Linux Debian support - Simple network, 2 PC's

Author

Simple network, 2 PC's

Iva Biggun

2007-08-12, 1:14 am

Hi all,
I want to set up a simple network with just 2 PC's, one Debia
(sid), the other 64studio. It will be using NFS. Now what I would like to
know is, to have 2 way access, PC1 can access PC2, and PC2 can access
PC1, do I need to have each machine set up as both Server & Client, eg,
will both have to have nfs-kernel-server installed?

I have followed several Howto's, which say to set up one as a server and
one as a client, but I am unsure whether this will give 2 way access. I
have had it set up, and the client could access the server, but the
server could not access the client. So I thought they both may need to be
servers and clients, which I tried, but with the same result.

I now have fresh installs of sid and 64 studio, and would like to try
again, so would appreciate to know whether or not I need the server
software installed on both PC's, before I proceed.

2 Pc's connected to a 4 port router

Thanks

--
Iva Biggun

Biffster

2007-08-12, 1:12 pm

On 2007-08-12, Iva Biggun <IvaBiggun@nowhere.com> rambled on thusly:

> I want to set up a simple network with just 2 PC's, one Debia
> (sid), the other 64studio. It will be using NFS. Now what I would like to
> know is, to have 2 way access, PC1 can access PC2, and PC2 can access

What exactly do you mean by "access?" NFS is a method of sharing
directories on a network. You set up a shared directory on one machine, and
other(s) can access it. The machine the share resides on can access it too,
of course, since it is a local directory on that machine.

So, for example, suppose you share /usr/local/data1 on PC1. You can still
read and write files to that local directory. However, you could also mount
that directory on PC2, say at /remote/data1. On PC2, you can read and write
files to that directory (assuming permissions, of course).

Now if you want to share different directories from both PCs, then you
could set up both PCs to export shares. But it would be just as easy to
share the directory on one PC and mount it on the other.

In other words, I recommend having only one server.

--
Michael Fierro (aka Biffster) biffster@NOSPAM-REALLYgmail.com
http://apt-get.us Y!: miguelito_fierro AIM: mfierro1
-==-
It's OKAY -- I'm an INTELLECTUAL, too.

Iva Biggin

2007-08-13, 7:12 am

On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 11:02:37 -0500, Biffster wrote:

> On 2007-08-12, Iva Biggun <IvaBiggun@nowhere.com> rambled on thusly:
>
>
> What exactly do you mean by "access?" NFS is a method of sharing
> directories on a network. You set up a shared directory on one machine,
> and other(s) can access it. The machine the share resides on can access
> it too, of course, since it is a local directory on that machine.
>
> So, for example, suppose you share /usr/local/data1 on PC1. You can
> still read and write files to that local directory. However, you could
> also mount that directory on PC2, say at /remote/data1. On PC2, you can
> read and write files to that directory (assuming permissions, of
> course).
>
> Now if you want to share different directories from both PCs, then you
> could set up both PCs to export shares. But it would be just as easy to
> share the directory on one PC and mount it on the other.
>
> In other words, I recommend having only one server.

Hi,
Thanks for your reply, yes I think I understand how it works, and what
your getting at, but what I want is for PC 1 to be able to access files
on PC2, and PC2 to be able to access files on PC1. With one PC purely as
a server, and one purely as a client, how is the server able to access
files on the client?

If I had a share set up on the 'server' PC, (PC1), I can access that of
course from PC1, it's local, I can also mount it on PC2 and access it, no
problem there. But if I'm on PC1(server), and want to access something
that is on PC2, but /from/ PC1, then I would have to physically go to PC2
and place that file in the share of PC1 to be able to access it on PC1.
It would be much easier to be able to just access it directly from PC1.

> Now if you want to share different directories from both PCs, then you
> could set up both PCs to export shares.

This is what I want to do, so what I want to know is, to acheive this, I
would have to set each PC up as both a server /and/ client, by installing
both the nfs server and client software on both machines, and setting up
the required files for both server and client on both machines. Is this
the correct way to go about it?

Forgive me if I am misunderstanding something, or if I am not explaining
myself very well, it's just a little confusing for me, on Windows it was
easy, username/password/ip address, and access files on either PC /from/
either PC.

Anyway, Thanks

--
Iva Biggin

Iva Biggin

2007-08-13, 7:12 am

Well I have received input from some folk at some Linux and Debian
forums, it seems I am on the right track to achieve what I want, so I
will now go and try to get it set up and working.

--
Iva Biggin

Iva Biggin

2007-08-13, 7:12 am

I have it working now the way I want it, excellent, lets just hope when I
boot up tomorrow everything is still working.

--
Iva Biggin

AJackson

2007-09-03, 1:16 pm

On Aug 13, 1:15 pm, Iva Biggin <IvaBig...@nowhere.com> wrote:
> I have it working now the way I want it, excellent, lets just hope when I
> boot up tomorrow everything is still working.

Look out for dependencie problems. If PC1 needs files from PC2 and
PC2 needs files from PC1 to boot up, you are tosted,

You could always use autofs to get to NFS shares on any machine. I
use that and don't get those "hard" dependecies.
You could always use ssh (or actually scp) from you desktop. That is
usefull to get files to/from machines you do have a ssh account on.

Wich solution that is good/best depends on how you want to use the
files, how large they are, what kind etc...