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The folks behind Opera recently announced it has added new technology to the Web browser enabling users to turn their computers into individual servers.

According to the company, users designate the directory they wish to share with their buddies and Opera Unite generates a direct URL to that directory for distribution to others. While sending that URL to a few close friends is unlikely to cause any infringement concerns, it’s easy to imagine mailing lists consisting of hundreds of thousands of potential down loaders waiting for that specific URL.

Along with file swapping, Opera Unite also provides a media player enabling users to listen to their private digital music stash wherever they may be. Other features include “The Lounge” – a self-contained chat service you can run on your computer, and “Fridge,” which gives users a virtual refrigerator for posting notes.

While Opera Unite may be full of whiz-bang whistles and bells, as soon as the company announced the new technology, tech bloggers cited possible security problems as well as local area network (LAN) issues. With internal corporate networks often experiencing congestion problems, it’s easy to speculate as to how those problems might grow if individual computers become Web servers.

But those security concerns are based on how writers think Opera Unite may work, and are not necessarily descriptive of how the technology actually performs in the real world. Plus, when you consider how Internet technology in general often focuses on providing individual users with more power, turning desktop computers into servers is a concept that would eventually have become reality – with or without Opera Unite.

“With sever capability in the browser, Web developers can create Web applications with profound ease,” said Opera CEO Jon von Tetzchner. “Consumers have the flexibility to choose private and efficient ways of sharing information. We believe Opera Unite is one of our most significant innovations yet, because it changes forever the fundamental fabric of the Web.”

Source: pollstar.com/blogs/news/archive/2009/06/17/673678.aspx

Step1: Determine the number of users who will access the server simultaneously. If the answer is 10 or fewer, the file server can be built with very modest hardware. If more than 10 users will need to access the server on a consistent, concurrent basis, consider using a faster computer with more RAM for greater performance.

Step 2: Choose an operating system for the server. This is often a matter of preference or comfort level. Linux or other free Unix-based operating systems will run on modest hardware with high performance if a graphical user interface is not installed.

Step 3: Select a hard disk with the capacity to share your files. The types of files shared will determine the size hard disk you need. If most of the files that will be served are text, word processing files or spreadsheets, a hard disk of 60 or 80 gigabytes will suffice, since these types of files are relatively small. However, if you plan on sharing music, videos, or large database files, choose a disk that has several hundred gigabytes of capacity.

Step 4: Purchase a new or used PC or build your own. Low cost, budget PCs from any of the major retailers will meet the hardware requirements for most small Linux or Windows-based file sharing applications. If using Linux or an older version of Windows for a smaller server, an older spare PC can be used, or you can get one secondhand pretty cheap. The only absolutely necessary requirement for a file server machine must meet is an Ethernet card to connect to your home or office network.

Step 5: Install extra RAM if needed. Smaller file servers will get by with 256 megabytes of RAM, while higher performance computers will need 512 megabytes or more. The more users, the more RAM you'll need.

Step 6: Install the operating system and turn the file sharing capabilities on. If using Linux for a server that will be sharing files with Windows computers, install the Samba server package on the server. If using Windows on the server, turn on file and print sharing via the administrative tools or control panel.

Source: Ehow

Following are the steps:

Step 1: Make sure your computer is up to snuff. It doesn't take a lot to build a print server. All you need is a machine with a 386 processor or faster, 8 megs of RAM, a parallel port and a floppy drive.

Step 2: Install an ethernet network adapter card. If the machine doesn't already have an ethernet port, you'll need to install one. It doesn't have to be up-to-date either, an old 10 Mbps PCI card ought to do the trick.

Step 3: Install winzip and winimage. You'll need these programs to unpack the printer server software. Visit the Winzip and Winimage websites and read how to download and install it (see Resources below for links).

Step 4: Download the print server software. We'll be using a free print server from Pigtail.net. See the link below in Resources to download.

Step 5: Download a network card driver. You'll need a file called modules.lrp. There are many different versions of it, however, so follow the link for a modules.lrp list in the Resources section.

Step 6: Open winimage. If you installed it to the default directory, you'll need to click "Run" and then type C:\winimage\winimage.exe.

Step 7: Create a disk image. Drag and drop the printsrv image into the winimage window. This is the file you downloaded in Step 3. Next, drag and drop the modules.lrp file in.

Step 8: Save the image onto a disk. Insert a blank disk into your A drive and click Disk | Write.

Step 9: Connect your printer and power up. Connect the print server to the network. Connect a printer to the print server with a parallel printer cable, insert the disk you just wrote and boot it up. It will beep 3 times to indicate that it is ready.

Step 10: Set up client printers. In XP, click Start | Control Panel | Printers and Faxes | Add a printer | Local Printer. Uncheck "Auto Detect PnP." Click "Create new port" and then "Standard TCP/IP port." Type in the IP address as 192.168.1.252, the port name as PrintSrv and under Custom | Settings | Raw | Port, type in 9100.

Tips & Warnings

* Some printers, such as the Brother 2070N and the Dell 1710N, are able to act as a print server.
* If your network is not on 192.168.1.x, simply replace etc.lrp from the list in the resources.
* This print server does not support USB printers.

Source: ehow.com/how_2034850_build-server-computer.html

AutoVirt, the emerging leader in fully automated online data migration solutions for mid-range Windows environments (www.autovirt.com). (PRNewsFoto/AutoVirt, Inc.)

Will Highlight AutoMove(TM) Automated Data Migration, AutoClone(TM) Lightening Fast Data Replication, and AutoMap(TM) Network Discovery and Mapping

NASHUA, N.H., May 18 /PRNewswire/ --

When: Wednesday, May 20, from 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. EDT

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081014/NETU030LOGO )

Where: To learn more, register and attend this live virtual event, please visit: https://www.techwebonlineevents.com/ars/eventregistration.do?mode=eventreg&F=1001561&K=MAA2.

What: AutoVirt will feature its industry leading data migration and replication solutions for Windows environments, including:

* AutoMove(TM) -- Automated File Server Virtualization Software: By leveraging advanced file virtualization technology, AutoMove, the industry's first continuous data migration (CDM) solution, allows IT management to fully-automate the data migration and management function across their entire Windows environment. By automating this process, businesses benefit from consistently optimized storage resources and the resulting dramatic decrease in capital and operational expenditures (CapEx and OpEx).
* AutoClone(TM) -- Fast and Efficient Windows Data Replication: AutoClone helps IT Management to dramatically increase the speed (up to 20 times faster than competitors) and efficiency of their Windows data replications, in order to ensure resource optimization, data protection, consistency and availability, as well as disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity.
* AutoMap(TM) -- Network Discovery and Mapping Tool: AutoMap helps IT Management discover under and over utilized Windows file server and network attached storage (NAS) resources, in physical, virtualized and mixed environments. Once identified, they are able to fine-tune these assets and defer additional server and NAS purchases.

Source:http://news.prnewswire.com/ViewContent.aspx?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/05-18-2009/0005028134&EDATE=

Microsoft has added many features to Windows Server 2008 R2, and once you install the roles and features to add these modular goodies to your implementation, there are many impressive new things you can do. In this post, I am going to look at a new feature that works for Windows Server 2008 R2 File Servers called File Classification Infrastructure.

To use the classification features, you will need to install File Server Role and the File Server Resource Manager feature(s) associated with it. To install the File Server Role, complete the following steps:

1. Open the Server Manager.
2. Scroll down to section 3, Customize This Server.
3. Click Add Roles to add server roles.
4. Select the File Services Role and complete the roles wizard.

Once the needed roles are installed, the File Server Resource Manager (FSRM) console can be launched by selecting it from the Administrative Tools group or by entering fsrm.msc in the search box on the Start menu.

Why classify data?

Classifying data can help make data more accessible (or less accessible) to the users in your environment who need it. For example, suppose the Human Resources department created a folder on the file server within their department called Litigation. In this folder they place files that are needed for any litigation the company is associated with. The permissions on the folder are configured so that HR employees can edit the contents of the folder and add documents. Senior management can read the documents in the litigation folder, and the HR manager can remove documents that are no longer needed.

The question is, how is it determined that a document is no longer needed and how do we apply these criteria to existing files in such a way that minimizes user interaction with them? The new classification feature in Windows Server 2008 R2 makes it possible to automatically assign classification information to files on file servers and apply policy to them based on that information.

Classification in Windows Server 2008 R2 consists of several elements: properties, rules, and a policy segment including reporting and file management. Properties are the fields that you wish to assign a value for, and the rules are the criteria that set these values. There are other methods of classification available as well, including applications and scripts. More detailed examination of the methods of configuring the File Classification Infrastructure will follow in a future post.

To expire files, consider moving the files that meet a set of conditions, perhaps the last modified date greater than 30 days, to a different folder that an administrator can manually clean up at his or her leisure. Or you can create another rule, using a script, that can purge on a schedule, configured by the choice of the administrator or IT staff.

Source: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/networking/?p=1441