What is DDWRT?

What is DD-WRT?  DD-WRT is a free Linux based Operating System for a fairly broad range of routers.  Basically what you’re looking at is: DD-WRT upgrades the performance / capabilities of your router.  Most standard, retail-class routers come with basic options that are suitable for end-consumer/home-user class applications.  Many more technically-minded individuals would like increased functionality from their hardware (with preferably, minimal expense).

Router Operating Systems

Your router is controlled by the OS (Operating System) / Software that tells that router what to do.  To increase the functionality of that router therefore, one may consider replacing or editing the existing Operating System with another operating system featuring more capabilities.  DD-WRT is one such operating system and may be an option for you if you have or purchase a router that is compatible with it.

Selecting Your Router’s Operating System

How do I upgrade or replace my router’s OS (Operating System)?  In most cases, you may not have the time or knowledge necessary to create an operating system for your router.  You may therefore wish to obtain such a resource from someone that specializes in that field of development.   One of the more popular operating systems that meet such requirements is the DD-WRT OS which is developed by the DD-WRTCommunity. To determine whether DD-WRT will work on your router, visit their website and browse their list of supported routers.

Installing DD-WRT on Your Router:

1. Download the version of the firmware/OS for your model of router.

2. Follow the specific instructions (based on your router and version of the firmware you are installing) to install your new OS.

Installing DD-WRT V24 SP1 on a Linksys WRTGL:

1. Download the DD-WRT V24-SP1 from the DD-WRT website here.

2. Plug in/power-on  your Linksys WRT54GL Router and connect to it via a LAN port with an ethernet cable.

3. Open a browser such as Firefox and access the web interface (typically by typing 192.168.1.1 into the address bar or whatever IP range your router is set to).

4. Click on the “Administration” tab:

5. Click on the “Firmware Upgrade” sub-tab:

6.Be sure you are connected to your router via ethernet and NOT via Wireless. Click on the “Browse” button and select the file that you downloaded and click on the “upgrade” button.

7.  You will be presented with the new interface once your router has rebooted (if you had any settings in your router, all your settings should remain in place):

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How to unzip a tar.gz file from the linux command line:

So you’ve downloaded a tar.gz file from some place or the other on the web, but you have an issue. You do not know how to uzip this file. Here is the procedure you need to follow to unzip it:

Unzipping the file:

To unzip a tar.gz file from the command line in linux, complete the following steps in the order presented:

1. Open a “Terminal Window” or “Command Console” or the command line. (in CentOS 4.5 click on “Applications” in the menu bar, point to “System Tools” and click on “Terminal”).

2. Login as the root user (type su press enter and type in your password)

3. Go to the directory that the tar.gz file is located in. Use the command “cd” (the letter “c” followed by the letter “d” without quotation marks) followed by the directory you wish to go to. For instance if you are in the “home” directory and you wish to go to a directory/folder that is in the home directory called “testdirectory”, you would type the command “cd testdirectory” (without quotes) that will put you in the “testdirectory” directory. The point being that whatever commands you execute at the command line at this point will affect the files in that (”testdirectory” in this case) directory specifically unless you specify otherwise.

4. Type the command “tar -zxvf [filename]” (that is tar -zxvf followed by the name of the file you want to unzip). This will unzip the file and put it in a new directory (within the same directory) in the unzipped format.

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Virtual Machines

What is a “virtual machine”? Virtual Machines are the new wave of future processing. Basically, what happens in the case of a virtual machine is, a super machine is created and divided into a number of machines managed via a core operating system. After the construction of the host system (system hosting the virtual machines) a master Operating System is installed which provides virtualization capabilities on which multiple standard Operating Systems can run.

Benefits of Virtualization

Virtualization is a technology that provides many benefits. Among them are speed, centralization, and economy. When considering the benefit of speed for instance, there is a tremendous benefit as communication between machines is now available at bus speed instead of ethernet or other means of “external” communication. Centralization puts management of multiple machines at a central interface. This allows you to minimize management time windows and concentrate on other issues that are more important than maintenance routine. Bordering on economy is the minimization of physical construction. This includes hardware that is necessary to power and construct multiple, independent machines, communication medium, UPSs and any other hardware necessary to support your specific requirements.

Redundancy

Another excellent benefit of virtualization is the minimal points of physical failure. Even though you are located on a single, central machine, redundancy is provided by the “redundancy structure configuration” of that hardware. In other words, to provide an adequate level of physical redundancy, the configuration of your host machine must match that of multiple external machines to an extent. This of course is provided by multiple instances of the hardware from which your host is constructed. Multiple instances of the hardware structure includes but is not limited to, RAID arrays, power supplies, CPUs, and external mediums of communication. At any rate, redundancy is critical and should be a well maintained priority of your System Structure.

Sources of Virtualization

Who provides resources for virtualization? There are quite a few sources for virtualization Operating Systems available and you may wish to consider different developers depending on the specific purpose or environment in which you plan to implementing your virtual system. Some of the major providers like Vmware and VirtualBox have multiple levels of virtualization available, ranking from a starting point such as desktop environments all the way up to an enterprise solution.

Virtualization Environments

Virtualization at this point is quite popular and is often implemented in ISP-like environments where the demand multiple servers to perform a specific task is high. Although not extremely popular on a more local or personal basis, even small businesses and home users may begin to see implementations of this technology. Virtualization for small businesses and home users will most likely be a prescription for Multimedia and other hardware intensive applications.

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Linux Desktops Making a Splash

Linux personal desktop computers are making a splash in the home-user and end-user markets. Ubuntu, a distribution of Linux (a computer operating system), has many end-users considering the benefits of the open-source communities’ software packages. Ubuntu has pumped a lot of development into their latest Operating System (Version 7.10). Some of the many benefits included with the Open-Source Operating System are, the ability to perform word processing, create presentations, manage databases, create spread-sheets, browse the internet, and send and receive emails to name a few. Among many other assets that lend excellent functionality at ZERO (0) cost to the user, is the ability to connect to wireless networks, play DVD movies and music, connect picture devices (cameras etc.), and configure and provide advanced services. When compared to the functionality of Microsoft’s new Operating System (Windows Vista), it is an excellent choice, especially since Microsoft has reduced the functionality of many of it’s home-user versions of the operating system, requiring users to purchase a more costly license for additional functionality.

All these benefits, coupled with a comprehensive, yet simple and intuitive interface, makes Ubuntu an excellent choice for end-consumers. Especially those looking for maximum functionality on a budget.

Dell has made the Operating System available on their website for customers interested in the product. If you are technically inclined however, You may also wish to download it from Ubuntu’s website and perform an install for yourself. It is Absolutely Free!

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FreeNAS… So what is FreeNAS?

FreeNAS refers to an Operating System designed by it’s developers to act as a location on your network to store files (File Server). The letters NAS in “FreeNAS” refer to a acronym known in networking, as Network Attached Storage. In simple form, This indicates that it (NAS) is a form of storage that is attached to your network. FreeNAS, therefore, provides you with this functionality, and can provide a location for storing just about any file(s) such as music, images/pictures, documents, etc. Although it can act as a fileserver, FreeNAS is very versatile and can act as an FTP server, provide Rsync capabilities, as well as many other useful functions. In this entry, I will discuss setting it up to act as a file-server for your local network.

The FreeNAS Operating System can be found at the following developer website: www.freenas.org

Choosing your hardware:

Note: FreeNAS is a very streamlined Operating System and requires minimal hardware for installation and functionality. When installing FreeNAS, your application requirement will determine what hardware you will need to perform to your requirements specifically.

1. A PC with 96MB of RAM.

2. A bootable CD drive.

3. A bootable hard drive (I recommend 100MB of free space for the OS specifically) which will act as a location for the Operating System (FreeNAS) and will also act as a location for storing your files.

Installing FreeNAS on your Computer’s HDD [(Hard Disk Drive)/Hard Drive]:

Note: You must first download FreeNAS and burn it (the ISO) to a CD to perform this installation, (you must select “burn an image to CD” or similar option in your cd burning software) .

1. Make sure you have power plugged into the PC you are installing the OS on and make sure you have at least a keyboard plugged in (mouse also recommended for beginners).

2. Power on your computer and insert the CD containing FreeNAS into the drive.

3. Make sure that the CD Drive is boot-able, and that the option to boot from it is activated in the computer’s BIOS (you may have to restart after changing these settings to boot from the CD Drive successfully).

4. After the computer has booted successfully from the CD drive, you will be presented with a list of options that you can perform from the CD. One of the options is, installing to a local hard-drive (currently option 9). This step is pretty straight-forward, you simply select the option to install to the hard drive using part of it for the OS and the other section for storage by selecting the corresponding number:

“Console setup”
“*********************”
1) Assign Interface
2) Set LAN IP address
3) Reset WebGUI password
4) Reset to factory defaults
5) Ping host
6) Shell
7) Reboot system
8) PowerOff system
9) Install to a hard drive/memory drive/USB Pen, etc.

You will be presented with the options to configure your hard drive:

“Install”
“*********************”
1) Install on HD, CF or USB key: Create 1 UFS partition
2) Install on HD: Create 2 UFS partitions (OS and DATA)
3) Upgrade existing installed version from CDROM
4) Return to main menu

If you have a single hard drive in your computer, the best option for a new installation is to simply select the “Install on HD: Create 2 UFS partitions (OS and DATA)” option (number 2). You will be prompted to select the source CD which is typically “acd0″ or whichever drive you inserted the CD in. You will also be prompted to select the Hard Drive to install the OS, this is typically “ad0″ if you are installing it to the master on the primary controller.

5. Once the installation is complete follow the instructions and remove the CD prior to rebooting the computer. You may select option four (4 ) to exit the main menu, and then option seven (7 ) to restart the system. After the system has been restarted, check the number of options that are available in your menu. If you have an option number nine (9), then you are still booting from the CD.

Full FreeNAS Installation Instructions (0.684)