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What do you use as a server OS?

jimbob200521

jimbob200521

Diamond Member
Hope this area works for this thread.

I'm putting together a C2Q based server for the home to essentially host all of my media files for our phones and computers. However, I'm going to have this server set up in a public place so we can access it for internet or whatnot, and it will also double as a HTPC for the living room TV so it will be running XBMC as well as whatever OS I choose (going to run a dual display setup with it, XBMC on TV, PC on the other screen).

So my question is; to people in a similar situation, what OS do you use or would you recommend for my setup? I'd like to play around with Windows Server but it doesn't seem daily use friendly, so Windows 7 maybe? That's the direction I'm leaning right now. Thanks for any advice!
 
I just run a Samba server running Linux Mint but I do it the other way around - low power server hidden in with network hardware that hosts all media files and seperate HTPC in living room.
 
I'm using both Windows Server 2008 R2 for my domain server, and hardened Gentoo Linux for my file/media server.

If all you need is file serving and XBMC, Linux will do, if you don't need WLAN.

The only downside to using Windows Server day-to-day, is that mine doesn't memorize some visual settings (show window content while dragging, etc) across user sessions, and changing them requires the admin password. Other than that, there's the odd bit of software complaining about not wanting to run on Windows Server, but that's rare.
The other downside is license fee. I'm still running on an MSAA license, but blowing a grand on a license seems to me to be a bit over the top.

Windows Home Server might be cheaper, but I haven't looked at that yet.
 
_Rick_ said:
I'm using both Windows Server 2008 R2 for my domain server, and hardened Gentoo Linux for my file/media server.

If all you need is file serving and XBMC, Linux will do, if you don't need WLAN.

The only downside to using Windows Server day-to-day, is that mine doesn't memorize some visual settings (show window content while dragging, etc) across user sessions, and changing them requires the admin password. Other than that, there's the odd bit of software complaining about not wanting to run on Windows Server, but that's rare.
The other downside is license fee. I'm still running on an MSAA license, but blowing a grand on a license seems to me to be a bit over the top.

Windows Home Server might be cheaper, but I haven't looked at that yet.
Click to expand...

Windows Home Server and Windows 7 are kinda what I'm going back and forth between. I'd love to play with Windows Home Server but I'm not sure about it's day to day use since people will be using the box for Facebook, occasional game, email, browsing, etc.
 
using windows server 2008.

it does NAS, DNS, and DHCP assigns for me.

My isp had a terrible DNS server for a while, and i moved my entire house off it.


Id have to agree with rick.
I have a Technet account which gave me free windows server to put on my machines.
If i had to buy the license to it, i dont know if it would be cost effective.
 
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aigomorla said:
using windows server 2008.

it does NAS, DNS, and DHCP assigns for me.

My isp had a terrible DNS server for a while, and i moved my entire house off it.
Click to expand...

Is it very difficult to do your own DNS? I'm not going to lie this intrigues me me very much. Any benefits of doing your own over say, Comcast or other large corperations?


Posted from Anandtech.com App for Android
 
VMware ESXi running a hanful of Linux (CentOS 6 and Debian) VMs. One CentOS 6 VM for my IPv6 endpoint and DNS, another CentOS 6 VM for my DHCP, mirrors, and PXE, and another Debian box for my "Time Capsule" (hey it had a new enough netatalk). That's pretty much my core setup. I have a few more Linux VMs that I use to play with things like Kerberos and LDAP, but they're not part of my "home production" network as such.
 
jimbob200521 said:
Is it very difficult to do your own DNS? I'm not going to lie this intrigues me me very much. Any benefits of doing your own over say, Comcast or other large corperations?


Posted from Anandtech.com App for Android
Click to expand...

No it's not very hard. In order of difficulty:

Dead simple: Windows Server
Easy: Linux running dnsmasq
Moderate: Linux running BIND <--- this is what real Internet DNS servers use
 
mfenn said:
VMware ESXi running a hanful of Linux (CentOS 6 and Debian) VMs. One CentOS 6 VM for my IPv6 endpoint and DNS, another CentOS 6 VM for my DHCP, mirrors, and PXE, and another Debian box for my "Time Capsule" (hey it had a new enough netatalk). That's pretty much my core setup. I have a few more Linux VMs that I use to play with things like Kerberos and LDAP, but they're not part of my "home production" network as such.
Click to expand...

I like to imagine you have some glorious man cave of pure awesomeness.

I also like to imagine that on the nights you don't post here are the nights you are enjoying a night on the town.
 
At work, I would probably set up a CentOS 6 file server for something like that.

At home? I'd probably just set up a few network shares and media sharing on my Windows 7 desktop. I got to make it easy enough for the wife to use!

That said, Windows Home Server seems to be really user friendly if you want to try that.
 
mfenn said:
Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbob200521

Is it very difficult to do your own DNS? I'm not going to lie this intrigues me me very much. Any benefits of doing your own over say, Comcast or other large corperations?


Posted from Anandtech.com App for Android

No it's not very hard. In order of difficulty:

Dead simple: Windows Server
Easy: Linux running dnsmasq
Moderate: Linux running BIND <--- this is what real Internet DNS servers use
Click to expand...

Can the same thing be done in Windows? Seems every time I experiment with Linux it doesn't turn out well. Plus Linux doesn't support the games I'd want to play either unless I do a virtual box?


Posted from Anandtech.com App for Android
 
jimbob200521 said:
Is it very difficult to do your own DNS? I'm not going to lie this intrigues me me very much. Any benefits of doing your own over say, Comcast or other large corperations?


Posted from Anandtech.com App for Android
Click to expand...

its drop dead easy...

and i dont know if your isp has terrible DNS servers or not.
However my area time warner had rediciuoulsy bad with wait times on DNS servers.

Ever since i moved it off, my network has been perfect.
Its halarious when your neighbors internet is down due to faulty DNS, and yours is still up.

However just to get a reliable DNS u can always change DNS to a more public one like 4.2.2.1 - 4.2.2.5 and get around that.

But setting up DNS on windows server is drop dead easy.
You could mirror the setup watching Youtube and be confident u did it correctly.

mnewsham said:
I like to imagine you have some glorious man cave of pure awesomeness.
.
Click to expand...

lol...

Talking about man cave.... it used to be my server room / testing center / stress center ...

My dog however took it over... now my server room / man cave has a 75lb doberman peeping out the door.
20130415_130415_zps009c4598.jpg


Ud have to get past her to get access to my servers... 😛

bribing her with meat works epically.
 
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jimbob200521 said:
Can the same thing be done in Windows? Seems every time I experiment with Linux it doesn't turn out well. Plus Linux doesn't support the games I'd want to play either unless I do a virtual box?


Posted from Anandtech.com App for Android
Click to expand...

Yes, Windows Server has a built-in DNS server that's pretty decent. It's geared towards providing DNS services for Active Directory, but you can bend it to your will as a general purpose DNS server without too much trouble.
 
I use WHS 2011 for media serving.
I would like to switch it over to a Linux variant like zfs to get a storage pool with +2 parity instead of the 1:1 folder backup only that WHS has.

But I think I need another 3TB drive or two before I can get it setup, learn and transfer data over. Plus I need a lot of time to learn linux, which I do not have.
 
I usually use CentOS for a real server operating system. Tho you're not looking to run any type of server relation software, so I would recommend looking into NAS operating systems such as FreeNas.
 
I appreciate all the suggestions for other OS's such as Linux variants, openNAS, FreeNAS, etc but I want to stick with something Microsoft simply because this build will also be used day to day for various mundane tasks such as internet, XBMC, and the occasional game (which is the biggest OS choice limiting factor).

Plus this machine will most likely be limited to 802.11n, unfortunately, due to renting a house and a prick of a landlord so whatever wireless solution I end up choosing will need to be supported in the OS. I'll most likely go with a Linksys router as a friend has one he doesn't use and a Linksys thumb style 802.11n adapter.

Hoping to get this up and going within the next week, too; just ordered some more storage so I can cut down on a drive or two...maybe. I do like plenty of storage 😛
 
I'm running whs11 on my media server. The simplicity is a big + for me. I tried learning linux and actually got it working for about a month, then something happened and I couldn't config. it properly again so I bought whs11 for like $50 at the time. Well spend, haven't had any real problems with it since. As far as using it for websurfing, FB and possibly gaming, and the family being able to use it whenever, I'm not sure I'd go that route with it if it's going to hold important docs. Kids do stupid shit with the pc and all kinds of crap gets loaded on it. I would just build another pc for everyday use and let the server function as a server only. My $0.02.
 
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