- http://linux.die.net/man/5/exports – /etc/exports
Actually (as you might remember) there is not just one Synology DiskStation (AKA NAS) here, but three of them – you will find more information here on the blog, if you follow category Synology or NAS. So I am referring to my “primary” NAS here.
NFS is the most recent achievement, and it is the one, that will need a little more work to be production reliable, but functionally it serves its purposes and I am rather glad.
NFS is the genuine way of “file serving” on Unix/Linux/… and alike systems.
So as of today I am able to access the files sitting on my (“primary”) NAS from my Macs, my Windows boxes, and my Linux boxes.
There are still files sitting within “Virtual Machines”, that are a little difficult to access from outside; but migrating them to the NAS is not a short-term goal.
I would love to be able to “stroll around” with just my MacBook Air and my (mobile) NAS, and still be able to access every possible file and achieve every possible task.
Alright, I do accept, some some tasks can only get performed on certain machines, but I can reach them (from remote) “at home” (via a command line, i.e. SSH) on a box (or a “Virtual Machine”).
My 1st task performed under the new circumstances is my November payroll. Imagine:
- a Mac
- hosting a Virtual Machine (Oracle VirtualBox),
- running openSUSE Linux,
- accessing files through NFS served on my NAS,
- (the Linux “box”) running GNU Emacs,
- running a bash,
- running a couple of shell sniplets converting simple CSV files into more readable / comparable ones (I dare to call this “data science”);
- in the end telling me, that last month’s payroll files essentially look like this month’s ones;
- so within my actual banking software (Lexware Quicken on Win8.1 in yet another Virtual Machine)
- I will be able to kick off the new payroll payments
- and also the monthly payment to the accountants.
Why did an article with such a simple name get so extensive again? Well, I just needed to write it down again and “tell somebody”. Actually (yet another time) I have no idea, who will read it and whether this article will be read at all, but it does indead make me feel rather, rather well.