Best Linux for home file/media server?

TechMinerUK · 7 Dec 2015 at 20:22

Hi, I am currently setting up a home media/file server but I'm not sure which is better between CentOS 7 and Ubuntu LTS 14.04 server.

I have tried both and I'm willing to persevere learning a new system as I know CentOS is slightly more complex than Ubuntu.

I was wondering if anyone here would have an idea as to which is better suited for what I'm using it for as I need to make sure the server is secure and functional as a media server.

As always any help is greatly appreciated

Steveocee · 7 Dec 2015 at 20:25

If it's a home server then Ubuntu Server. Have a look at Webmin as that gives a graphical interface to make life much more fun as well.

For file serving samba would be the go to and this is selected at point of installation for Ubuntu server.

TechMinerUK · 7 Dec 2015 at 20:29

Steveocee said:
If it's a home server then Ubuntu Server. Have a look at Webmin as that gives a graphical interface to make life much more fun as well.

For file serving samba would be the go to and this is selected at point of installation for Ubuntu server.

Excellent as I've used Ubuntu server before with samba, I just wanted to make sure as I've seen many people say CentOS was better suited for server use

Thank you for your help

Bluecube · 7 Dec 2015 at 20:57

I second using webmin. It really does make looking after your server so much easier.

SKILL · 8 Dec 2015 at 10:58

I don't really see anything that makes CentOS any better, or worse, than Ubuntu Server, ultimately any Linux distro would do the job, especially for a home setup, it just depends what setup you prefer/have more experience with.

Personally I use Gentoo for both my HTPC and Fileserver. But I'm clearly insane

meandu229 · 8 Dec 2015 at 11:09

I use debian because Ive used it before and am relatively familiar with it. Think ill install webmin. Debian is pretty light weight too doesnt need much to run it especially headless.

Smit · 8 Dec 2015 at 13:08

Personally I use Freenas with a few plugins for plex and dlna

Punt · 8 Dec 2015 at 15:12

I use headless CentOS with webmin on my server to run sickbeard, sabnzbd, plex, etc.

I chose CentOS as we use RHEL at work and they're the same.

TechMinerUK · 8 Dec 2015 at 19:37

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I'll probably stick with Ubuntu server if it makes little/no difference but at some point I'll probably have a go at using CentOS as I'm intrigued about it since it is similar to RedHat linux

ian54 · 21 Dec 2015 at 22:46

A bit of late advice but for a simple file/media server the best is a headless straight Debian install, with Samba and MiniDLNA.

Frozennova · 21 Dec 2015 at 23:27

SKILL said:
I don't really see anything that makes CentOS any better, or worse, than Ubuntu Server, ultimately any Linux distro would do the job, especially for a home setup, it just depends what setup you prefer/have more experience with.

Personally I use Gentoo for both my HTPC and Fileserver. But I'm clearly insane

CentOS is more secure out of the box to a preconfigured firewall rules and SElinux

Youll find pretty much everything in enterprise runs its bigger brother Red Hat

memyselfandi · 22 Dec 2015 at 05:19

If you want it just to provide a service rather than to learn towards something work related I would say stick with Ubuntu.

DeeJay-Mo · 31 Dec 2015 at 16:58

ian54 said:
A bit of late advice but for a simple file/media server the best is a headless straight Debian install, with Samba and MiniDLNA.

Good shout. If this approach tickles your fancy and you like the idea of a web interface for admin, maybe have look at something like openmediavault.