Home Server OS

[decep10n]

Hello All,

So i have a pc which i want to set up to be the server for my house. But i have difficulties choose the best OS for my situation and am look for some input on the subject. I plan on using it as a media server to stream videos and music to my Xbox 360, dataserver, print server and maybe as a vpn server for when i'm not at home. I'm not quit sure which OS to go with. I was thinking maybe a linux or perhaps server 2003. However i have heard that server 2008 came out. Is 2008 better than 2003? or is linux better than both(if it is which one?). Any input would be great.

Decept10n

[Sparda]

Ubuntu :D

But seriously, it' easy

[VaKo]

Windows 2008 is better than 2003, and it is a good solid OS for both desktops and servers.

Linux is better at different tasks, its not the best os for media as it lacks a lot of DRM support, but it is free. For public facing things like web servers, firewalls and vpn servers, it is better than windows. Linux is also a lot more easy and far cheaper to learn than windows 2003/8.

[Deveant]

For a x360 Media Host, i would suggest Server 03/08, use a copy of Winamp / Remote, and ur set, if you wanna go cheap, then just use XP / Vista. VPN can be done on Server 03/08, easily enough. Data Server, pfft doesn't matter, both Linux and Server 03/08 support it hell easy, though if your going to go Linux, i suggest Ubuntu this time around/

Though if your up for the challenge, then using Ubuntu would be more rewarding in the end.

[metatron]

CentOS if you need a GUI or Debian if you don't. Run server 2003/08 in a VM if needed.

[MRGRIM]

Server 2K3 or 2K8, possibly look at SBS.

Use any of the flavours I posted above so you can learn something that will come in handy when applying for a Job.

[SomeoneE1se]

Having never used it and knowing next to nothing about it I suggest Microsoft's Home server.

[Sparda]

Having never used it and knowing next to nothing about it I suggest Microsoft's Home server.

I would stay well clear of that until service pack 2.

[Trc202]

I would suggest a stripped down version of win xp w/sp3 that is what i currently use for streaming music, serving files and if you need the names of free programs to do everything you asked just tell me

[SomeoneE1se]

I take it back I'm going to have to recommend the light install of XP it would be mind numbingly simple to get xp to do all that and worst case backup desktop.

[uber_tom]

I would suggest a stripped down version of win xp w/sp3 that is what i currently use for streaming music, serving files and if you need the names of free programs to do everything you asked just tell me

yeah, thats a good idea. unless you want more then the max connections (i think its 5)

else = 2003 (even 2000 sever) i've never even seen 2008 so i cant comment on that.  probably best to stick with MS on this one

goto 10

10 linux fanboy flame war

I really dont think linux will be perticually easy to set up as a media server, in my experence linux isn't the best at handling audio/video. network services and supported application servers and it kicks ass, but multimedia... well it wouldn't be my first choice.

[VaKo]

I once ran a XP box as a public web/local file server for 5 months without a reboot. Not that I would recommend that now, but back in the day it worked and worked well. I used the xampp packaged Apache/PHP/Mysql for the web server over IIS and hacking XP to remove the connection limits was childs play.   

[Mike Chelen]

Hello All,

So i have a pc which i want to set up to be the server for my house. But i have difficulties choose the best OS for my situation and am look for some input on the subject. I plan on using it as a media server to stream videos and music to my Xbox 360, dataserver, print server and maybe as a vpn server for when i'm not at home. I'm not quit sure which OS to go with. I was thinking maybe a linux or perhaps server 2003. However i have heard that server 2008 came out. Is 2008 better than 2003? or is linux better than both(if it is which one?). Any input would be great.

Decept10n

ubuntu linux is great for media streaming because it is pretty easy to set up mediatomb UPnP server http://mediatomb.cc through the package manager http://packages.ubuntu.com/jaunty/mediatomb

[italiano40]

i would use freenas or openfiler both are easy to install and you can add a VPN plugin to both

[MRGRIM]

Hummm way to revive a year old topic :/

[Mike Chelen]

i would use freenas or openfiler both are easy to install and you can add a VPN plugin to both

how challenging is installation of mediatomb and other media servers under freenas or openfiler??

Hummm way to revive a year old topic :/

yeah just noticed that, not sure what happened though since i dont remember going off the first page

still hear UPnP questions pretty frequently so hope someone finds it useful, install and setup of the server has gotten much more straightforward

[VoiD]

running 08 server on my htpc & NAS server and so far i havent found any incompatibilty with drivers!

its great so far cant wait to get my HDTV =D

[Netshroud]

Surprised no-one mentioned Windows Home Server.

[barry99705]

Surprised no-one mentioned Windows Home Server.

They did, back in May, and said stay away from it until sp2. Though I'm running both Mac 10.5 server and WHS at the moment. WHS is actually pretty cool. I've got it running on a bunch of older hardware I threw together just to play with it. Now it's backing up all the windows machines in the house automagically every night. It leaves the mac server for backing up my machine and being the media/file server.

[redxine]

If you want to host files to stream to another device, you won't need any codecs on the server. It just needs to hold the files; the client takes care of decoding it. Definitely go for Ubuntu if you're scared of Linux for some reason. Server 2003/08 is way too much overkill, and why settle for mainstream?

Let's compare: Linux - Free. Windows Server 2003 R2 Basic - $999. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003...ng/pricing.mspx

[barry99705]

If you want to host files to stream to another device, you won't need any codecs on the server. It just needs to hold the files; the client takes care of decoding it. Definitely go for Ubuntu if you're scared of Linux for some reason. Server 2003/08 is way too much overkill, and why settle for mainstream?

Let's compare: Linux - Free. Windows Server 2003 R2 Basic - $999. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003...ng/pricing.mspx

You can get it a lot cheaper than that on the net, no, not by pirating it!

http://www.google.com/products?source=ig&a...le&resnum=4

[will-wtf]

I can sell u my spare serial, 15$

But why not use teamviewer for the vpn, so much easier.

[barry99705]

I can sell u my spare serial, 15$

But why not use teamviewer for the vpn, so much easier.

I'd prefer to keep my connection point to point, not point to team viewer's servers, to point.

[VaKo]

You can get it a lot cheaper than that on the net, no, not by pirating it!

http://www.google.com/products?source=ig&a...le&resnum=4

Or, you can buy a msdn or technet subscription package, which gives your access to pretty much everything MS make, legitimately, for less than the sticker price of W7 ultimate. Its cheaper than piracy if you factor your time into it.