Author Topic: using an old PC as a NAS4FREE AFP fileserver  (Read 19397 times)

supernova777

  • Guest
using an old PC as a NAS4FREE AFP fileserver
« on: May 27, 2015, 11:29:57 AM »

i had made a thread on doing this sometime ago but that thread was removed

now id like to share this information... maybe this thread will be a work in progress and then i can create a more official guide but for now lets start.

My Fileserver....
Its great! i love it!
basically nas4free is a freeBSD installation that has been made easy-to-use..
the process is that u download the iso of the liveCD and burn the disc.. then insert the disc into the machine and boot from it.. then u can install the system to either a hard drive or a usb key.. be sure to use a 8gb usb thumbdrive.. if u use a 4gb drive it can work but u may run out of space so its reccommended to use 8gb or above to be sure to avoid that problem.

actually u can run it from the livecd even i think if u dont have a usb stick.. but then it doesnt save anything about your config and u would have to reconfig everytime u boot.. which may not be that often but u could do this in a crunch.

once u boot up u then config the network card ip and then access it from a browser to use the gui to config + set up.

basically u install the os to the usb thumdrive.. in a way thats called "Embedded" which means that every boot. it copies the filesystem from the usb drive to memory and runs purely from ram. using a usb drive also is desired to free up all available ports for storage drives!

you can use any motherboard that takes between 2gb ram + 8gb ram + up
more than 8gb of ram is a bit overkill for a fileserver.. my system hovers at about 27% ram used most of the time.. of the 8gb ddr3 1333 that i have installed

the motherboard i have used is a Intel Core 2 Duo Gigabyte board.. http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3960#ov
but u could even use as far back as an old Pentium III board or Athlon AMD board that supports 2-3gb of ram if u really wanted to, using UFS which requires less ram then ZFS. also if u use a non64 bit system u would need a "X86" 32bit install of the live cd to install from, rather then the usual "x64" 64bit one.

a couple of tips that i would like to pass on that ive learned painfully:
if u plan to use any PCI sata controllers (Be they pci-express or conventional)
its best to have them installed in the box and populated with hard drives FIRST (instead of adding it later on after)
before the ports on the motherboard because for some reason when u add a controller
card the ports get added in a way that offsets all the other ports..

say for example if i had 4 drives connected to the ICH sata ports on the intel board, they would show as ADA0, ADA1, ADA2, ADA3.. adding a card would then offset + shift the installed drives to be starting from ADA2, ADA3 etc (if the added card added 2 ports that is)

this isnt a huge problem  but it recently caused me the problem of the gui not being able to properly target the brand new blank drives that i added to format them. i solved this problem last night after alot of rebooting and replugging of drives into different sata ports to make sure that my original drives were connected to the first few ports in the ADA# scheme .. it was a huge pain in the ass so ill say it again, its best to have your board + number of drives figured out, if u want to leave yourself some ports to add to in the future.. make sure to plug your drives into the addon card BEFORE the built in ports on the motherboard!! will make things easier.

 NAS4FREE uses 2 different file systems.
1) UFS - standard unix file system for FreeBSD (upon which NAS4FREE runs)
2) ZFS - advanced file system supporting software RAID + more

SETTING UP WITH ZFS

ZFS offers enhanced performance + requires more ram/resources than UFS

in my box right now i have 3 x 1TB drives which i formatted as a ZFS RAIDZ1 array..
when u create a zfs, u have to create a virtual device first, which is basically grouping 2 or more drives together and selecting the type of RAID that u want to use.. then, u have to create a "pool" which is the next tier in the setup config basically..  and after creating a pool, you have to create a "dataset" which is where your data will live.. basically u can think of this as a partition, its not a partition, but its going to be used by u to copy your files to in the same way as a partition gets used/shared.



after your dataset is created u have to add the dataset to a service.. the services are many.. but the ones that i use are FTP, SMB, + AFP.  AFP is the one u want to setup if u are connecting with legacy macs.. SMB if you are conecting from modern macs + windows machines.. setting up both is a good idea. your data is then accessible from literally any machine, old or new, legacy or modern.

SETTING UP UFS

with ufs its alot simpler .. not that zfs is any more dificult, but rather can be confusing because its unfamiliar.. when formatting your disks you choose "SOFTWARE RAID" as the formatting option rather then "ZFS storage device" (duh).

after thats done u go to the Software raid section and select the tab for which raid level u want to run, raid0, raid1 or raid5. i am using mirroring for my UFS drives.. So I select RAID1.. and create a RAID1.

after the raid1 array is created it has to be formatted with the UFS filesystem, so u go back to the format menu and select UFS and the Raid array.. i called mine "2tbMirror" and it will show up in the drop down menu to format it on the format page under "Disks" dropdown in the gui.

also UFS is an older filesystem with more support on other operating systems than ZFS.. for example i choose to use UFS RAID1 Mirroring for my really important data because theres a utility called UFS explorer for windows which will let u recover data from a UFS partition .. I have done this just the other day, i had formatted the partition accidentally and it STILL let me recover my files copying off via USB 2.0 to my windows machine.. i recovered about 800GB of data perfectly! which is pretty amazing considering the partition was formatted!!
« Last Edit: May 27, 2015, 07:52:43 PM by chrisNova777 »

supernova777

  • Guest
Re: using an old PC as a NAS4FREE AFP fileserver
« Reply #1 on: May 27, 2015, 11:35:22 AM »
heres an example of the "general system info" page that shows up in the Web Gui when u access a nas4free server.

so basically if one of my 2TB drives dies.. my data is still accessible.
if one of my ZFS 1TB drives die.. my data is still accessible.
u just pop in a replacement drive and it starts to "re-synchronize"
recreating the failed drive and re-establishing redundancy protection.

the protection, combined with the performance + the Apple Mac os support achieved with AFP.. make this a WIN-WIN scenario for me.. and can do so for anyone else which is why ive taken the time to share what i know about this!!

as i shared with diehard the other day, i get speeds of between 80MB/s + 120MB/s when copying to + from this box!!! im able to copy a full 4gb dvd to the box in literally less then 30 seconds..

i imagine that the speed/performance would be very close to the 120mb/s speed alot more often if u were to use a board that supports SATA3 speeds.. (6gbps)

the performance of the network drives, when mounted on my desktop in mac os 9.. honestly.. if  i forget its a network drive it FEELS like its a local drive.. its that fast.. all file copies are FAST! like using an SSD .. its amazing. ok well maybe not fast accesstime wise like an SSD but once the transfer is started.. its FAST! i can copy full dvds to my mac os 9 desktop in just a few seconds.. its great

its honestly faster then firewire!!! only esata would be faster. and probably not by much

« Last Edit: May 27, 2015, 11:52:50 AM by chrisNova777 »

supernova777

  • Guest
Re: using an old PC as a NAS4FREE AFP fileserver
« Reply #2 on: May 27, 2015, 11:59:11 AM »
list of services  (daemons) that can be activated + shared via

supernova777

  • Guest
Re: using an old PC as a NAS4FREE AFP fileserver
« Reply #3 on: May 27, 2015, 12:00:00 PM »
statistics info on each disk

Offline DieHard

  • Global Moderator
  • Platinum Member (500+ Posts)
  • *****
  • Posts: 2360
Re: using an old PC as a NAS4FREE AFP fileserver
« Reply #4 on: May 27, 2015, 03:27:50 PM »
Thank you...This info is very valuable...

We have to see it there is an volume size limit when mounted on the OS9 desktop as an AFP Volume

supernova777

  • Guest
Re: using an old PC as a NAS4FREE AFP fileserver
« Reply #5 on: May 27, 2015, 04:11:02 PM »
no size limit that i know of.. as u can see my shares are larger then 1TB
because it communicates via AFP.. all resource forks are maintained
so u can save "Working files" on the server via drag n drop in mac os 9..
this isnt a great idea for long term storage of course.. because if u copy the files to windows or any other filesystem it will become damaged as usual.. but copying to another mac - even intel - will keep the files intact..

but yea, u could have a volume of like 10TB with a nas4free.. probably even larger.. and still mount it on mac os 9 as a drive via chooser + appletalk over ip

Offline DieHard

  • Global Moderator
  • Platinum Member (500+ Posts)
  • *****
  • Posts: 2360
Re: using an old PC as a NAS4FREE AFP fileserver
« Reply #6 on: May 27, 2015, 04:35:13 PM »
Quote
because it communicates via AFP.. all resource forks are maintained

What matters just as much is the Storage format of the server, the reason the forks are not damaged is that 1) you are using AFP and 2) The file system on the NAS is using HFS.

*** UPDATE: or 3) the file system is using UFS and a method to preserve the resource fork (as NAS4Free does)***

Quote
compatibility problems when accessing other file systems via file sharing protocols such as AFP, SMB, NFS and FTP, when storing to non-HFS volumes

For instance... if the NAS used NTFS and you used AFP the forks would still be stripped
« Last Edit: May 28, 2015, 12:41:16 AM by DieHard »

Offline mrhappy

  • Platinum Member (500+ Posts)
  • *****
  • Posts: 1152
  • new to the forums
Re: using an old PC as a NAS4FREE AFP fileserver
« Reply #7 on: May 27, 2015, 05:13:51 PM »
I need to do something like this and definitely will NEED a tutorial! ;D

supernova777

  • Guest
Re: using an old PC as a NAS4FREE AFP fileserver
« Reply #8 on: May 27, 2015, 05:31:35 PM »
diehard.. it doesnt use HFS on the NAS.. it uses UFS or ZFS... but the AFP protocol preserves the apple resource forks + metadata.. it acts as a sort of translator if u will.. intermediary bridge between the two file systems. trust me try it with a crappy old HD + a crappy old PC, even one with 1gb ram is ok for a test run.

NAS4FREE can run with NTFS but it says somewhere that you shouldnt do this and that it can cause file corruption very easily.. so basically u can add a NTFS or FAT32 drive.. and use it READ-ONLY to copy stuff to another properly set up UFS/ZFS share... but they dont reccommend u try to use NTFS or FAT32 at all. theres no need to either.

i encourage everyone interested to try it out first with some crappy old drives to get familiar with the process of setting it up.

take it for a "test drive" and u will be pretty thrilled.. i was when i first discovered the AFP daemon was 100% mac os 9 compatible!

Offline DieHard

  • Global Moderator
  • Platinum Member (500+ Posts)
  • *****
  • Posts: 2360
Re: using an old PC as a NAS4FREE AFP fileserver
« Reply #9 on: May 27, 2015, 05:54:32 PM »
Quote
diehard.. it doesnt use HFS on the NAS.. it uses UFS or ZFS... but the AFP protocol preserves the apple resource forks + metadata.. it acts as a sort of translator if u will.. intermediary bridge between the two file systems. trust me try it with a crappy old HD + a crappy old PC, even one with 1gb ram is ok for a test run.

Your translator idea is meaningless after the file is stored...it is simply impossible, no matter what the protocol used, to store things that the target file system cannot understand... simple and logical :)

Chris, please trust me since I have worked with servers for over 20 years :)

On Novell, you add "Mac Name Space" to save the Mac Resource forks, other servers have similar methods; transferring via AFP just means forks are stored when going down the wire, it also has to be stored correctly at the destination !

Quote
One of the biggest problems is the lack of complex file support in most Unix filesystems. HFS+ allows for a file to have multiple data streams: one, the data fork, contains the actual file data, and another, the resource fork contains additional resource data.

Now, I will agree there are some tricks that can be used to allow UFS to try to get it right (when it comes to storing Mac OS 9 resource forks)...
Quote
It is worth noting that the difference is behavior is in part due to the implementation of the respective filesystems. In UFS, meta-data is store with the file's inode, and inodes are stored separately from file data. In HFS+, the file meta-data is stored with the file data

So, in theory, if your version of UFS can store the resource fork in an "inode" which is stored separately, then you may be OK most of the time, but there are still some compatibility issues that can crop up.

For complete info on issues read this...
https://www.usenix.org/legacy/event/usenix2000/invitedtalks/sanchez_html/
You will get a better understanding of what I an talking about in the "Target file system"

According to this info and others I found based on UFS (with no work-arounds)...
Quote
As long as you keep Classic stuff (especially binaries) off of UFS, you should be fine. Classic apps, extensions, etc need the file forks to tell the OS what they are.
.
NAS4Free can do Mac OS 9 files without issues since steps were taken to store the resource forks in a different way. In general, there will be problems bouncing Mac OS 9 files (that are not in an archive) to and from a NAS (unless the NAS has made accommodations in its version of UFS to store the Medadata correctly and consistently, like yours appears to have).
Lastly, Again, even if you use AFP, the file system that stores the file will rip off forks it it cannot store them correctly

For OS 9 Users that want to store files to a server, IMO the safe-est and most efficient way is to use AFP to a Server that uses the HFS+ file system

For OS X Users that to store files to a server, then AFP can be used to export to HFS+, NFS and UFS mounts. As such, it should have no issue with extended attributes (which is just the Tiger-and-later extension of resource forks).
« Last Edit: May 28, 2015, 12:03:43 AM by DieHard »

supernova777

  • Guest
Re: using an old PC as a NAS4FREE AFP fileserver
« Reply #10 on: May 27, 2015, 06:38:37 PM »
this is why im telling u to take it for a test drive. because it is fully supported.

http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/3.0/htmldocs/intro.html

Quote
Netatalk is an OpenSource software package, that can be used to turn a *NIX machine into an extremely high-performance and reliable file server for Macintosh computers.

Using Netatalk's AFP 3.3 compliant file-server leads to significantly higher transmission speeds compared with Macs accessing a server via SaMBa/NFS while providing clients with the best possible user experience (full support for Macintosh metadata, flawlessly supporting **mixed environments of classic Mac OS and OS X clients**)

its the modern day equivelent to your ancient novell solution.
the performance of this software combined with modern hardware blows any  novell solution out of the water in terms of performance.

when u actually do test it + realize how incredibly fast + flawless it is.. u are gonna be doin backflips. trust me.

my number one suggestions for you.. try a PCI Sata card.. and try NAS4FREE... As soon as possible. theres realms of performance you have yet to witness!!!!!!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Filing_Protocol
Quote
The Apple Filing Protocol (AFP), formerly AppleTalk Filing Protocol, is a proprietary network protocol that offers file services for Mac OS X and original Mac OS. In Mac OS X, AFP is one of several file services supported, with others including Server Message Block (SMB), Network File System (NFS), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), and WebDAV. AFP currently supports Unicode file names, POSIX and access control list permissions, resource forks, named extended attributes, and advanced file locking. In Mac OS 9 and earlier, AFP was the primary protocol for file services.

Quote
Third-party implementations

Third party server implementations of AFP are available from a number of companies.

    An open source AFP server called Netatalk (AFP 3.3) is available for Unix-like operating systems. Netatalk v3.1, released 2013-10-28, adds Spotlight support.[7]
    Novell Open Enterprise Server supports AFP.
    Microsoft includes AFP 2.2 server support as an option in some versions of Windows (NT, 2000 & 2003). Windows NT Server (3 and 4) only supported AppleTalk, 2000 added AppleShare over IP; Services for Macintosh (SFM), was removed from Windows Server 2008 onwards.
    Novell's NetWare supports AFP.
« Last Edit: May 27, 2015, 06:50:42 PM by chrisNova777 »

Offline DieHard

  • Global Moderator
  • Platinum Member (500+ Posts)
  • *****
  • Posts: 2360
Re: using an old PC as a NAS4FREE AFP fileserver
« Reply #11 on: May 27, 2015, 06:43:13 PM »
All I am saying is that telling me it is supports Mac OS 9 files because...
Quote
It uses AFP...
Is a meaningless answer since we want to have the forum as a reference point for future visitors...
But, telling me
Quote
Is supports Mac OS 9 files because it uses AFP and they have developed a work-around to store OS 9 file with their resource forks in tact...
Are 2 very different things
:)
and your right, it may be the next best thing for Mac OS 9... so we will all have to test it out
« Last Edit: May 28, 2015, 12:07:58 AM by DieHard »

supernova777

  • Guest
Re: using an old PC as a NAS4FREE AFP fileserver
« Reply #12 on: May 27, 2015, 06:47:16 PM »
trust me dude
u will be pretty fucking excited when u see the performance of it.
mark my words!!!!!!!!

ive been saying this for almost a year.. and none of u have listened to me!!

its a dream come true for cross platform users of windows & legacy + modern macs..

Offline DieHard

  • Global Moderator
  • Platinum Member (500+ Posts)
  • *****
  • Posts: 2360
Re: using an old PC as a NAS4FREE AFP fileserver
« Reply #13 on: May 27, 2015, 06:52:27 PM »
Yes... if their implementation is solid (and it sound like it is), This is really amazing... I am an old dog, So I will stick to backing up all my Mac OS 9 files to my Mini-Raided OWC FW400 Dual Notebook HD Firewire 400 Box; all my Windows stuff goes to a Server 2008 Box via gigabit Ethernet...

Just for Now :)

supernova777

  • Guest
Re: using an old PC as a NAS4FREE AFP fileserver
« Reply #14 on: May 27, 2015, 06:53:52 PM »
mac os x is basically unix running with a gui on HFS instead of UFS....

mac os x has support for ufs aswell

check out this page:
http://www.myths.com/pub/doc/oreilly/other/Mac_OS_X_Security/0735713480_ch02lev1sec2.html

Quote
Apple supports two different filesystems on which to install Mac OS X: HFS+ and UFS. Much like the decision on whether to install the BSD Subsystem, this would seem like a question of functionality and not security, but as we shall see, there is indeed a component of security in the choice.
A Tale of Two Filesystems

HFS+, also known as Mac OS Extended format, made its debut with Mac OS 8.1 in 1998. It was developed to replace the venerable HFS (Hierarchical File System, also known as Mac OS Standard format), which had been in use by the Mac OS since 1986. The original HFS supports separate data and resource "forks," and file type and creator metadata. The volume format is also case-insensitive, and case-preserving (more on this in a bit). Among the features HFS+ brought were improved file allocation (232 file allocation blocks, up from 216), long filenames (255 characters, up from 32), Unicode filename support, extensible metadata, and larger maximum file size. By default, Apple ships their systems with HFS+ formatted volumes, and Mac OS X chooses this as its default filesystem format during the install.

UFS (also known as UNIX File System) shipped for the first time in a modern Mac operating system in 1999, when Mac OS X Server v1.0 shipped. It is a POSIX-compliant volume format based on the 4.4BSD Fast File System (FFS), and is similar to the native filesystems for most UNIX-like operating systems. It is a case-sensitive filesystem that cannot natively store multiple file forks. UFS is ignored and invisible to Mac OS 9.x and its predecessors, though UFS formatted volumes are visible and functional in the Classic compatibility environment.

this information is old.. its from 2002...
alot of the facts stated above by diehard WERE CORRECT.. but his information is a bit out of date methinks.
the AFP protocol has been advanced somehow theyve made it work..
it does store the resource forks. its 100% compatible now.. i think this was made possible with AFP v3.0 + up
« Last Edit: May 27, 2015, 07:05:41 PM by chrisNova777 »

supernova777

  • Guest
Re: using an old PC as a NAS4FREE AFP fileserver
« Reply #15 on: May 27, 2015, 07:25:56 PM »
here ive connected to my server from my quicksilver
and copied my toast 4.1 working directory from the mac to the NAS4free box

then i went on my windows pc + accessed the data to look at how its stored the files..
i enabled "hidden files" so i could see the "inodes" as u call them

take a look
it creates ._filenames to store the alternate forks

i usually dont have "hidden files" showing in windows.. so im usually oblivious to this data. but i can confirm tho that i can copy the data from the NAS4FREE box onto my windows machine.. AND BACK.. and then access it from a macos9 machine again and everything is maintained.. as long as i dont delete these other hidden "._" files everything is good

via the AFP + Netatalk server daemon it keeps everything running smooth for the mac.
« Last Edit: May 27, 2015, 08:38:37 PM by chrisNova777 »

supernova777

  • Guest
Re: using an old PC as a NAS4FREE AFP fileserver
« Reply #16 on: May 27, 2015, 07:48:31 PM »
Yes... if their implementation is solid (and it sound like it is), This is really amazing... I am an old dog, So I will stick to backing up all my Mac OS 9 files to my Mini-Raided OWC FW400 Dual Notebook HD Firewire 400 Box; all my Windows stuff goes to a Server 2008 Box via gigabit Ethernet...

Just for Now :)

when u try this u will uninstall windows server 2008  ;)
that is - if u are smart enough to LISTEN TO ME FINALLY.

supernova777

  • Guest
Re: using an old PC as a NAS4FREE AFP fileserver
« Reply #17 on: May 27, 2015, 08:03:15 PM »
the resource forks would not be maintained if u transfer to the box via FTP.

its the AFP sharing daemon that makes it work. the AFP protocol itself is what translates the resource forks & metadata to the UFS filesystem and back again.

one the files are created by copying to the box VIA afp.. then those files will always work when accessed again by a mac on the fileserver via the AFP daemon.

if u were to redownload the files that u copied to the box via AFP -- via FTP for example.. i dont think it would work.. the AFP daemon is what reconstitutes everything back to mac format properly.

Offline DieHard

  • Global Moderator
  • Platinum Member (500+ Posts)
  • *****
  • Posts: 2360
Re: using an old PC as a NAS4FREE AFP fileserver
« Reply #18 on: May 27, 2015, 11:50:06 PM »
Chris, I am NOT arguing with you.  The benefits of NAS4free over a traditional server used for File sharing is very clear :)

I am just trying to explain a few things because you are using a lot of terms interchangeably, and there are some basics that have NOT changed since the beginning...

To clarify...
Quote
The Apple Filing Protocol (AFP), formerly AppleTalk Filing Protocol, is a proprietary network protocol that offers file services for Mac OS X and original Mac OS

Now, just to be absolutely clear, the "network protocol" part of this statement has not changed (even up to the version of Nas4free) that you are running.  I am just trying to show (who ever may ready this), that there are 2 distinct parts of Any NAS... There are Network Protocols, and there are File systems with file system protocols, both of which are very different...
Quote
AFP versions 3.0 and greater rely exclusively on TCP/IP (port 548 or 427) for establishing communication, supporting AppleTalk only as a service discovery protocol. The AFP 2.x family supports both TCP/IP (using Data Stream Interface) and AppleTalk for communication and service discovery. Many third-party AFP implementations use AFP 2.x, thereby supporting AppleTalk as a connection method. Still earlier versions rely exclusively on AppleTalk. For this reason, some older literature refers to AFP as "AppleTalk Filing Protocol". Other literature may refer to AFP as "AppleShare," the name of the Mac OS 9 (and earlier) AFP client.

So, I think what is bugging me is that some may read this and think that AFP and an AFP "Server" are the same thing... where AFP is a "networking protocol" and an "AFP Server" may have many components involved (the AFP Networking, File System services, and more bundled together). So in our context, talking about NAS4Free, The Netatalk AFP Server in one of your above quotes utilizes the AFP network protocol to transfer data to/from the client and the NAS hard drive, but it obviously has more components.

« Last Edit: May 28, 2015, 08:17:13 AM by DieHard »

supernova777

  • Guest
Re: using an old PC as a NAS4FREE AFP fileserver
« Reply #19 on: May 28, 2015, 08:13:38 AM »
just try it out...
with an old pc and a usb stick
 8)

supernova777

  • Guest
Re: using an old PC as a NAS4FREE AFP fileserver
« Reply #20 on: June 10, 2015, 12:03:18 PM »
just tested my server with yosemite 10.10.3 (newest OS X?)
and it works great  8)
was worried it wouldn't be compatible.

Offline Protools5LEGuy

  • Global Moderator
  • Platinum Member (500+ Posts)
  • *****
  • Posts: 2742
Re: using an old PC as a NAS4FREE AFP fileserver
« Reply #21 on: June 10, 2015, 12:50:30 PM »
just tested my server with yosemite 10.10.3 (newest OS X?)
and it works great  8)
was worried it wouldn't be compatible.
Last OSX is El Capitán!!!  ;D ;D ;D
Looking for MacOS 9.2.4

supernova777

  • Guest
Re: using an old PC as a NAS4FREE AFP fileserver
« Reply #22 on: June 10, 2015, 07:09:36 PM »
yes but elcapitan is like a subset of yosemite isnt it?
like as in mtn lion was to lion..
at least thats what i figured because el capitan is actually part of yosemite..
the rock face i mean
the real place + object its named after

Offline chrisNova777

  • Veteran Member (100+ Posts)
  • ****
  • Posts: 161
  • New Member
Re: using an old PC as a NAS4FREE AFP fileserver
« Reply #23 on: January 15, 2023, 01:13:09 PM »
still really surprised noone from the macos9lives community ever clued into this AFP file server goodness

using a PC as a NAS fileserver is an amazing solution for retro computer enthusiasts because it eliminates all the compatibility bullshit in one go, u dont have to worry about versions of USB, versions of FIREWIRE, resource forks etc because it just works.. and turns gigabit ethernet into a godsend... and you can mount the network share natively in macos9 and use it as though it was a drive inside the mac over the ethernet connection...  seamlessly bridges the gap between old + new systems, possibly the best thing i ever figured out

Offline smilesdavis

  • Platinum Member (500+ Posts)
  • *****
  • Posts: 729
  • New Member
Re: using an old PC as a NAS4FREE AFP fileserver
« Reply #24 on: January 15, 2023, 02:39:05 PM »
nice, how to set it up?
Looking for: Steinberg Cubase MAC Standard/Score v1-5 & Cubase Audio v1, Cubase Audio v2 for, Cubase Audio v3 for DAE/TDM => complete or in parts

Offline chrisNova777

  • Veteran Member (100+ Posts)
  • ****
  • Posts: 161
  • New Member
Re: using an old PC as a NAS4FREE AFP fileserver
« Reply #25 on: January 15, 2023, 04:28:25 PM »
quick version of an answer to that is:
u need an oldPC i use an Intel Core2 with maxed out RAM; and a few hard drives...
it installs from a usb thumbdrive or a cdrom
then it boots to BSD(like Unix/Linux) and gives a command line interface for configuring the IP address etc then you access it remotely from a webbrowser to use the GUI

you enable which daemon services you want to serve the data from, FTP, AFP, Samba(SMB)
AFP server is the one that makes the magic happen with the macs.. native file support

whether you choose to use SATAII or SATAIII drives is up to your hardware...
but i can tell its nice + fast over gigabit ethernet will feel like a local SSD on your vintage mac
lets you mount the drive over the network on your desktop..

also the AFP server includes  "Enable Time Machine support" option
« Last Edit: January 15, 2023, 04:56:01 PM by chrisNova777 »