[Samba] Raspberry Pi Version of Samba?

Robert Wooden
Wed, 23 Sep 2020 11:41:57 -0000

Everybody,
In my case I used a RPi as an additional DC for a month or so while making
some Samba4 AD improvements to the main DC's.

My main DC's run on some nanopc Intel J1800 (cpu) based fanless (about
5" x
5" x 2") box's that by spec sheet draws a maximum of 15W to run on
full
load. As a DC they never run on full load. These boxes are actually
designed to be run 24/7 as firewall device, PfSense, OPNsense, Untangle,
etc.

I found a manufacturer that I could buy these devices without wifi radio
(in my case) but, it is an available option if you think you need it.
Sorry, not going to advertise the manufacturer name but if you search
enough you'll find them online.

That RPi was demoted and reconfigured to a different job on the network and
has been running for over a year with the same microsd card. No device
failure as yet. Any device running as a DC seldom spikes the cpu while
maintaining the network doing their Samba 4 job.

I did not use the RPi as a permanent DC because, like you, I was sceptical
of the reliability of the hardware. I don't think it was designed or
intended to be run 24/7 like these nanopc's are.

I have two nanopc that are coming up on five years running 24/7 without any
hardware failure, as yet.

On Tue, Sep 22, 2020 at 8:21 PM Gregory Sloop via samba <
samba at lists.samba.org> wrote:

> Ha! You're the exception to every rule!
> That's a sweet setup though!
> Way cheaper sacrificing a Pi to the god Zeus. LOL.
>
> Do go look at XCP-NG, if you're not familiar.
> Really nice.
> Open source and free.
>
> Cheers!
> -Greg
>
>
> PRGvs> On 9/22/20 2:14 PM, Gregory Sloop via samba wrote
> >> As an old sage (curmudgeon if you like) I'd encourage people
to really
> consider if the Pi is really what you want.
> >> For me, it's not - even though it's a totally cool device
conceptually.
> They're a ton of fun to tinker with too.
> PRGvs> I am also an old guy and didn't want to use the Rpi for this
> purpose.
> PRGvs> However, many years ago I turned off our land lines and had a
> Sprint
> PRGvs> femtocell in the house serving as the base station for our cell
> phones.
> PRGvs> My wife and I just used our cell phones as our main phones. For
> that to
> PRGvs> work a good GPS antenna was necessary (the little antenna which
> came
> PRGvs> with the femtocell just didn't work given the femtocell
location
> and GPS
> PRGvs> signal). I chose an active Trimble Bullet III GPS Antenna
requiring
> a 5V
> PRGvs> supply that was compatible with the femtocell and could be roof
> mounted.
> PRGvs> Once WiFi calling became available, Sprint dropped support for
the
> PRGvs> femtocell. So I added a Trimble RES 360 Carrier Board and Rpi2
and
> PRGvs> created a Strata I time server. In July of 2017 a lightening
strike
> took
> PRGvs> everything out (despite the lightening arrestor) so I migrated to
> RPI3
> PRGvs> with a GPS Networking L1GPSA-N L1 Roof Antenna. I split the GPS
> signal
> PRGvs> and have two RPI3s each with a Trimble RES 360 Carrier Board.
Since
> I
> PRGvs> already have this hardware providing approximately 1uS time
> accuracy
> PRGvs> (wouldn't want to be late for dinner), I thought I might try
using
> them
> PRGvs> for ADs too.
> >> For something like a MAME I'd say go for it.
> >> Samba/ADDC? Probably not.
>
> PRGvs> I agree with you but circumstances (such as I retired) made me
> change my
> PRGvs> mind. I have Dell R710s one of which functions as my AD as well
as
> PRGvs> performing other server tasks. I prefer to run CentOS 7 but given
> RHEL's
> PRGvs> refusal to support Samba AD functionality I have been using the
> Sernet
> PRGvs> packages. I thought if I used the RPI3s for the AD I could use
the
> Samba
> PRGvs> source directly. I only use the AD for my home network and and a
> PRGvs> non-profit Alaskan malamute rescue website I support so running
> Samba is
> PRGvs> somewhat a hobby. Since I presently have only 1 AD using the two
> RPI3s
> PRGvs> would allow me to run two ADs so given that I presently only have
> one AD
> PRGvs> that might mitigate some of the potential issues should one of
the
> RPI3s
> PRGvs> fail.
>
> PRGvs> A better idea, which I had not thought of until your message,
would
> be
> PRGvs> to run a Debian or Ubuntu virtual machine on the Dell R710 and
> install
> PRGvs> the AD there. Then I could directly use Louis's packages.
This
> option is
> PRGvs> very agreeable.
>
> PRGvs> --
> PRGvs> Paul (ganci at nurdog.com)
> PRGvs> Cell: (303)257-5208
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