Raspberry Pi 4 NFS/Samba File Server for NS/OS, Linux, Mac and Windows

[Nitro]

   I've wanted to build an inexpensive and efficient file server for a long time, and I noticed that a few people here and around the web have used a Raspberry Pi to build one. It would be nice to be able to share files between NEXTSTEP, OPENSTEP, Linux, Mac and Windows. It would also be nice to use parts that are already sitting idle on the shelf. I started with a Raspberry Pi 4 model with 4GB of RAM. It has a first-gen low-profile ICE Tower Heat Pipe heatsink. The LED fan has been replaced with a Noctua 40mm 5V fan running at 3.3V through a 3 pin pigtail. The heatsink hex standoffs have been replaced with slightly shorter ones so that thermal paste could be used instead of the provided thermal pad for better cooling performance. The Pi case is a simple bathtub unit from the PiHut, although I hope in the future to move it to a 3D printed Cube case designed by Nina Makes. The file storage/boot drive is a Samsung 2TB SSD with a StarTech (USB312SAT3CB) SATA to USB adapter. I tried two other SATA to USB adapters that didn't work, so I consulted this web page to find one that would. When the Pi was fired up for the first time it complained of low voltage with the official RPI power supply. I switched to a 3.5A power supply from CanaKit and the issue went away.



Rather than go through the setup process step by step I'll just point to the articles that I used for reference. The first task was to install Raspberry Pi OS and set up the Pi to boot off of the SSD.

https://www.pragmaticlinux.com/2021/12/directly-boot-your-raspberry-pi-4-from-a-usb-drive/
https://www.pragmaticlinux.com/2021/03/fix-for-getting-your-ssd-working-via-usb-3-on-your-raspberry-pi/

The next task was to set up NFS for NS/OS and Linux access.

https://pimylifeup.com/raspberry-pi-nfs/

https://www.jonandnic.com/2020/08/28/nextstep-openstep-nfs-file-share-with-a-raspberry-pi/



Up next was to install Samba for Mac and Windows access.

https://pimylifeup.com/raspberry-pi-samba/

It took quite a bit of wrestling with different settings to get things working but I was finally able to simultaneously connect to the NFS/Samba server with a Turbo Color running OPENSTEP 4.2, a PC running Ubuntu 22.04 and another PC running Windows 10. If you look under the OPENSTEP home icon below it says "1735GB available on remote disk", which is ~1.7TB. NFS for the win.


(Click to enlarge)

[wizard]

What version of Samba are you running?

[Nitro]

On the server it's showing 4.13.13-Debian. I haven't tested Mac access so I don't know if that works or not.

[Nitro]

It looks like the Pi 5 is just around the corner so this server may be short-lived.

[pTeK]

@Nitro When did you get your RPi 4G?

This Covid chip shortage has been nothing but a pain in the @$$. I was wanting to get a FRDM-KL25Z micro-controller board as it is Arduino Pin compatible, has ARM CPU and built in accelerometer to prototype for a drone and the availability on the web was always for the following year 

I hope that RPi foundation gets the Rpi shortage sorted, would be cool if they were like NeXT and used RPis to control the manufacturing machines. Would be great publicity.

[Nitro]

I purchased the Pi 4's soon after they were released, so that was before the shortage. The Pi 5 should be a nice upgrade.