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Home Server OS Suggestions

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beelzibub

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 11, 2007
Messages
153
I'm looking for some guidance on a home server OS. I tried WHS2011 and after many tries to get it up and running, it would never let my main pc connect and setup the client software. Granted this was probably six months ago, but unless things have changed drastically in the WHS world (or someone has a new suggestion on how to get it working) then I'm pretty sure that option is already ruled out. Instead I installed Ubuntu Desktop and have been running it since. It works pretty well, but I've found it to be quite a confusing pain in the ass to work with. I just can't seem to find a good guide that explains all the terminal coding and how it works. If there's a plugin or version of it that was simpler and didn't require knowing terminal commands and codes I think I'd be a lot more comfortable. For now it works, but it's definitely not user friendly and I dread every time I have to reboot the server and restart any software. The backup system also seems to be working, but it's too manual and I I have no idea if it actually works as I've never had to roll back to a backup. I use the built in Win7 backup tool, but I'm always required to manually login to get access to the server drives over the network. I'm sure this is a setting in Ubuntu, but I can't seem to find it.

The computer is pretty much overkill for a server, but I had the parts laying around from upgrading my main rig. It's a Q6600 with 8gb of RAM, 8800GTX, an Intel NIC, 150gb Raptor drive for the OS, and two 2tb drives for storage/backup. I'm mainly looking for something to run Logitech's Squeezebox server, perhaps some private gaming servers here and there, network storage, media streaming/playing, and a solid client backup system that will work for Windows 7 and IOS. I've also contemplated setting up a front door camera and/or a full security system on the server, but that's probably a ways down the road.

I do have an extra copy of Windows 7 Home Premium that I could try, but I'm not sure that'll be the best solution. I haven't written off Ubuntu yet, I just need to find a simpler version of it or a guide that'll help me understand what all the crazy commands are. Unless someone has a miraculous suggestion for getting the client software to connect to WHS2011 without reinstalling Win7 on my main rig, I'm not putting any more time into that software.

Any suggestions you guys can give me?
 
Follow these directions http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=689275 but DON'T attempt to install a later version of mdadm. There's no need and just complicates things. You can also avoid the tweaking section unless you need maximum performance.
Looking over these directions you should be up and running within 10 to 20 minutes tops.... with a nice web front end to help you manage things.
 
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I can't recommend WHS any more as it won't back up PCs with a UEFI BIOS. I'm going to be looking at Server 2012 Essentials at some point this week.
 
kac77: Those instructions are how to setup a raid array, right? I wasn't really planning on using raid. I was going to use one drive as a manual storage depository and the other for backups. I've never used raid, which is probably what prevents me from trying it (along with the fact that I'd lose half of my storage capacity). I'm not against it, I just don't see the benefit of it. I plan to have some manual redundancy in backing up portions of the storage drive, but it won't be a full image by any means. Not to say I can't be convinced otherwise....
 
I have WHS 2011 doing nightly backups of two PCs with UEFI.

UEFI is not a BIOS, by the way. UEFI replaces BIOS.
 
Seems to be more of a 'learn more about linux to proceed or resign and slug it out with Windows' situation.

I'd use something like CentOS over Ubuntu though, but that's just a personal preference.
 
beelzibub said:
kac77: Those instructions are how to setup a raid array, right? I wasn't really planning on using raid. I was going to use one drive as a manual storage depository and the other for backups. I've never used raid, which is probably what prevents me from trying it (along with the fact that I'd lose half of my storage capacity). I'm not against it, I just don't see the benefit of it. I plan to have some manual redundancy in backing up portions of the storage drive, but it won't be a full image by any means. Not to say I can't be convinced otherwise....
Click to expand...

Then you shouldn't have any problems really. Sharing a folder is pretty simple when using the Ubuntu Desktop. It's literally just as easy to do as if you were in Windows. Ubuntu installs the needed programs automatically. You might have to restart but that's it. You don't have to go to terminal to do that. You right click on a folder and go to sharing options. Click OK and that's it.
 
if you have a "student" account where you can get server 2012 essentials free, then I would recommend it. It's technical the successor to SBS but I tend to think of it as more the love child of whs2011 and sbs.

it can be a pain to setup since it requires itself to be a AD domain controller but has been solid so far for me.

otherwise, windows 8 would serve just fine for a "normal" home server. it has storage spaces and hyper-v if you ever get into VMs.
 
I'd run Ubuntu on it to be honest, but that's just me. I've toyed with different Windows Home Server variants and I just get frustrated each time with it. Maybe I've kind of got that "stubborn old man who refuses to try new things" mentality, but each time I run Windows, I run into another headache and just get bored/frustrated/uninterested with it. It's not to say that Linux doesn't have its headaches, but as time goes on I just want to get things done and not tinker with them. Linux has provided that for me so I stick with it.

If you fire up Ubuntu to use as a server but you want the GUI, I'd stick with 12.04. That version comes with a 5 year LTS which is good stuff if you don't want to worry about upgrading it for quite a while. For setting up Samba shares for file sharing purposes, check out the GUI entitled "Samba" in the Software Center, or else install it via terminal with apt-get install system-config-samba. This is especially useful if you want to have an authenticated basis for users to log into. This is what I went for originally years ago when I lived at home because I had my brothers systems back up to the server, but I had authentication listed so they couldn't get into each other files. This GUI application gives you a small, super simple, no frills interface which allows you to set up Samba shares and users. I did a tutorial on YouTube for setting up Motion for video surveillance uses, but towards the end of the 2nd part I added some info in about using the little Samba utility I spoke of above. Check it out if it interests you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAoA_J5HD0M

Note: In order to create a Samba user, you must also have a system user. In other words, if you want to create a Samba user for Fred, you must also have a "Fred" user on the system.

Having the GUI undoubtedly makes things easier, and fortunately Ubuntu desktop edition really isn't that different (aside from the GUI of course) to the terminal only "server" version. I run the server edition on my box so I have no GUI, but I also have no complaints with it. It runs an array of services, including OwnCloud, Subsonic, Motion @ 1 fps, 24/7 HD video surveillance recordings @ 20 fps over Samba (I use Motion as a quick identifier for when motion took place so I can reference the higher quality 24/7 feeds if needed), Samba for use with system backups and file sharing, and it also hosts my video content for my HTPC, which is a Raspberry Pi running OpenElec. Of course Windows should be able to handle all of these things, but if you want to give it a shot, you at least heard what I did with my setup.
 
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