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Hi Looking to replace Win XP Pro 'file server' we have for a Visual FoxPro invoicing app running upto 15 users with around 10 DBF's. Basically we've hit XP's incoming connection limit...

Any suggestions on a NAS for this usage (make/model)? I realise I could use FreeNAS, or Linux+SAMBA, but thought a dedicated NAS would make life easier!

Thanks in advance!

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3 Answers

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An alternative option - you can patch away the 10-inbound-connection limit, something commonly done by people using Bittorrent.

http://akiraxky.wordpress.com/2009/05/28/windows-xp-sp2-tcpip-sys-connection-limit-patch/

To remove the tcpip.sys socket creation limit:

  • Backup your original tcpip.sys file before editing please, this is somewhat important !
  • In your hex editor, go to offset 4F322 hex (or 324386 decimal).
  • Change 0a 00 00 00 to 00 00 0a 00

There's various automated patchers around too, http://www.lvllord.de/ for example

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1  
Thanks for the answer. The TCP patch has already been applied. There is still limit on XP Pro's Shares to 10 concurrent users though, and I've not been able to find a way around this! – Charlie Barrett Jun 9 '09 at 14:47
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Windows file sharing connections and TCP connections are two different things. To get around this problem using windows you need a Windows Server box with enough CALs (Client Access Licenses) to cover the needed connection count. – 3dinfluence Jun 9 '09 at 15:04
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Be carefull with Samba based file servers (NAS devices often are running some Linux with Samba), since the file-locking options may be different from the default Windows XP file sharing settings.

So test that before putting it into production!

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There are samba options in the config file that can correct this issue. See this article on the issues and their solutions when dealing with file locking and oplock issues with databases on a Samba share. drouillard.biz/Tips&Tricks/Samba/Oplocks.htm There is a lot of information on the internet about this so Google is your friend. Or ask another question here on Server Fault if you run into issues that you can't resolve. – 3dinfluence Jun 9 '09 at 15:02
I didn't say that I have a problem with that. Its just that with some (low end?) NAS devices you can't change the (samba) locking behavior. – thijs Jun 10 '09 at 6:58
Thanks for all the info. With this and some google research, I'm going to go down the route of a PC with FreeNas or Linux+Samba which will allow more configuration options for what I need. I've not seen any particular problems posted so guess it's going to work out fine. – Charlie Barrett Jun 10 '09 at 8:30
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I've seen the Visual Fox Pro / DBF situation before and my best answer is to stay away from the small, all-in-on little "Home" NAS devices. These typically don't pack enough CPU power to get the throughput you'll need to read through those DBF files. Either pickup a more business oriented boxed NAS solution or go the route of FreeNas / Openfiler on a low end PC with dual drives and use software drive mirroring to help protect from hardware failure.

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