Do i even need windows server OS?

[idiocracy]

Right now i have a hp proliant microserver N54L. It's running windows server 2012 R2. All i'm using it for is network storage, the cpu is a bit too slow to handle the i/o's. I'm about to move it all over into a different case because i have a j1900 embedded chipset laying around, which should be more powerful. But for network storage, is there any point in having windows server installed over windows 7/8?

[NelizMastr]

For basic file sharing, any OS will do that supports it. 

[idiocracy]

That's my thought, and if i'm not using the majority of the server features. Then what is the point, maybe it ran lighter than other os's. Or maybe there was some other benefit i didn't know about even tho i wasn't using all of it's features.

[jde3]

2 hours ago, idiocracy said:

Right now i have a hp proliant microserver N54L. It's running windows server 2012 R2. All i'm using it for is network storage, the cpu is a bit too slow to handle the i/o's. I'm about to move it all over into a different case because i have a j1900 embedded chipset laying around, which should be more powerful. But for network storage, is there any point in having windows server installed over windows 7/8?

Does anyone really need windows? heh.

[idiocracy]

19 minutes ago, jde3 said:

Does anyone really need windows? heh.

Have you tried setting up raid and create a smb share in linux. It's like 5 clicks in windows, and 2 days of headaches in linux.

[jde3]

Yeah, it's so hard..

 

raid:

zpool create tank mirror da0 da1

 

smb config:

[global]
  workgroup = WORKGROUP
  server string = Samba Server
  netbios name = Host
  security = user

 

[tank]
  path = /tank
  public = yes

 

I'd prob be done before you even got the start menu open.

[idiocracy]

Oh they added samba support by default, didn't know that. It's still terminal tho, so not very useable for average people like me. But that wasn't really the hard part tho. Creating the raid was the main headache, installing and setting up mdadm. And even after i finally got it to work, it was still crap.

[jde3]

I literally just created a raid1 there with a single command mounted on /tank and the smb config to share it has 8 lines in it.. not even sure you need all 8..

[idiocracy]

16 minutes ago, jde3 said:

I literally just created a raid1 there with a single command mounted on /tank and the smb config to share it has 8 lines in it.. not even sure you need all 8..

Yeah, and i ended up with a un-renameable drive called c1028587-a4be-448d-a514-eb5a04e6864b. So that was awesome having to map that from remote clients. Install and configure mdadm through terminal was a major pain. They might've made changes to it over the past year. But i don't even want to give it a try before it's more user friendly, which has never been linux's strong point.
But linux is a beautiful idea, maybe some day it'll actually be worth having a look at for average users like me.

[jde3]

That's looks like a UUID (unique drive identifier) you did something wrong and used the UUID for a name instead of giving it an actual name.. in other words you didn't know what you were doing. That is fine tho and I'll explain.. but first it's not a new change in what I did there, that's been that way since ZFS's release 10 years ago. And.. Linux is not going to get any more user friendly. (or in my case FreeBSD as that is what I prefer to use)

 

User friendly or maybe better said, "grandma friendly" isn't a good thing. It's one of the major reasons windows sucks. They focus on new (and dumb) users. I worked at Microsoft, I know what they think. When you try to protect someone from doing something stupid you end up creating a situation where you can no longer do something creative. Unix is full of examples where people use programs outside of their programmers intention to do really creative things. Making software easier to use for beginners often comes at the expense of it being harder to use for average users and experts alike.

 

ZFS's CLI is a great example of this. It can do all manner of nasty things to your disk and it often provides no confirmation and no output at all unless an error occurred. It takes a minimum of switches and options and it is highly scriptable. It's intended to be used by skilled sysadmins who know how to read a manual.. and it is an absolutely wonderful thing NOT to do 5 clicks to do every thing you want to do in a days work.

 

Microsoft knows this too by the way... they created Powershell for this very reason.. but.. it's awfal.. no shock. Now as of last year or so they implemented bash (Linux's default shell) as well.

 

 

 

[idiocracy]

And that's why linux will never get to where it wants to be. Ubuntu has tried for so long and there's been others attempting the same thing, and it's just not happening.

Terminal is fine for the people who wants to use it, or slowly ease into it. But when it's a requirement from the start. That is where linux fails. I've tried it a few times now, and it usually doesn't take more than a few days before i end up on the forums. And then it turns in to a 2 days thread. And it's just too much when you're just getting into it, and you just need it to work. You don't always have the time to fiddle around if you have papers you need to print and whatnot.

[jde3]

13 minutes ago, idiocracy said:

And that's why linux will never get to where it wants to be.

Where does it want to be? It's the most widely used operating system on planet earth and it dominates every aspect of computing from embedded to mobile to super computers. Every Android device is Linux. Your router uses it. NASA's space craft use it. The only place it does not see a majority of use is the desktop.. and if it were to have to give up that power and flexibility to be welcome in that space I would say it's not worth it.

 

The desktop is a small dying market. Windows for office use is nothing more than a client system a glorified utility OS for running a web browser.

[idiocracy]

And how often do you have to open terminal on an android device or to communicate with your router?

 

[jde3]

Ah.. but the fact is I can.

 

(I actually use a terminal on android all the time to hack them)

 

Uname on Android:

$ uname -a
Linux localhost -- #1 SMP PREEMPT Mon Jul 30 -- 2018 aarch64

[idiocracy]

The fact that you can is nice, but you don't have to. With linux it's a requirement, you won't get very far without.

[jde3]

8 minutes ago, idiocracy said:

The fact that you can is nice, but you don't have to. With linux it's a requirement, you won't get very far without.

I like to use my computers and I'm not really very fond of rails and hand guards..

 

Did you know that android actually has a package manager and you can use that to debloat a phone without rooting it? Amazon use to sell a Moto G4 with for $85 bucks but it had Amazon ads on the lock screen.. (usually about $125) but.. you can just uninstall them from the shell, It prob works on all Amazon devices. heh.. Seriously it's the nicest, cleanest $85 cheep ass phone I've seen. GSM+ CDMA + removable battery + SD card. It's as good as a $200 phone.

 

Oops there I go using computers again. I'll just forget I know that and stare at ads like a good windows user.

[idiocracy]

You have selective hearing, don't you?

 

p.s.The server 2012 machine runs linux in a vm for a specific app, my g6 is rooted, debloated stock oreo and my router runs pfsense.

[jde3]

I'm not sure what your talking about but your answer to the OP is no.

 

Up until last year I didn't know people even still used windows servers at all.. as I haven't seen one for a ~ decade but that makes sense as I usually get hired for Unix shops. pfsense is FreeBSD not Linux. G6 is ok, the moto isn't my daily driver, just a cheep toy that needs to be unrooted intentionally to test.. things..

 

Ironically Microsoft sold the windows lock screen to advertisers too but.. you paid full price for it.

[idiocracy]

I'm betting you have these conversations quite often. You seem like someone who will, on or off topic jump at any chance to talk about why linux is on that pedestal you've put it on.

[jde3]

2 minutes ago, idiocracy said:

I'm betting you have these conversations quite often. You seem like someone who will, on or off topic jump at any chance to talk about why linux is on that pedestal you've put it on.

I don't like Linux. I avoid it whenever possible.. still.. it's better than windows tho

[idiocracy]

3 minutes ago, jde3 said:

I don't like Linux. I avoid it whenever possible.. still.. it's better than windows tho

I like linux, but it just won't reach people like me. I don't get the chance to ease into it, if i could i'd probably be significantly more inclined to use it. Instead of be running into a wall, face first, from the start.

[Jarsky]

.....

 

 

this went off track about 8 posts ago...

If he wants to use Windows, it's just fine as a file server. Easy to setup users and shares. 

As far as mdadm, you don't have to do it by terminal, webmin has support for logical volume management, raid management and smb configuration. You can manage the whole box through the UI without the need to install a desktop environment. 

 

[jde3]

Ya haha.

 

I like webmin. it's been around a long time ~20 years maybe.. but still works pretty well. You can use it to manage a group of systems not just a single.

[Electronics Wizardy]

10 hours ago, idiocracy said:

Right now i have a hp proliant microserver N54L. It's running windows server 2012 R2. All i'm using it for is network storage, the cpu is a bit too slow to handle the i/o's. I'm about to move it all over into a different case because i have a j1900 embedded chipset laying around, which should be more powerful. But for network storage, is there any point in having windows server installed over windows 7/8?

For basic network storage windows 10 desktop is fine. Both have the same cifs file server. Server gets you mainly the ad servers and other microsfot servers and some advanced file sharing features. Id just use 10 here for the better storage spaces and that its more secure.

[idiocracy]

One thing i forgot to mention in the OP is that i'm running a linux vm on the machine. There doesn't seem to be a default vm in windows 10, 3'th party app is needed. And i'm wondering if i could copy my server 2012 vm to virtualbox. I doubt a j1900 chipset support hyper-v.