From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Nov 20 23:40:33 2007 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 7E6FD16A417 for ; Tue, 20 Nov 2007 23:40:33 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from iaccounts@ibctech.ca) Received: from pearl.ibctech.ca (pearl.ibctech.ca [208.70.104.210]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4341B13C45D for ; Tue, 20 Nov 2007 23:40:33 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from iaccounts@ibctech.ca) Received: (qmail 56507 invoked by uid 1002); 20 Nov 2007 23:40:32 -0000 Received: from iaccounts@ibctech.ca by pearl.ibctech.ca by uid 89 with qmail-scanner-1.22 (spamassassin: 2.64. Clear:RC:1(208.70.104.100):. Processed in 7.800943 secs); 20 Nov 2007 23:40:32 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO ?192.168.30.110?) (steve@ibctech.ca@208.70.104.100) by pearl.ibctech.ca with (DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA encrypted) SMTP; 20 Nov 2007 23:40:24 -0000 Message-ID: <47437075.2010005@ibctech.ca> Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 18:40:37 -0500 From: Steve Bertrand User-Agent: Thunderbird 2.0.0.6 (Windows/20070728) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Enigmail-Version: 0.95.5 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: Data management (devel) and network size increase X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 23:40:33 -0000 I know there are quite a few members here who have grown through ranks and network size increases since I've joined this list, hence I'll ask my question here. Pardon the length, but if you follow through, I'm certain I'll get good feedback. Problem: Our network has grown exponentially in the last few years (without extensive forward-looking thought), and I have development work, data files etc on each server that has been implemented. Todo: Overhaul the entire network from Layer 1 up. Need: To be able to access data very quickly no matter what box I am on, and to do it securely. More in depth: Let's assume I have 30 servers, all within one PoP. Instead of having to SSH into server 'A' from server 'C' to look for a file I need for a program I have written (or just a normal data file), I want a way that I can have one source of ALL my data, then from ALL servers, be able to: # find /home/steve -name file.name Instead, I have to either remember (yeah, good luck), or guess what server the file is on, look for it remotely, then scp it over. For development, I had CVS set up at one point, but I found it to be too much effort for my simple tasks (I was probably using it beyond what I needed). I know about NFS, but I've heard it is a hassle to initially configure and relatively insecure. (This is not my stand, and I'm willing to be corrected). Does anyone have some recommendations on how I can consolidate my data (including development (almost all Perl)), so that it can be accessed as I would a local directory tree? Beyond that, also a suggestion on particularly the development files. If CVS is the way for that, I'll do it, but file management/access is more important. A key factor will be the ease of implementation of a new server into the mix. I have no problem throwing up a box with GELI, but it's gaining the access to the data like it were a local drive I want to make easy. Make sense? Steve