Hp Proliant Microserver OS

zangetsu19 · 24 Dec 2010 at 21:46

guys i've been reading different things for days and days now but was just wondering what would you recommend for the proliant OS

all i want to do is back computers up(mac & 7) and use it as a media server (ps3, xbox, mac) ones i been reading about are

WHS(windows home server) = installed free trial, is it worth buying with vail coming out soon?

Windows 2008 r2 = more for business than home use?
i can get for free anyways with dream-spark but any gd

Amahi

ubuntu = people say its hard to get used to or set up

FreeNas = cheap and cheerful

any others?

just wondering if anyone like one better than the other

Happy holidays

CraigN · 24 Dec 2010 at 22:44

Im using 2008r2 mainly so i can do all the stuff you want to do aswell as remote to it and use it as a download box.

I have the licence however so i dont have to pay for it for a single use.

Robert · 25 Dec 2010 at 17:55

I have similar requirements Zang and am thinking of going for FreeNAS

zangetsu19 · 26 Dec 2010 at 16:29

Robert said:
I have similar requirements Zang and am thinking of going for FreeNAS

what do you think to freeNas i've hadnt read much about it but people rate it as about 5th best OS for home servers

zangetsu19 · 26 Dec 2010 at 16:40

CraigN said:
Im using 2008r2 mainly so i can do all the stuff you want to do aswell as remote to it and use it as a download box.

I have the licence however so i dont have to pay for it for a single use.

what server role do you use then as im confused with all the different types is it files services?

CraigN · 26 Dec 2010 at 16:44

Currently running file services and iis for ftp services

Zarf · 26 Dec 2010 at 18:14

If you've got 2008 for free, I'd go with that.
Personally I'm playing around with ZFS on Solaris, practicing for when I can afford to build a big file server. The file sharing performance with my windows clients isn't really where i'd like it to be - Can do over 100MB/s either way in windows, but with a linux/unix OS on there CIFS/SMB performance is less than half that.

For your usage it might not really matter, media streaming doesn't use much and you can do backups overnight.

zangetsu19 · 26 Dec 2010 at 22:04

thanks craign all the different roles confuse me to no end.

Thanks zarf think i'm going to give 2008 a better chance its just so complex i'm havent done anything complex in years, got so lazy i want software at a click of a button to do everything for me, also never heard of solaris so will give that a look up to.

tsinc80697 · 27 Dec 2010 at 19:00

Are you using raid at all zang? Pretty much identical uses for what I'm looking a;, pc, mac storage and stream to ps3.

I was looking at standard NAS as it's hassle free but the HP option means I can download things without having a computer on! Just need to decide on OS and what raid options there are.

DIABLO · 27 Dec 2010 at 21:19

I'd just use 2008 if you can get it free, way overkill though.

Chaos · 27 Dec 2010 at 22:55

Someone should make a microserver distro

http://susestudio.com/

zangetsu19 · 28 Dec 2010 at 17:32

no i aren't using raid atm, will do when i have it fully up and running however i will only be using raid 1 as just to keep my data safe. i found that all forms of raid make your data unstable so will only use mirroring.

i'm using windows 2008 now but to be honest it confuses me to no end with the home server it was just a few clicks of a buttons but this is roles and jobs and argh, i thought i was slightly tech savi but this is just putting me to shame.

PhillyDee · 28 Dec 2010 at 17:35

WHS current version is a good shout tbh, its simple and ticks all the boxes. Vail is pointless, gets rid of drive extended, which is the best thing about WHS.

DarkMatter · 29 Dec 2010 at 15:59

Hmm, which one did you decide on? FreeNas looks quite basic....

kae2 · 29 Dec 2010 at 16:20

I've been making this decision for my little proliant microserver. Decided on WinXP Pro in the end, just didn't like the alternatives for the simple reason that if WinXP breaks, I know how to fix it. The rest, I wouldn't even know where to start!

k3v · 30 Dec 2010 at 10:18

unraid seems an efficient use of the hard drives, I can't make my mind up between unraid or amahi.

IAmATeaf · 1 Jan 2011 at 02:17

I've decided to stick W7 Pro x64 on mine after downloading VAIL only to find that it won't install because the CPU isn't beefy enough and 1Gb of RAM is also not enough.

Tried copying some large files across and the throughput for me was pretty poor, averaging around 12Mbs so I've just spent the evening upgrading drivers and boy is the AMD site slooooow

n3vrmind · 2 Jan 2011 at 06:25

IAmATeaf said:
I've decided to stick W7 Pro x64 on mine after downloading VAIL only to find that it won't install because the CPU isn't beefy enough and 1Gb of RAM is also not enough.

Tried copying some large files across and the throughput for me was pretty poor, averaging around 12Mbs so I've just spent the evening upgrading drivers and boy is the AMD site slooooow

install using an unattended setup file and it bypasses the check, so its not the recommended speed but 0.1ghz isnt going to be the end of the world on a NAS

jaybee · 2 Jan 2011 at 20:33

Zarf said:
If you've got 2008 for free, I'd go with that.
Personally I'm playing around with ZFS on Solaris, practicing for when I can afford to build a big file server. The file sharing performance with my windows clients isn't really where i'd like it to be - Can do over 100MB/s either way in windows, but with a linux/unix OS on there CIFS/SMB performance is less than half that.

For your usage it might not really matter, media streaming doesn't use much and you can do backups overnight.

Is that 100MB/s using ZFS on Solaris do you mean? What build are you using? Can you tell me more? I want to set up a server to perform various duties including:

Backups
PS3 Media server
File storage
Ability to run XBMC
Torrents/downloads

I have been looking at using Ubuntu with FlexRaidLive when it comes out in a few weeks. I don't like the look of unraid since it ties you into a licence restricted to putting your faith into a USB device lasting for as long as your server is required, plus limits you to 20 HDDs. Oh and it's not free.
I refuse to use Windows anything. I have looked at freenas but it looks a bit limiting in terms of the OS, a bit like unraid.

ZFS on Solaris looks good. I have some experience of it, but mainly as a corporate unix server and I have not trialed any of the ZFS benefits.

For me, I find 50MB/s unacceptable. 75+ is my target, preferably 100.

IAmATeaf · 3 Jan 2011 at 20:32

Well I decided to scrap the W7 x64 Pro and give WHS a go, installing it as I type. Had to go for it to see if I can make use of the automated backup feature.

For anybody else installing WHS, if your main OS disk is in the RAID cage then you have to configure the SATA controller to IDE mode else the install will blue screen. You can then reconfigure the controller to AHCI or RAID if you then plan on moving the disk over to the single port the CD/DVD and then simply install the required drivers.