What OS for your Home server?

[felixrosbergen]

Hi Gents,

I got the hardware purchases and setup and am running an evaluation version of win2k3 server for the time being.

I'm pretty pleased with win2k3 server but at close to $600 it's a bit pricey.

The others options i am considering are:
- Windows XP Pro (seems about $140)
- Vista (not sure which version) Ultimate seems about $180
- Windows Home Server (not sure but seems abot $180 or so).

I don't think i really need all the functions of a full win2k3 server (although DNS is nice and i like to get more familiar with active directory, but probabaly shouldnt experiment with my home server).

Any recommendation/opinions are much appreciated.

 

[electron]

XP Pro: Uses much less resources, I have yet to run into an issue that couldn't be solved by searching Forums/Google, since it has been out for so long. There are many others reasons, but I don't want to turn this thread into an OS debate, as it will get ugly

 

[Rupp]

XPPro is the only way to go.

 

[felixrosbergen]

XP Pro: Uses much less resources, I have yet to run into an issue that couldn't be solved by searching Forums/Google, since it has been out for so long. There are many others reasons, but I don't want to turn this thread into an OS debate, as it will get ugly

Thanks Dan, it's not intended to start a 'war'...i just need to decide verry soon which OS to use and wanted to know what the users out there have.

The concept of windows home server seems nice and it's not much more expensive than XP, but the list of additional features it offers over XP seems quite limited. The backup function and file replication function shouldnt be necesarry if there is an always on server in the home where all the data is stored. The clients should only contain the OS and some apps but not data so any client crash would not results in Data loss.

We got a Hp Touchsmart PC lately which has 4GB or ramm and runs Vista64 bit. I am not very impressed with it at all, the touchscreen functions are nice, but the machine is no powerhouse. I think it's vista bogging things down.

By the way the hardware i got for the home server is:

Gigabite GA-EP45-UD3P
Intel C2D 8500, 3.16ghz
4 Gigs of DDR2 ram, but had to pull 2 to make SageTV workwith Hauppage Cards
500GB OS and frequent data drive, 1 TB video storage drive.
ATI 3450 graphics card

 

[Micah]

Windows Home Server. Everything else is wrong.

...I kid, I kid. The data protection scheme is less than optimal but the ability to mix and match drives sizes and the automatic backup of client computers is a winner in my book. It's been rock solid for me so far. Fingers crossed.

 

[garyfunk]

The first thing you need to decide is what hardware will you be uisng. Running Server 2003 on a workstation is like driving a Porche down a bicycle path. Don't do it. If you have a good hardware server, then okay go to Server 2003, otherwise I'd go with XP. FYI, I run two medimum power servers on Windows 2003 and haven't had to touch them in months.

The other thing you didn't tell us is what you want to do with this server. Is it really going to act as a 'server' or are you just calling it that.

Best regards,

 

[86turbodsl]

Slackware, ARCH linux. Linux, because after you get over the learning curve, it's much easier to use than Windows.

And finally, because my Linux server has been running without a reinstall or really any maintenance at all for about 5 years.
Try that with XP.

 

[felixrosbergen]

For me the learning curve for Linux has been too great...there's really nobody in my environment that could assist and online forums get very technicall very fast.

In any case due to my unfamiliarity it wont be my choice for a home server.

WinXpPro is actually about to not be sold anymore i just found out. Based on this and it's soon to be limited support Windows Home Server is starting to sound better. Is there anything WHS wont do that XP could do? (Besides run while using little resources . I WHS a resource hog or ok? I've been very impressed with the CPU and memory use of Win2k3 server.

The functions of the server will be:
- SageTV (up to 4 tuners and 3 simultaenous hardware extenders)
- CQC Sever with connections to:
- Elk
- Nuvo
- ALC lighting (either direct through beelzerobs driver or via the Elk)
- Media depositity for:
- family pics
- music and video collection
- Nuvo Musicport (turns PC into 3 sources for Nuvo, can run up to 3 simultenous sessions of iTunes or WMP)
- Possibly FTP server

 

[sic0048]

Well since CQC does not run on Linux, I think you can quickly count that out. Honestly I think any of the MS OS will be fine. XP Pro is obviously bomb proof, but it is also going to be unsupported by MS at some point (sooner rather than later). Vista is a hog, but with SP1, it really isn't that bad IMHO. Plus it is going to be supported for a much longer period of time by MS. I also love the idea of WHS and the automatic backups. Since both CQC and SageTV seem to work fine with WHS, and this machine will need to be on 24/7 for either of those applications, it makes sense to run those apps on WHS too.

 

[garyfunk]

The functions of the server will be:
- SageTV (up to 4 tuners and 3 simultaenous hardware extenders)
- CQC Sever with connections to:
- Nuvo Musicport (turns PC into 3 sources for Nuvo, can run up to 3 simultenous sessions of iTunes or WMP)

Do any of the above run as a service?

 

[felixrosbergen]

GaryFunk:

As far I know SageTV and CQC will both run as service (SageTV i know for sure).

Nuvo Music Port i really don't know. It's a very new thing and i havent found that has experience with it. Guess I'll be the guinuea pig in 2 months or so.

 

[electron]

Slackware, ARCH linux. Linux, because after you get over the learning curve, it's much easier to use than Windows.

And finally, because my Linux server has been running without a reinstall or really any maintenance at all for about 5 years.
Try that with XP.

You are comparing apples with oranges here, XP is rock solid when using proper drivers, and if you load a GUI environment on a Linux machine, XP can actually outperform Linux. Both operating systems are very good (I use all of them), each can run for years when properly configured, and they both have their strengths and weaknesses. However, if you are keeping up with your security patches, you are definitely doing maintenance, Linux is not some magic solution.

I still recommend XP Pro as the solution here, it will be supported until at least 2014. It's a proven platform. I actually used Windows 2003 Server for my home automation for a long time, but there just is no benefit in doing so, and rebuilt the machine with XP Pro.

WHS is not a bad solution, but it is just a crippled Windows Server, and after some of the bugs I have seen (data corruption, etc.), I would rely on a 3rd party solution for backups anyways.

 

[felixrosbergen]

Thanks for the opinions so far....

Reading Microsoft sites it seems that support is indeed availabel untill 2014, but it appear to be based on some sort of pay service...maybe i'm understanding it wrong.

For roughly the same price (but much cheaper than Win2k3) i'm leaning towards WHS now. So far i'm not a big fan of Vista.

 

[Micah]

I'm not aware of other major issues with WHS so I can't comment on them, but the data corruption bug was solved with SP1.

Not that solving the corruption problem makes WHS the only or best choice, just saying is all.

What I can say, however, is that I run my CQC Master Server on my WHS box and it's done a stellar job. I'm using old hardware that I had lying around and it hasn't skipped a beat.

 

[felixrosbergen]

What is the deal with 32 vs 64 bit?

Can a Gigabyte Intel P45 based motherboards (GA-EP45-UD3P) with Intel Core2Due 8500 run 64 bit?

Is Windows Home Server compatible with 64 bit?

Any benefits to running 64 bit for our tyical automation use?

Are SageTv and CQC compatible with 64 bit?