How to deploy a Ceph storage cluster

By Jack Wallen | October 2, 2016, 4:51 PM PST

Deploying a storage cluster doesn't have to wreck your sanity. See how simple it can be to deploy an object or block storage-capable Ceph cluster.

If you're looking to deploy a local Amazon Simple Storage Solution (Amazon S3) or Elastic Block Store (EBS) system, you probably believe it's almost impossible to pull off—it's not. Actually, it can be done with the help of Ceph.

A Ceph cluster can provide object or block storage across a network, which will give you that Amazon-like system. To make this happen we'll use a Ubuntu 16.04 virtual machine and three clones. Our cluster will be comprised of two storage nodes and one monitoring node. The first virtual machine will be used to initially deploy the cluster. This setup

How to install and run Dropbox from a headless Linux server

Image: Jack Wallen

If you have a headless Linux server that needs access to files from a Dropbox account, here's what to do.

By Jack Wallen | September 30, 2016, 10:35 PM PST

There may come a time when you need to sync a Dropbox account to a Linux server running without a GUI. When that time comes, you'll be glad that it's pretty easy to do with the help of a few scripts.

I'll walk you through the process of getting Dropbox up and running on