Back in 2003, I used to connect my computer on the my old 32′ TV, those huge and heavy TVs, to watch stuff from the internet, at that time, eMule was ruling the p2p community (can’t talk about USENET right? :} ). Then in 2008 I decided to build a better HTPC (Home Theater PC), a full dedicated computer connected to my TV, with good MotherBoard/VGA/SoundBoard, well, a good computer, with gaming capacities. It was good while it lasted, but you know, it was huge black box below my TV, bit noisy, but it did the job.

Early this year, I got a 2TB Lacie Network Space 2, which is a simple NAS Server, and a WD Plus Live. The WD PLUS LIVE is nothing more than a small computer with an operating system to playback videos and music. He has no storage, so it should you have to plug a thumb-drive, external hard drive on it or connect to the network, which will give access to shared files over the network, in my case, files are stored at the Network Space 2 connected to the router. When I bought the WD, I was impressed with the image quality, and how he can play heavy files without any choke. I watched the Band of Brothers show recently co-directed by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg in FULL HD 1920×1080 , where files were like 7GB for episode of 50-60 minutes. I played all over the network, and it worked perfectly.

Anyway, my Lacie NAS stopped working, some problem with the file system, but the HD was still working great. There is a way to re-format the Lacie’s file system, but it’s a pain in the as*. So that’s when I decided to build a real NAS Server, running UBUNTU and using that Network Space’s hard drive and another 1TB driving that was laying around. I based my NAS on the DIY 200U$ PC from Paul Stamatiou, I don’t even know if he still has his own NAS, but I’m really enjoin mine.

Hardware

For the hardware, I ended up with a fanless MiniITX motherboard Intel D510MO, which has a Atom processor, Gigabit ethernet (all my home network is Gigabit, so it does make a difference). I am also using a 2GB 800Mhz Kingston RAM memory, and both two SATA connectors. The MOBO has up to seven 2.0 USB and one mini PCI Express, in case I want to add more SATA drives in the future.

As I told before, I am using a 2TB HD from my old NAS, and also a 1TB HD that I had, so ≈ 3TB, good enough for now… for now!

Power supply, well, just got a regular one, but another good solution would be a tiny power supply, for example the picoPSU.

Building the case

As the MOBO is fanless, I don’t think it would be a good idea to let it locked in a box somewhere in my apartment, so I decided to build a acrylic case and leave the sides open for air circulation.
You just need to get a drill, make some holes and you are done.

Software

O/S

There is nothing better then Linux for any kind of server, and my distro of choice is UBUNTU, quick to install, easy to configure get it running smooth.

For installing it, you could use a USB stick with ubuntu on it, and set to install from the stick, and you are good to go.

When UBUNTU was installed, internet started working right away and there was no extra driver needed, just what I like about this distro.

You may want to update the packs from your server. I like using the Terminal, you can do it simply by typing:

[cc lang="bash"]sudo apt-get update[/cc]
[cc lang="bash"]sudo apt-get upgrade[/cc]

Torrenting

For downloading stuff from the internet, such as my Linux distribution, I like using torrent, the best p2p protocol ever!
I like leaving torrent open 24/7, and my choice for this task is Transmission-daemon, it runs on the background, I can access it using any Browser, iPhone using a app called iControlBits or even using a super cool and multiplatform GUI called Transmission-Gui.

You can check HERE for a detailed tutorial on how to set the daemon + Gui.

Backups

For backups, I am using Super Flexible File Synchronizer, and backing up my files via SFTP.

For backup I use SSH and RSYNC via terminal. It’s simple, light weight and funcional, you don’t need to use ShareWare software for this, and the way I’m doing it, you can even backup to your server through the internet.

I am not using any RAID to clone my disks because one is 1TB and the other is 2TB, the second reason is that I don’t really need to backup all data on that disks. My main concern is Documents and Pictures, especially pictures! So these are the files I save on both drives. What i’ve done is, I always sync my files to one folder on the NAS via SFTP, then with RSYNC and Cron, everyday at 3AM, it checks if files are the same, otherwise they sync both HDs. Maybe not the best ou easiest way, but it works.

Next month I will move to Italy for one semester, and I know I will take many Gigs of pics. University’s internet connection will probably be fast, so I will backup everything from there to my NAS Server. So if something goes wrong with my files there, I will still be able to access them from home.

So, for backing up my photos via SSH to the NAS, I always want to make an exact copy of the files on my Macbook, so the code below does the job.
You can remove the -e ‘ssh -p 224′ part if your SSH uses the default port 22. And my server IP is 192.168.1.104, you should change to your IP.

[cc lang="bash"]rsync -av –update –delete -e ‘ssh -p 224′ /home/path/to/folders user@192.168.1.104:/home/path/on/SERVER/[/cc]

Webmin

Webmin is a great application to help you manage your server. I use it to create FTP users, manage crons and much more.

“Webmin is a web-based interface for system administration for Unix. Using any modern web browser, you can setup user accounts, Apache, DNS, file sharing and much more. Webmin removes the need to manually edit Unix configuration files like /etc/passwd, and lets you manage a system from the console or remotely.” Text from Webmin’s website. There you can find all information on how to install/configure it.

You should take a look!

Apache/Mysql/PHP/PHPMyAdmin

I like building websites, I usually run websites on my own computer before launching it to the world. But I am enjoying more creating websites and accessing them from my NAS Servers.

To install all this, just time on terminal:

[cc lang="bash"] sudo apt-get install apache2 mysql-server-5.1 php5 php5-mysql php5-cli[/cc]

Your default home folder will be /var/www

FTP

Right now I am using proftpd to run all my ftp file transfers (but today I usually just transfer files over SSH). You can use WEBMIN to handle the FTP, or you can follow many tutorials found on the internet. For example THIS.

SSH

To install SSH on your server, just use this:

[cc lang="bash"]sudo apt-get install openssh-server[/cc]

A good thing to do is to change your default SSH port, it can help on the security of your server. For that, edit the config file:
[cc lang="c"]gksu gedit /etc/ssh/sshd_config[/cc] where it says PORT 22, change to something like PORT 224.

Subsonic – Free Music Streamer

OMG, I wish I knew this software before, it AMAZING! Check the description from their website, I’m highlighting what I think amazing:

“Subsonic is a free, web-based media streamer, providing ubiquitous access to your music. Use it to share your music with friends, or to listen to your own music while at work. You can stream to multiple players simultaneously, for instance to one player in your kitchen and another in your living room.

In addition to being a streaming media server, Subsonic works very well as a local jukebox. The intuitive web interface, as well as search and index facilities, are optimized for efficient browsing through large media libraries. Subsonic also comes with an integrated Podcast receiver, with many of the same features as you find in iTunes.”

Here is what I am doing, when I am home, I simply use the browser to access all my songs. As it re-sample the music files on-the-fly, I created a user that I use when I’m not home, re-sampling files to 128kbps. And when I accessing via my iPhone’s 3G network, it goes down to 64kbps (slow 3G!!!).

On my phone, I am using a App called iSub, you can configure different bit-rates if you are using Wireless or 3G, and it also caches all songs played. So I don’t need to sync songs with my iphone no more, I just listen to songs on Subsonic and then shuffle them when I on the road. I am impressed, you should check it out!

To have it up and running, there are plenty of information on the website!

Now you have some pictures of the server up and running:

If you enjoy this post, or has something to say,
just leave a commend below.

Thanks for reading

Long ago, I wrote How I Made my HTPC at my place. Time passes and things change. End of year has arrived, Christmas and everything, so I decided to upgrade my system to a more efficient and cheaper one. The new choices were using a NAS (Network Attached Storage) allowing all files can be accessed from any machine connected to the network, in this case I am using Lacie Network Space 2 2TB storage. A Gigabit router TP-LINK , so far I’m very happy with this router, although. A media player WD-PLUS Live that has an embedded Linux and play videos in various formats, even FullHD , and access online content like YouTube and some radios.

Media Center:

I will begin showing every part it:

Lacie Network Space 2 – 2TB

A NAS very powerful, relatively inexpensive and with a storage space for my current needs for backup and media like movies and TV shows.

The NAS has a good web interface, and you can even download torrents while your computer is OFF. It uses only 6W in standby mode and 12W in active mode.

You can manage your files via the Finder (I believe the Nautilus or Windows Explorer as well). Or the way I prefer, via FTP . Testing the speed via FTP I got around 30MB/s, really good for a ARM processor.

There is the possibility of hacking the device and get full SSH access, but as I do everything I need from my Macbook’s terminal or via the WDLIVE’s SSH , there is to change the hardware or the NAS.

Besides being able to access files over the network, there is also the possibility of obtaining your files by USB cable , but you will not have access to all files. When you configure your Lacie , you determine how much space is used as a network storage, and USB storage , which does not make much sense to me, but that can be some limitation on hardware / software.

Another peculiarity of this NAS is an extra USB port, where you can plug a thumb-drive or other storage device and access it from any computer in the house or even the Internet, since the Network Space 2 comes with the option to be accessed from anywhere on the Internet, through services like DYNDNS .

If you’re thinking of buying an external hard drive that don’t need to be small and portable, I find interesting in making some research about the NAS option, which is very good and practical.

Backups, backups, backups … I don’t live without them! You shouldn’t either!
Can not stand the idea of losing all my precious photos, so one of my priorities with a Storage System is the safety of my backups, which are made weekly using the Super Flexible Syncronize software, equivalent to SyncBack on a Windows PC. What I like about this program is the ability to update only what has changed.

WD PLUS LIVE

The WD PLUS LIVE is nothing more than a small computer with an operating system to playback videos and music. He has no storage, so it should you have to plug a thumb-drive, external hard drive on it or connect to the network, which will give access to shared files over the network, in my case, files are stored at the Network Space 2 connected to the router. When I bought the WD, I was impressed with the image quality, and how he can play heavy files without any choke. I watched the Band of Brothers show recently co-directed by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg in FULL HD 1920×1080 , where files were like 7GB for episode of 50-60 minutes. I played all over the network, and it worked perfectly.

The Hack:
The WD PLUS LIVE is very powerful, but it can be much more. A boy named B-RAD , has compiled a new firmware for the product by increasing its possibilities infinitely. You can access the media player via SSH and may use it to download files, torrents, unpack large files, FTP server , to access IRC (and stay connected 24 / 7 ) and anything that a computer can do via SSH , so the imagination is the limit!
This new FIRMWARE you find HERE .

Thanks for reading.
Daniel

sudo apt-get install apache2 mysql-server-5.0 php5 php5-mysql phpmyadmin

Ok, you are ready to go, but the only problem is that you can’t find the phpmyadmin folder when accessing http://localhost/ you can’t even see the folder at /var/www/ . So what you should do is:

sudo ln -sf /usr/share/phpmyadmin/ /var/www/phpmyadmin

It will link the phpmyadmin folder from /usr/share/phpmyadmin/ to /var/www/phpmyadmin
now try going to http://localhost/phpmyadmin and you are good to go!

The government decided to change the OS from VirtuOS and Windows CE from 430k electronic voting machines to linux, decreasing expenses a lot! Way to go linux! =)

Now you can check some pictures of the machine booting up:

You can check more infomation here (Brazilian-Portuguese) and here (Google translated).

You can take a look of how it looks:

This feature will be available for everyone on the next OpenOffice.org 2.4.

Watch the video below:

Well, you don’t need to miss it anymore, now you can play all those games for free using your own computer, thanks to some great programmers, emulators were made to maintain alive those entrainment classics. A lot of people know console emulators like Super Nintendo, MegaDrive, Nintendo 64, but I will show on this tutorial, how you can use the greatest (for me) emulator ever made, MAME (Mutiple Arcade Machine Emulador), where you can play games that you used to play on arcade machines and even CPS1, CPS2 or NeoGeo.

What about to have you own arcade machine, invite your friends home and have endless fun making championships. Under linux, the MAME emulator is called Xmame and it isn’t that hard to install (people tent to make things complicated). If you use UBUNTU, congratulation, you just need to type the command on your terminal “sudo apt-get install xmame-x xmame-sdl” to have the emulator installed automatically from the internet. If you are using another distro, you can go to http://x.mame.net and get the right version for you.

After having Xmame installed, it’s time to install a graphic front-end, or you can use it thought command-line, but I don’t like it very much. In this tutorial we gonna use a interface called Gxmame, that is a GTK interface, and works very well with Gnome. If you use KDE, you can go for the Kmame.

The stable version of Gxmame doesn’t work with the last version of MAME, so to make all work, we’re going to install the CVS version.

Download this file:
http://surfnet.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/gxmame/gxmame_0.35beta2-1_i386.deb

On your terminal, go to the folder where you’ve downloaded the file and type this:
“sudo dpkg -i gxmame_0.35beta2-1_i386.deb”

Done, it’s installed. Now I’m going to tell how you can configure it. Don’t think you will start playing just now, there’s a few steps left.

Now go to your game folder on the menu and open Gxmame.

IMPORTANT: First we need to make Gxmame knows where the Xmame is. Go to Option > Directories, and in “Gxmame Directories” we need to say where the Xmame is, under “Xmame executable” we need to add the Xmame executable. If you are using ubuntu, the path is “/usr/games/xmame.SDL“. After that, we need to say where the roms folder is, so add it on the “ROMs path” (you can add as many paths as you want).

After that, we need to make Gxmame look for supported games, for that go to Option > Rebuild Game List, it may take a while. A huge game list will apear, if it’s blank, click on the “All Games” filter. If there’s no game at all, it means that the “Xmame executable” has failed. So go back some steps and try again.

Now it’s time to start downloading your favorite games. If you google for MAME ROMS, you will find many website that host them. But remember that due the USA LAW, you can only have the roms on your computer for 24 hours (that’s no problem, each game won’t take that much to finish ^^) unless you own the original game.

I suggest the website http://www.emuasylum.com, but there you will only be able to download 120mb/day. Or you can get roms using torrent.

Many times you will find different versions for the same game, but with different file sizes. For example, Europe, Japan versions, remember to always download the biggest version first, or it will not work.

Remember that you don’t need to unzip the games on the rom folder, you can leave it zippes as it is smaller and easier to organize. And remember that you can’t rename the roms, otherwise the emulator won’t find them.

Now let’s select the “Available“, it will show the games we have till now, in case it’s blank, double check the roms folder in Option > Directories > Xmame Basic Paths > ROMs paths.

To play the game, just double-click on the game name. If you want you can change some basic configurations like video size, joystick and sound. If you want your games to look more like a Arcade game, go to Option > Default Options, and on Effects, select “scan2“.

Now you are ready to start playing your favorite arcade games on your linux box.
Anything just leave a comment.
Thanks for readying

Although 220-601 as well as 70-290 are both required to clear the eligibility criteria for VCP-310. Many prefer doing 640-802 only.

So take a look yourself…

New color pallet:

If you want to see more, take a look at this link.
Art ideas:

Wallpapers concepts:

For a quick update, you can type on your terminal this commands:

• sudo apt-get update
• sudo apt-get upgrade -y
• sudo apt-get autoremove
• sudo apt-get autoclean

But it isn’t that handy, a bunch of code to type every time. You can create a new alias which will make all those codes at once, so it will be way faster!

Here is what you can do:

With graphical interface, Alt+F2:

gedit .bashrc

In text mode, terminal:

vim .bashrc

At the end of the file, add this line:

alias update=’sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get -y upgrade && sudo apt-get -y autoremove && sudo apt-get -y autoclean’

Save the file, and type on the terminal

source ~/.bashrc

Now the next time you want to update your system you just need to type “update” on the terminal and all will be updated.

Thanks for readying