FreeNAS to Ubuntu: Torrent Server (Transmission)
If you're coming from FreeNAS 7 to Ubuntu, you remember the very handy torrent server that was built in. Well we can exactly replicate that with Transmission's and its WebGUI. A torrent server provides you a great way to download torrents directly to your server. It also allows you to constantly seed torrents, even when your main computers are off. I use this to host copies of OS's (such as Ubuntu!) so other people can download them faster.
Installing Minecraft On Ubuntu
Minecraft has become one of the most popular games among geeks. Unlike many games, it runs fantastically (actually better in my case) than on Windows! However, the installation process is a bit more involved. This guide will help you get it installed and running smoothly.
FreeNAS to Ubuntu: Initial Fileserver Setup with ZFS
Background: I have always loved FreeNAS. It was one of the first servers I ever set up, back in the day in my parent's basement. It was running on a Pentium 3, 933MHz, 256MB of RAM, and about 500GB of storage space. Eventually, it got upgraded to a real piece of server hardware, more drives, etc. When they announced the buyout by iX Systems and the upgrade to version 8 with a complete rewrite, I was skeptical. I've tried their new software, and I wasn't overly impressed. I've been having various issues on v7 as well, mostly related to ZFS and random crashes. v8 is much more enterprise oriented, and dropped the fun bits for home servers, such as torrent server and UPnP, for media streaming. I bought 4 new 2TB drives and an external enclosure, and tried to reinstall FreeNAS to start fresh. No such luck, and after a few hours of crashes on start, I gave up and decided, it's time to go with Ubuntu, like the rest of my house, with ZFS of course.
SSH in Chrome OS and Chromebooks
One problem a lot of people seem to have is using the odd SSH client on Chromebooks and in Chrome OS. Chrome OS uses a shell called crosh, which may stand for "Crippled, read only shell". Here's how to use SSH to connect to servers.
Minecraft Server on Ubuntu
So I finally gave in and joined the craze that is Minecraft. It is a highly addictive game, so I would highly recommend against playing it while you have stuff to do, though you get 25% off while it is in beta, so go buy it (not an affiliate link, just love the game). A couple people that I work with love the game, and I love servers, so I figured we should set up our own server! I grabbed some hardware (A Dell GX620 with a Pentium D and 4GB of RAM), and got started. Here's how you can set up your own server, along with some tips I've found to make life much easier.
Automated WordPress Install with Nginx Script
It is a pain to follow my own tutorial over and over for each domain. So I automated it! This script is tested ONLY on the official Ubuntu 10.04 32 bit AMI in a tiny instance, following the install instructions . I have yet to test it anywhere else, but if it works for you, please leave a comment at the bottom with your configuration. Also, if any Bash gurus have tips for the script, your input would be very much appreciated.
Supercharge WordPress with Caching on Amazon EC2
In my previous article, I showed you how using nginx and PHP5-fpm could cut down on your memory usage and speed up your site. However, it wasn't fast enough. We are going to make it even faster. To do this, we are going to use multiple types of caching and a CDN (Amazon S3) to make our data closer to our users, among a few other tweaks. This will also shrink all of our code (HTML, CSS, and Javascript), much like the PageSpeed module Google provides for Apache.
Nginx and WordPress on Amazon EC2
I'm bored with Apache. And it is slowing down my server (though part of that is probably my lack of awesome tuning abilities). It feels too much like old software that is in dire need of being rewritten for today's server requirements and I don't like that it requires a lot of tuning to get it to work well in small server situations. It certainly has a place (I'm told), but so far, I haven't figured out where that is. Both my Django projects and WordPress sites are easily migratable to nginx (officially pronounced "engine x", but I can't stop saying "N jinx"), and the performance I've seen posted on the web is astonishing. See this blog post, forwarded to me via @WurvHosting for a great script to do something quite similar.
Bullet Proof ProFTPD
Ever needed an FTP server? Need it to be easy to work with? Look no farther than ProFTPD on Ubuntu! Here's how to install it, then secure it. If the tutorial works or doesn't work, please leave a comment at the end, so I can improve my tutorials.
@ServerCobra Twitter
- Kraft removed their case of Mac & Cheese from Amazon Subscribe and Save. RIP. #fb
- So @YouTube just dropped an ad in the middle of my video. WTF? If you want more ad time, put it at the beginning. Come on Google. #fb
- RT @kalienang: I miss #democrabeeps @vangachnang @ServerCobra
- RT @news3jessica: Federal Judge in redistricting case gives parties until 5:30pm tonight to see if legislature can fix redistricting issues via @wispolitics
- @jaydrogers Wonder if we'll be buying AppleBooks shortly? or iBooks again.
