Home media server Linux or Windows

[Erfurt]

Hey guys

 

I'm planning on making my first server, when I get the money. I have an older CPU Sandy Bridge quad core I believe, LGA 1155. I'm going to make it in a small form factor, properly mATX. I have 4 gigs of memory, from an older computer, that I'm going to use in the server. For storage I'm thinking about getting 4 or 8 HDD in raid 5 or 6 (Depends on how many HDD's I'm ending up using), going to make the raids with a raid controller. For OS drive I'm going to get a SSD. I also have a PSU from my old computer, 450W enermax I believe it is (can't check these things for the time being, I'm not home).

I believe that I have most of the hardware covered, and it should be fine for a server. Only thing I don't know anything about is the OS, I've heard that Windows can kill an SSD rather quickly, and that it needs at least 160 GB of storage. Don't know anything about Linux, but I've seen people on youtube use 60 GB SSDs for OS drives, may have been for an older version of the server software, can't really tell.

My questions are, should I go with Linux or Windows? Which one is the 'best' and why? Which one is the easiest to set up? Can you feel a difference between the two of them? Which one will 'kill' the SSD fastest?

 

The server will be used as a media server, with music, movies, pictures, and all that stuff, and of course backups of all my computers.

 

And BTW if I have a TV with DNLA, can I when connect directly to the server, without buying extra hardware?

[ultimatemythbuster]

I'd go with whatever OS you are the most comfortable using. I doubt that one OS will wear out an SSD faster than the other.

[Priller]

If you're looking to use DLNA.

 

I have an 8150 has my home server.

 

It uses Plex to serve up all my movies etc. It uses a wired connection and Windows 7. So it can be used as a regular computer at any given point as well.

 

With Plex I can use the Xbox 360 with DLNA to watch movies or plug my laptop in and use Plex Media Center and it's GUI to select movies or watch built in channels.

 

Its quite nice and doesnt require anything special or the computer to be just a server.

 

One last thing. With an app on my S3 and it connected to my Wifi, I can remote control my server and the GUI from my couch. lol

[b45op]

Use whatever you feel comfortable with, neither will wear out the ssd quicker than the other, unless you are defragmenting windows which is unnecessary on an ssd and will use up reads and writes on the drive.

 

For space you don't need 160gb for the windows install, you will need the space for any programs you install and what not. Linux can be much smaller as you can remove lots of the things you don't need.

 

easiest to set up? well.... if you know windows then that will be easiest and if you know Linux then that too could be easiest. for both there are a lot of tutorials and guides on basically everything you may want to do. The Linux command line is not as scary as people think it is (you can install a desktop manager if you want) and once you get into the repositories installing things is a dream. Linux is free, windows is not, does the cost outweigh a bit of fiddling with network stuff and config files to get it going?

[alpenwasser]

If you're unfamiliar with Linux but would like to get into it (it is indeed very well

suited for running a server), I recommend maybe Ubuntu or Mint (I'm sure there are

other beginner-friendly distros, maybe check out distrowatch.org).

I can't speak much for the Windows side of things since I haven't really used it in

many years, but as has been said: As long as you don't defrag your SSD it should be

fine in Win as well.

[Erfurt]

Okay thanks all, I have no Linux experience at the moment, but I want to get some, as it's nice to have. I don't really mind using some extra time to get it to work, and the fact that Linux is free is a plus for me, less money needed = getting a server faster, which is lovely

[N7_Zer0]

Ubuntu Server 12.04 LTS (it's command line only but you can install the GUI if you're more comfortable with that). There are plenty of guides (text and video) that will guide you through setting up a file server. It's free and uses very low resources. SSD's have their own internal garbage collection so doesn't matter what OS you use, it won't kill it any faster or slower. Modern SSD's are a lot more robust than previous generations anyways. Get the smallest SSD you can (typically 60GB) for the OS and some HDD's for the storage. I like keeping the OS and data separated. You can set up Plex on the server which will stream to other devices.

 

I suggest you download Vmware Player and play with Ubuntu in a virtual environment first.

[Erfurt]

Ubuntu Server 12.04 LTS (it's command line only but you can install the GUI if you're more comfortable with that). There are plenty of guides (text and video) that will guide you through setting up a file server. It's free and uses very low resources. SSD's have their own internal garbage collection so doesn't matter what OS you use, it won't kill it any faster or slower. Modern SSD's are a lot more robust than previous generations anyways. Get the smallest SSD you can (typically 60GB) for the OS and some HDD's for the storage. I like keeping the OS and data separated. You can set up Plex on the server which will stream to other devices.

 

I suggest you download Vmware Player and play with Ubuntu in a virtual environment first.

Thanks, I will play a bit with it, actually have a complete computer that I don't need, just need a HDD, but I need a new one for my gaming rig anyway, so I could play with Ubuntu on that, when I get some time for it

[N7_Zer0]

Here's a post somebody made in this forum which is a good start: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/6398-howto-create-your-own-linux-home-server-using-debian/

[flibberdipper]

First of, Windows doesn't need 160GB, just 16GB. And neither kills an SSD faster (whoever said that should be punched in the face). And use whatever you feel more comfortable. I like to use Windows, since I can use this program and it's really configurable.

[N7_Zer0]

First of, Windows doesn't need 160GB, just 16GB. And neither kills an SSD faster (whoever said that should be punched in the face). And use whatever you feel more comfortable. I like to use Windows, since I can use this program and it's really configurable.

 

Pretty sure he's referring to WHS 2011's artificial 160GB install requirement (which you can get around fairly easily). The first version of WHS I believe used the OS drive as the "scratch" disk. In other words, any files you're copying over to server gets written to the OS drive first which is why people were concerned about wearing out the drive if it's an SSD. That's what I've heard anyways.

[Erfurt]

Here's a post somebody made in this forum which is a good start: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/6398-howto-create-your-own-linux-home-server-using-debian/

Thanks for the link, it's going to be very useful

[joshuamurphy]

Linux is awesome and the best way to get started in Linux is to actually install a distro. I would give it it's own hard drive so you won't have problems with a boot loader. Just try Ubuntu and boot into it and run it for a week and see how you find it. It may be hard at sometimes but I'm always here to help if you need it. Feel free to PM me at anytime

[Erfurt]

Linux is awesome and the best way to get started in Linux is to actually install a distro. I would give it it's own hard drive so you won't have problems with a boot loader. Just try Ubuntu and boot into it and run it for a week and see how you find it. It may be hard at sometimes but I'm always here to help if you need it. Feel free to PM me at anytime

Sounds good, if I get problems, I'll PM you ;-)