we usually found that serv-U FTP caused the least headache, and offered more than enough flexibility/utility for our purposes.

[Ralence]

I think there's some confusion based on what exactly you're looking to do.  Is it for an internal network?  Or is it something that will be exposed to the internet for outside use?

  For internal, there's nothing better than SAMBA, and you can buy a cheap ass 486 with 4meg of ram for $30, throw in a bunch of drives and you're off and running for pretty much the cost of the storage space and nothing else.  There's no reason to run an internal file server on a windows OS, the resources that it eats up are just a waste.  I currently run my home file server on a P2-400?  Something like that,  that I had lying around.    It's under the desk and doesn't even have video or sound, or a monitor/keyboard attached to it.

  If it's something external, and you're friend isn't all that computer savvy, well, I wouldn't recommend him leaving any PC open to the internet, odds are he's in for more headaches than it's worth.

  But what he's going to use it for specifically is really going to decide what the best recommendations are for him.

Ralence

[Murgos]

I've had to set up shared drives over a WAN with SAMBA before its not that difficult to use SSH tunneling to create an encrypted VPN and provide a secure connection.  It's probably not for the uninitiated though.  It's one of those activities that really shines the light on how unsecure windows really is as a server technology.

If you just want to share files easily you can always just htpasswd protect some directories on a web page and even provide a handly little html upload page  with a script (PEAR has a very nice one for PHP).  Not super secure but probably secure enough and no need for extra software - and accsesable from any internet connection.

Next step up would be to write scripts that authenticate users and create a session for them and allow them access to https pages with the downloads on them (like your bank does).

Other options are to right-click any thing you want to share on your windows box scroll down to "sharing and security" and click" share this file".  If you have IIS running then you just click that files properties and "share it to the web".  HA, your computer is now at the mercy of the world.

AS mentioned above there is the classic FTP method.  Can be quite safe and secure and its mature enough that there are alot of variations on how to achieve different affects.

There are many more ways to share files some of them even secure, private p2p nets, private IRC channels, private USENET servers and on and on.  Heck, you can even do email lists.

[Lum]

The question really is, what are you trying to do? If it's share files on a cablemodem (which is what it sounds like) that isn't the wisest of ideas. Even assuming you're savvy enough to avoid the constant portscanning (looks over at his "idle" connection, with its constantly strobing activity light), hosting files on your cablemodem connection is against most terms of service, and assuming those ports aren't already pre-disabled, your ISP will eventually shut them off for you.

[SurfD]

Specificly, i was looking for a good file server program that can be accessed from the internet.  Since I also agree that leaving yourself open to scans when running something like the program linked to in the first post, what about FTP options?

Anyone have any experience with FTP servers?

Essentially, I am looking for the kind of program where I have a few files i might want to let friends, or myself access from anywhere i want, and am hosting them on my PC.

[SirBruce]

FTP is the way to go, then, and both options mentioned here (Serv-U-FTP and WS-FTP) are both fine FTP servers.

Bruce