Difference between /"HOME" and /HOMES directories

jr023 · Post by **jr023** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 1:46 am

It been some time since I last accessed my back-up NAS (TS-219- II). Can anyone explain to me the difference between the \"Home" directory vs \"Homes" directory. It seems that they have similar files in them and I would like to delete one of the directories if it is redundant, which it seems it is. Have included a screenshot, if anyone can enlighten me on this I would be grateful.

pwilson · Post by **pwilson** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 2:53 am

jr023 wrote:It been some time since I last accessed my back-up NAS (TS-219- II). Can anyone explain to me the difference between the \"Home" directory vs \"Homes" directory. It seems that they have similar files in them and I would like to delete one of the directories if it is redundant, which it seems it is. Have included a screenshot, if anyone can enlighten me on this I would be grateful.

It's really easy to understand. The "homes" share is an "admin only" share that houses all the users individual shares. All users can access there own "home" directory, but they can't access the "homes" directory.

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ls -alFd /share/homes /share/homes/* 
lrwxrwxrwx  1 admin   administrators   20 2015-01-31 22:40 /share/homes -> CACHEDEV1_DATA/homes/
drwx------ 16 admin   administrators 4096 2015-01-30 01:28 /share/homes/admin/
drwxrwx---  8 connie  users          4096 2014-05-04 18:38 /share/homes/connie/
drwxrwx---  4 dblack  everyone       4096 2014-02-01 21:48 /share/homes/dblack/
drwxrwx---  2 guest   guest          4096 2012-06-12 01:11 /share/homes/guest/
drwxrwx---  3 kwilson everyone       4096 2014-02-01 21:48 /share/homes/kwilson/
drwxrwx---  3 mwilson everyone       4096 2014-02-01 21:48 /share/homes/mwilson/
drwxrwx---  2 noel    everyone       4096 2015-02-01 03:24 /share/homes/noel/
drwxrwx---  8 pwilson everyone       4096 2014-03-03 19:12 /share/homes/pwilson/

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/opt/bin/tree -d -l -L 1 /share/homes
/share/homes
├── admin
├── connie
├── dblack
├── guest
├── kwilson
├── mwilson
├── noel
└── pwilson

12 directories

As "admin" I can access any file on my NAS. As "pwilson" I can only access my "home" share, and all the public shares I have user rights to.

jr023 · Post by **jr023** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 11:43 pm

Thank you very much Patrick. I know it is rather simple but is "home" just a default name when the share folder name is not specified. I have an "HP-i7 files" share folder because I named it, had I not it would if just been renamed to "home" or "home1" by the software? Thanks again for your help, truly appreciate it.

AdrianW · Post by **AdrianW** » Tue Feb 03, 2015 12:19 am

You can create as many of your own shares as you like and name them how you like.

But by default you get a homes share which contains all the individual "home" shares, one for each user. These are in addition to the shares you create yourself.

Each separate user will see their own unique "home" share when they're connected.

pwilson · Post by **pwilson** » Tue Feb 03, 2015 12:35 am

jr023 wrote:Thank you very much Patrick. I know it is rather simple but is "home" just a default name when the share folder name is not specified. I have an "HP-i7 files" share folder because I named it, had I not it would if just been renamed to "home" or "home1" by the software? Thanks again for your help, truly appreciate it.

The "home" share is a virtual share. It points to /share/homes/username for every user that connects to your NAS. Your Windows users on your network can connect to "\\NAS\home" in Windows Explorer to access their $HOME directory on the NAS. (They can also connect to \\NAS\username to get to the same place).

You have chosen to not disclose your username on the NAS, the NAS System name or the internal IP address of your network, so I can only discuss this in a generic way. My examples in the last paragraph assume your NAS is known as "NAS" on your network. As long as PC username/password pair is identical to your NAS username/password pair, you will be able to access "\\NAS\home" from your PC without being asked to re-provide your login credentials every time you access your "home" share.

As for your "HP-i7 files" share it looks fine. You're making your life difficult from the command line by putting "spaces" in the share name, but if you are GUI kind of guy, the is unlikely to cause you any issues. (I never put spaces in filenames, directory names, or share names if I can avoid it).

You can confirm the "path" of your "HP-i7 files"share from the command line with:

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testparm -s -l --section-name=HP-i7\ files --parameter-name=path 2>/dev/null

You must always remember that Linux is case-sensitive, unlike Microsoft Windows. You can "escape" the "space" by putting a "/" in front of it like my example. If you don't create shares in the first place with spaces in them you'll never have to worry about this.

Lets look at my Multimedia share here:

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/opt/bin/tree -d -l -L 2 /share/Multimedia
/share/Multimedia
├── Audio
│   └── Music
├── eBooks
├── HappyCut
├── HappyGet
│   ├── Music
│   └── Video
├── Pictures
│   ├── Connie
│   ├── Logo
│   ├── Patrick
│   ├── Samples
│   └── Screenshots
├── @Recycle
│   ├── Samples
│   └── Video
├── Video
│   ├── Home Movies
│   ├── Internet
│   ├── Movies
│   ├── Music Videos
│   ├── Stand Up Comedy
│   └── TVShows
└── XBMC
    └── Thumbnails

34 directories

You'll note my "TV Shows" live in /share/Multimedia/Video/TVShows rather than /share/Multimedia/Video/TV Shows. I only access my "Stand Up Comedy" folder via XBMC, so I never have to worry about the "spaces" in that name. I do however access /share/Multimedia/Video/TVShows in multiple ways, so I created it without a "space" in the name.

AntonioManuel · Post by **AntonioManuel** » Thu Jul 13, 2017 9:14 am

Hello, I start to use my TVS 673 NAS and put my data from a USB drive (that I need to eliminate), into the folder HOMES directory called "My_Folder". And then the NAS made a copy of that folder "My_Folder" under admin inside HOMES, What should I do? They are duplicate.

\\NAS_Name\homes\My_Folder

\\NAS_Name\homes\admin\My_Folder

Thanks,

Admin529-nas · Post by **Admin529-nas** » Mon Jul 17, 2017 1:15 am

Continuing on with some input on AntonioManuels post
Rob here btw I run into the same duplicate situation in the past
where only one set of folders will actually have data and the duplicates may or may not
this can be disconcerning for the fact you think your loosing data when in all actuallity you may not be
Patrick you are the genius when it comes to this would you possibly be able to weigh in on this. I have learned alot since my first 659 Pro
and the upper lower case stuff as being a linux thing but the duplicate folders and some having data and some not concern me
thank you for the advice
Antonio sorry for the bump
rob

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