New storage server - Need OS help

[Van Diekon]

Hi there everyone!

 

I need a little help picking an operating system for my new storage server. All the computers in my home are Windows based, and I want to keep it that way. I want this server to list 4 2TB network drives for everyone on my network to write or read from.

 

I know I can do this within Windows Server, but I cannot really afford that type of license. Is there a way I can do this with Linux? Perhaps Ubuntu?...

 

Here is my list of parts:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400T 2.2GHz Quad-Core OEM/Tray Processor  ($149.00 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L9i 33.8 CFM CPU Cooler  ($37.99 @ Newegg) 
Motherboard: MSI B150M Pro-VD Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($59.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Kingston 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($53.50 @ Amazon) 
Storage Drive 1: Sandisk SSD PLUS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($44.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage Drive 2: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($69.88 @ Amazon) 
Storage Drive 3: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($69.88 @ Amazon) 
Storage Drive 4: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($69.88 @ Amazon) 
Storage Drive 5: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($69.88 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Rosewill 500W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply  ($54.99 @ Amazon) 
Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer  ($49.82 @ Amazon) 
Wired Network Adapter 1: Intel EXPI9301CTBLK PCI-Express x1 10/100/1000 Mbps Network Adapter  ($27.00 @ Amazon) 

Wired Network Adapter 2: Intel PRO/1000 PT Quad Port Server Adapter  ($49.76 @ Amazon) 
Case Fan 1: Noctua NF-R8 redux-1200 21.1 CFM  80mm Fan  ($9.95 @ Amazon) 
Case Fan 2: Noctua NF-R8 redux-1200 21.1 CFM  80mm Fan  ($9.95 @ Amazon) 
Server chassis: NORCO RPC-430 Black 4U Rackmount Super Short Depth 15.25" Server Case  ($69.99) 
Total: $896.45

Thank you!

 

(If you can find a cheap windows license key, I don't want to do virtual machines with this server. Only a file server)

[Droidbot]

OpenMediaVault.

Debian based.

Plugins for everything.

Good hardware support.

Web interface.

[manikyath]

freenas? appareantly the ram requirements for that are BS, so that would do just fine i guess.

 

that said, why the flip do you have *SO MANY* network ports? it's not like your drives will have a good time trying to max that out.

[Strayuru]

You should be able to use a samba share on Ubuntu.

 

There's a guide on how to do this here (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/How to Create a Network Share Via Samba Via CLI (Command-line interface/Linux Terminal) - Uncomplicated, Simple and Brief Way!) and how to connect via windows 7 here (https://help.lafayette.edu/samba/win7nondomain).

[Van Diekon]

4 minutes ago, manikyath said:

freenas? appareantly the ram requirements for that are BS, so that would do just fine i guess.

 

that said, why the flip do you have *SO MANY* network ports? it's not like your drives will have a good time trying to max that out.

I have one x1 for my managed switch, and the other 4 are for other servers. I forgot to add the raid card in this list.

[Van Diekon]

5 minutes ago, Strayuru said:

You should be able to use a samba share on Ubuntu.

 

There's a guide on how to do this here (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/How to Create a Network Share Via Samba Via CLI (Command-line interface/Linux Terminal) - Uncomplicated, Simple and Brief Way!) and how to connect via windows 7 here (https://help.lafayette.edu/samba/win7nondomain).

Thank you! I'll try this after I finish the machine and setup everything.

 

Does anyone know of any affordable Windows Server license keys though? Again, I am not looking for virtualization. 

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, Van Diekon said:

I have one x1 for my managed switch, and the other 4 are for other servers. I forgot to add the raid card in this list.

looks like you're going all out there

 

probably slightly beyond the scope of freenas, seeing that.

5 minutes ago, Strayuru said:

You should be able to use a samba share on Ubuntu.

 

There's a guide on how to do this here (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/How to Create a Network Share Via Samba Via CLI (Command-line interface/Linux Terminal) - Uncomplicated, Simple and Brief Way!) and how to connect via windows 7 here (https://help.lafayette.edu/samba/win7nondomain).

ubuntu itself is probably the worst "granddaddy" distro to pick for a server, the vareous *buntu spinoffs are pretty nice as server distro tho.

[Strayuru]

1 minute ago, Van Diekon said:

Thank you! I'll try this after I finish the machine and setup everything.

 

Does anyone know of any affordable Windows Server license keys though? Again, I am not looking for virtualization. 

No problem!

 

If you're looking for cheap keys, you might be best using the Windows Evaluation keys, they re-arm 3/4 times per key (I believe) giving about a year and a bit of the full windows experience. Most people recycle machines by then or re-install windows.

Or if you're still in education, your college/school may have access to the "DreamSpark" or now "Microsoft Imagine" community where students get free license keys for testing environments.

[Strayuru]

2 minutes ago, manikyath said:

ubuntu itself is probably the worst "granddaddy" distro to pick for a server

OP requested ubuntu...

16 minutes ago, Van Diekon said:

Perhaps Ubuntu?...

 

[Droidbot]

1 minute ago, Strayuru said:

No problem!

 

If you're looking for cheap keys, you might be best using the Windows Evaluation keys, they re-arm 3/4 times per key (I believe) giving about a year and a bit of the full windows experience. Most people recycle machines by then or re-install windows.

Or if you're still in education, your college/school may have access to the "DreamSpark" or now "Microsoft Imagine" community where students get free license keys for testing environments.

DreamSpark has a lot of the server keys, yeah. Generally Basic versions of the OS and they're available to all users after email verification. Good for hands on work.

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, Strayuru said:

OP requested ubuntu...

 

and i'm, from experience, telling both you and OP that ubuntu itself is a bad idea

[Van Diekon]

3 minutes ago, Strayuru said:

No problem!

 

If you're looking for cheap keys, you might be best using the Windows Evaluation keys, they re-arm 3/4 times per key (I believe) giving about a year and a bit of the full windows experience. Most people recycle machines by then or re-install windows.

Or if you're still in education, your college/school may have access to the "DreamSpark" or now "Microsoft Imagine" community where students get free license keys for testing environments.

Currently in my last year of high school. I looked into DreamSpark, which is now Imagine, and it was not available for me.

[Strayuru]

2 minutes ago, manikyath said:

and i'm, from experience, telling both you and OP that ubuntu itself is a bad idea

If you know what you're doing Ubuntu is just Debian based and works perfectly well in a production environment. I have had 50+ days since my last (user requested) reboot on my Ubuntu server. The community that exists around the Ubuntu OS is also friendly and helpful.

 

For a simple file system, Ubuntu will be more than enough. Most people are familiar with ubuntu and it's a good "intro to linux" compared to the likes of FreeBSD or other more advanced Operating Systems.

 

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, Strayuru said:

Ubuntu server

"ubuntu" is entirely different from "ubuntu server"

[Strayuru]

1 minute ago, manikyath said:

"ubuntu" is entirely different from "ubuntu server"

Still based on Debian with the same underlying system...

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, Strayuru said:

Still based on Debian with the same underlying system...

SteamOS is also debian, dont see people running that on a server do you?

[Van Diekon]

2 minutes ago, manikyath said:

"ubuntu" is entirely different from "ubuntu server"

I was under the impression that Ubuntu and Ubuntu Server were almost exactly the same except for Ubuntu came with a GUI and Ubuntu Server did not...

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, Van Diekon said:

I was under the impression that Ubuntu and Ubuntu Server were almost exactly the same except for Ubuntu came with a GUI and Ubuntu Server did not...

ubuntu server is probably one of the most stripped down server OSes out there, there's quite literally not a single service too much there by default. ubuntu desktop on the other hand.. as user friendly as it may be, is probably the most bloated distro out there.

[Mikensan]

1 hour ago, manikyath said:

ubuntu server is probably one of the most stripped down server OSes out there, there's quite literally not a single service too much there by default. ubuntu desktop on the other hand.. as user friendly as it may be, is probably the most bloated distro out there.

Honestly there's more difference in Windows Server and Windows Desktop, than there is in Ubuntu Server and Ubuntu Desktop. You could use a ubuntu desktop installation CD and setup the exact same thing as ubuntu server. Ubuntu Server is not nearly as bare minimum as Arch linux.

 

Honestly you could use Windows 8 or Windows 10 + storage spaces... orrr you could use FlexRaid with windows. Those would be your easiest options @Van Diekon. The only time you need a server license is if you want tiered storage. I also don't know what you mean by "list 4x 2TB network drives" - do you mean list them all together as a single drive or literally each disk independent of one another?

 

For keys you have three choices.

• I'm not promoting pirating only warning of the risks: you can obtain a clean ISO and use an activator, however it may (and likely) contain a trojan.
• Buy a key from reddit's microsoft swap, usually under $50. The risk here is you still do not legally own the license, and if Microsoft decides to black list it then your windows will deactivate and you're at the mercy of the seller to give you a new key. I had seen this happen, the seller was kind enough to give a new key. These keys are from people who have an old technet subscription which gives you an insane number of keys, and they're reselling them (violation).
• Buy it outright.

 

Check with your school's IT person, he/she may be able to create a temporary email account to register you for Dreamspark, or your school may have a subscription with microsoft which allows them to give students software/keys. Can't hurt to ask.

[manikyath]

32 minutes ago, Mikensan said:

Ubuntu Server is not nearly as bare minimum as Arch linux.

the thing is.. arch linux doesnt have a "stock install", so they're not really even comparable.

[Van Diekon]

58 minutes ago, Mikensan said:

I also don't know what you mean by "list 4x 2TB network drives" - do you mean list them all together as a single drive or literally each disk independent of one another?

I want 2 of the drives in a raid 5, and the other 2 disks individual. Effectively this will let me make 3 network drives.

I will have one 4TB share and two different 2TB shares.

 

58 minutes ago, Mikensan said:

Check with your school's IT person, he/she may be able to create a temporary email account to register you for Dreamspark, or your school may have a subscription with microsoft which allows them to give students software/keys. Can't hurt to ask.

I'll look into it. Thank you.

[Mikensan]

10 minutes ago, manikyath said:

the thing is.. arch linux doesnt have a "stock install", so they're not really even comparable.

I don't know what you mean by "stock install." If by that you mean preloaded with packages like Ubuntu is, then correct. Ubuntu server still comes with extras - some you may not need (not really stripped down). You can certainly burn an ISO and install arch linux and be looking at a terminal screen ready to go. Need CIFS? Install it. Ubuntu, it's already there. So to say Ubuntu server is the most "stripped down" is a bit misleading. Arch linux just has yet even fewer packages. I think you get vi editor though :-)? 

They're directly comparable, both run linux and both can achieve similar results. They just have different starting points, and arch makes ubuntu server look like a fat cow.

 

I would say it's the most minimalistic with the most support. Certainly easier. 

[Mikensan]

13 minutes ago, Van Diekon said:

I want 2 of the drives in a raid 5, and the other 2 disks individual. Effectively this will let me make 3 network drives.

I will have one 4TB share and two different 2TB shares.

 

I'll look into it. Thank you.

 

You can't Raid-5 2 drives. However you can raid all your drives together, and just create 3 (or more) windows shares on the same raid array.

[manikyath]

3 minutes ago, Mikensan said:

You can certainly burn an ISO and install arch linux and be looking at a terminal screen ready to go.

please tell me at least as brief as this how to install arch linux:

- you select your language

- you read what your screen asks you, and tell it what to do

- you rinse and repeat the last step until ubuntu server is installed.

 

last time i checked, arch isnt *quite* that easy

[Mikensan]

9 minutes ago, manikyath said:

please tell me at least as brief as this how to install arch linux:

- you select your language

- you read what your screen asks you, and tell it what to do

- you rinse and repeat the last step until ubuntu server is installed.

 

last time i checked, arch isnt *quite* that easy

Never said it was easy (definitely said ubuntu was easier in my post) - regardless of difficulty arch is the most stripped down distro. No hidden packages or daemons running for sure lol. However it's not going to take long for somebody to install arch following a guide. Started using CentOS myself lately, so I don't have a leg to stand on recommending Arch or Ubuntu. CentOS or Ubuntu, both during the install you can uncheck anything you don't want installed and get a slim installation.