Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Recommended Server OS

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Recommended Server OS

    Hi all,

    I currently have a low powered server which runs 24x7 mainly for home theatre purposes along with centralised file storage and file downloading. I initially got it up and running reasonably well with Ubuntu Server 11.04. However the configuration is not quite up to my liking (although it is almost perfect for my needs). The main reason for that is that I am not totally familiar with Linux and had to learn a lot of things along the way. I also found out that Webmin really is not that brilliant of a centralised system configuration software (if there is a better one which works well then please recommend it ). Along with that, I do not have a proper backup solution at this stage (which is asking for trouble at some stage).

    Therefore when I buy a pretty big external hard drive (which I will use for a periodic backup of the contents of the data on the server), I am willing to reformat the server and start from scratch (although it is not really necessary strictly).

    -----------------

    The important things I have setup at the moment are:
    Serviio - DLNA server to share video, music and images over the network (mainly there to be used by the television or to my laptop where buffering over SMB does not work particularly well).

    Samba - Convenient file transfer interface over the network for Windows and Linux clients.

    Saned - I am running the saned backend on the server so each PC on the network can utilise the scanner from anywhere.

    mdadm - Software raid on Linux. I have configured RAID 10 over 4x2Tb hard drives. Linux does not support the inbuilt RAID controller on the system (however I doubt it is that good or any better anyway).

    FTP - SMB (via Samba) does not seem to be the best file transfer protocol over a wireless connection. FTP file transfers seem to work much more reliably, is a bit faster and it has built-in resume functions (useful when wireless connection drops or when transferring big files).

    Transmission - Centralised BitTorrent server so every PC on the network can control torrents.

    PyLoad - Centralised web based file downloading application (useful when downloading from certain free upload websites and for downloading large files).

    -----------------

    I wanted to try out Oracle DBMS on my Linux box for R&D purposes, however I found out that it is really difficult to get going on Ubuntu and especially on Ubuntu 11.xx. This is the main reason why I am willing to try out a different server OS, one where installing Oracle will not be so incredibly painful.

    -----------------

    Therefore I need to make a reasonably important decision. Which server operating system should I use?

    I have been thinking about sticking with Ubuntu Server and this time doing all the configuration on my own (without Webmin at all) or using specialised configuration software which actually works pretty well (SWAT for Samba? for instance) or to try out CentOS. Although I am open to other alternatives.

    I am also open to ideas on better ways to configure a Linux (or other) server.

    #2
    Re: Recommended Server OS

    I'd run debian on it with a decent RAID card... a used 3ware/LSI one would do.

    debian is like ubuntu server only lighter and more stable (if you stick with stable).
    sigpic

    (Insert witty quote here)

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Recommended Server OS

      correction: ubuntu is like debian, since its a debian distro
      Cap Datasheet Depot: http://www.paullinebarger.net/DS/
      ^If you have datasheets not listed PM me

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Recommended Server OS

        Originally posted by Uranium-235 View Post
        correction: ubuntu is like debian, since its a debian distro
        ubuntu is nooberized debian.

        PS- "like" can be used both directions, so I am still right.
        sigpic

        (Insert witty quote here)

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Recommended Server OS

          For those that are interested in what hardware I am running on.
          I managed to buy a HP Microserver for a very good price about a year ago. I am very impressed with the unit. It is small, low powered, solidly built and quiet. Even with 5x hard drives in it, it still only consumed around 60W of power in total. I find that pretty impressive and ideal for a small server to be running 24x7.

          Hardware Specs:
          Dual Core 1.3 GHz AMD Athlon II
          8gb DDR3 RAM
          1x250gb hard drive (system drive, useful as base hard drive when using software RAID)
          4x2tb hard drives (RAID 10 configuration)
          HP Remote Access Card (useful when running the system hidden away somewhere or running without a keyboard, mouse or monitor)

          As far as I know Debian Server and Ubuntu Server are very much the same. Am I correct?
          The only differences I could find are the software versions are older with Debian (which is rarely updated anyhow) and things like Ubuntu introducing Upstart.

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Recommended Server OS

            Originally posted by ratdude747 View Post
            ubuntu is nooberized debian.

            PS- "like" can be used both directions, so I am still right.
            In the desktop editions yes. However does this apply to the server editions?

            Ubuntu Server by default has no window manager of any kind and just installs common packages (perhaps more than Debian Server?) and it is up to the user to install and configure everything from scratch using config files. Does not seem 'nooberized' to me.

            However perhaps it is my misconception.

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Recommended Server OS

              Originally posted by shadow View Post
              In the desktop editions yes. However does this apply to the server editions?

              Ubuntu Server by default has no window manager of any kind and just installs common packages (perhaps more than Debian Server?) and it is up to the user to install and configure everything from scratch using config files. Does not seem 'nooberized' to me.

              However perhaps it is my misconception.
              Well, even the server version is nooberized to a degree... there are certain things that come pre-setup... The last time i tried it some things didn't work... Debian server fixed them all and once I got it setup it has been flawless.
              sigpic

              (Insert witty quote here)

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Recommended Server OS

                I don't know what problems you are having with webmin. I use it on my ubuntu server and it works just fine
                Cap Datasheet Depot: http://www.paullinebarger.net/DS/
                ^If you have datasheets not listed PM me

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Recommended Server OS

                  Webmin is an ugly crap
                  I personally use Ubuntu sever over Debian, I just like it better...

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Recommended Server OS

                    for a personally administered server, I like webmin, I don't care how 'ugly' it is.
                    Cap Datasheet Depot: http://www.paullinebarger.net/DS/
                    ^If you have datasheets not listed PM me

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Recommended Server OS

                      In my experience, Webmin made some things easier to a degree. However in the end, the GUI just was not good enough to make a configuration exactly as I wanted. I got it pretty close and then had to manually edit the configuration files (mind you it is more convenient editing configuration files manually on a multi-line text field on a webpage rather than using 'vi' or similar). The Linux RAID module in Webmin just didn't work that well and I am quite unhappy on how Webmin behaved with regards to it and half of the applications I installed were not supported by Webmin and I had to administer then myself anyway.

                      Anyway back on topic. Neither Ubuntu Server nor Debian Server would really make it any easier to install Oracle. Actually perhaps easier than Ubuntu 11.xx as that is a real pain.
                      Last edited by shadow; 06-08-2012, 05:30 PM.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Recommended Server OS

                        I use Centos on all my Linux-based servers. Stable, and not bloated, and not dumbed-down like some distros.

                        I only use Webmin to manage mysql, as I'm a bit SQL-Illiterate. Everything else I just edit the .conf files.
                        36 Monitors, 3 TVs, 4 Laptops, 1 motherboard, 1 Printer, 1 iMac, 2 hard drive docks and one IP Phone repaired so far....

                        Comment

                        Working...
                        X