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Old 01-03-2009, 11:11 PM   #1
confused_qc
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Unhappy I don't want WHS anymore, help me build my own linux home file server!


Hi,

I am dealing with this WHS crap box since 2 months ... I was looking for a realiable alternative in order to solve my problem, here is my info

AMD Dual Core Server with 2 SATA HDs (total of 500 GB)
A wireless laptop, Vista
A vista client, wired
And a Xbox

DLInk Router

I want to install a reliable linux server but which one?

I want to use for file sharing, it needs to be headless (after installation) also, I should be able to control it through client machines.

I heard about Linux Mint with samba (already burn a copy) and debian based samba. I don't also want something so basic like FreeNas.

I am sure whatever they have in a WHS box, we can have with a linux server as well ?

I need some advice on this.

Thanks
 
Old 01-03-2009, 11:15 PM   #2
Tuttle
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Slackware would be perfect but you would need to learn lots.

Ubuntu might be the best choice for you until you are confident with the command line. Any Linux distro will run headless so long as sshd is running!
 
Old 01-03-2009, 11:41 PM   #3
jschiwal
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I don't see a Linux workstation in your list! I must have missed it. Anyway, many distro's have a package called samba-doc which includes a book "Samba 3 by Example" (pdf form). It has a number of sample configurations, going step by step how to configure them. This is the same book you can find in Barnes & Nobels. You might try looking for it on the Mint disk you have. If it doesn't have it, you could try the Samba web site or download a package that does. You can use the "ark" program which mint probably has, and pull just the books out of an rpm package. http://rpm.pbone.net.

Good Luck!
 
Old 01-04-2009, 02:07 PM   #4
confused_qc
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As of today I am backing up my data, it takes a lot of time ... Transfer between SATA drivers probably 20mb/sec boring ...

Anyway, I run yesterday on laptop live mint, an I liked it a lot, I guess it will be a very reliable server for my files, (at least I am not going to have anymore whs glitches) I noticed a package installer and I found samba as well.

I think I am going to go with Mint/Samba but I heard about issues between Mint/Samba and Vista is it true?

I have to decide soon ..
 
Old 01-04-2009, 02:15 PM   #5
Red Squirrel
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Windows home server was Microsoft's failed attempt at trying to keep the home server market. But they bluw it. I've only heard bad things about that OS.

A linux home server is fairly easy to setup depending on what you want.

Samba works out of the box provided that selinux is turned off (add selinux=0 in grub.conf in the kernel arguments).

Email is a bit trickier but with some reading up you can setup fetchmail to get mail from all your pop accounts then pot in the mailboxes so you can use imap. This keeps the mail centralized and makes it easier to backup.

I would not bother with DNS unless you really need it, that can be one beast to setup if you're not experiencd (though it's fairly easy once you understand it).

But in the end it really depends what you need the server for. If it's strictly files then samba is really all you need, maybe httpd if you want to be able to access your files via http.

For my home server I use fedora core 9 (if you go that route, you can go 10, it came out a month after I setup mine lol). It's quite solid.

Last edited by Red Squirrel; 01-04-2009 at 02:17 PM.
 
Old 01-04-2009, 02:18 PM   #6
Red Squirrel
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Oh and for backups, you can look into rsync, you can automate them so they happen while you sleep.
 
Old 01-12-2009, 12:05 AM   #7
Boggy4062
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Squirrel View Post
Windows home server was Microsoft's failed attempt at trying to keep the home server market. But they bluw it. I've only heard bad things about that OS.

A linux home server is fairly easy to setup depending on what you want.

Samba works out of the box provided that selinux is turned off (add selinux=0 in grub.conf in the kernel arguments).

Email is a bit trickier but with some reading up you can setup fetchmail to get mail from all your pop accounts then pot in the mailboxes so you can use imap. This keeps the mail centralized and makes it easier to backup.

I would not bother with DNS unless you really need it, that can be one beast to setup if you're not experiencd (though it's fairly easy once you understand it).

But in the end it really depends what you need the server for. If it's strictly files then samba is really all you need, maybe httpd if you want to be able to access your files via http.

For my home server I use fedora core 9 (if you go that route, you can go 10, it came out a month after I setup mine lol). It's quite solid.
Well,

I simple have to disagree. I have been using both Linux and Windows environment for .... ages. WHS is a customized Windows 2003 server (for those who have not seen it). It is a GREAT backup / server solution for home, for average user. Even for a power user with a number of windows clients it is a MUST HAVE. And I am not say it just to start another religious OS war. It is just a fact.
Linux solution will not provide a bare bones restore solution for windows xp and windows vista clients for a average windows users. Again, I belong to "cheep" i.e frugal people, and don't like to spend money, unless I have to. If you want a headache free backup solution for your home, or home of your friends or family members, this IS it.
Yes, Microsoft introduced some new technology, which again wasn't tested enough and created some major problems, they today they are gone.
So... WHS has its place at home, so does a Linux box, if you want to .... IMHO.
 
Old 01-12-2009, 12:47 AM   #8
Tuttle
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And the balance was restored...
 
Old 01-12-2009, 10:30 PM   #9
DarkFlame
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I'm running Ubuntu Server 8.10, headless. I haven't yet connected the printer to it, but it's doing my file serving. Here is my documentation on how I put it together. I'll warn you that I setup the RAID5 array (which you won't be able to do with just 2 drives, but could probably do RAID1 or RAID0, and I'd expect it to work just about the same) using OpenSuSE's GUI, then replaced the OS HDD with a blank and worked thru installing the Ubuntu server. It took about 5-6 installs to get it smooth and correct and consistently repeatable - using the documentation that I made. All the folks here were so nice in helping me that I am more than happy to share this documentation.
 
  


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