RE: Linux and firewire drives...

["Ian" <ian@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> You mentioned how good NT4 is as a media server, would you deploy it
commercially for a
> client?

No, absolutely not - NT4 on SP6a and good HCL hardware is, IMO, the most
robust server you can get your hands on, and had reached a degree of
maturity and stability that any windows coming later can only dream of...
but the lack of ongoing patching makes it a complete zero-option for a
commercial client.

Commercially, I'd only deploy two systems at this point - W2K3 (and
preferably SBS2K3) and Mitel SME 6.0 (basically, an RH8 variant). On the MS
side, 2K3 is a *lot* better than 2K, on the Linux side, I have a few Mitel
boxes in the field that have been running for years without any hassle - in
some cases, reaching the whole "we don't have a server?" level of
reliability.

> As you know, NT4 is no longer supported by Microsoft without special
arrangement. Any
> security vulnerability discovered now is unlikely to be fixed.

Yes, I agree - however, that's now starting to work on the positive side!
Symantec shipped SAV/NAV v 9 recently, and they have not updated the legacy
platforms beyond version 7.6, effectively the NT4/W2K release.

The reason being that the newer virii simply don't run on NT4 - they depend
on loopholes and exploits that don't exist. I wouldn't dream of running an
NT4 box without a firewall between it and the net, however.

I think NT4 is basically a great alternative to a NAS box - if you don't
expect it to do anything too fancy, and just run, then run it will - on and
on and on... Mine runs some xPL stuff, Azureus, VNC server, and that's all
-
and it hasn't crashed yet.

>Sorry, my misunderstanding.

Ach not at all - I was probably fishing for a good slap anyway ;)

Ian.