Choosing a server OS...

Muel

Muel

Muel

Soldato
Joined
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Sheffield
Hello all.

Right now my server runs Ubuntu Server, because it's main tasks are to run my Minecraft Server and a web server, both of which it does brilliantly.

However, I want to make it so that the server also has a NAS, or some kinda of sharing point thing for my films/music etc, and I have a printer I want to share with it.

How easy will this be to do if I change to Windows Server 2008 R2? (I have a legit key through uni). I'm guessing sharing a 12 year old printer would be easier using Windows Server? (It works in Windows 7 fine so hopefully can be shared).

Would it be hard to run both Windows Server 2008 and Ubuntu Server at the same time? Not sure how VMs work on a more server-ish level. I've only ever used VMWare. :p

Oh yeh, spec...

Intel E4600 (I think) 1.8ghz dual core C2D anyway.
8gb DDR3
120gb IDE HDD (will replace with a better boot drive and add other drives for the NAS later when funds allow).

Also, for the boot drive, I was thinking some form of RAID1 array, probably just a software one, as I think this means that each drive will work if plugged in to a different controller? Should I go for SSDs or HDDs?
 
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Muel said:
How easy will this be to do if I change to Windows Server 2008 R2? (I have a legit key through uni). I'm guessing sharing a 12 year old printer would be easier using Windows Server? (It works in Windows 7 fine so hopefully can be shared).
Click to expand...

Very. Although be aware that Server 2008R2 is only available in 64 bit flavour so make sure you have a 64 bit printer driver.

Muel said:
Would it be hard to run both Windows Server 2008 and Ubuntu Server at the same time? Not sure how VMs work on a more server-ish level. I've only ever used VMWare. :p
Click to expand...

Easy enough to do. You can get a free version of ESXi from VMware, which you'd install as the OS on your server, and then connect to it using another computer to create VMs and install Ubuntu/2008R2. I'm not familiar with Microsoft's Hypervisor so perhaps someone else can advise if you'd prefer to go down that route.

Muel said:
Oh yeh, spec...

Intel E4600 (I think) 1.8ghz dual core C2D anyway.
8gb DDR3
120gb IDE HDD (will replace with a better boot drive and add other drives for the NAS later when funds allow).

Also, for the boot drive, I was thinking some form of RAID1 array, probably just a software one, as I think this means that each drive will work if plugged in to a different controller? Should I go for SSDs or HDDs?
Click to expand...

Software raid is generally bad, and won't work with ESXi as far as I'm aware.

Spec should be fine for running 2 VMs, SSDs will of course be faster, but price is always a factor.
 
Ascendancy said:
Very. Although be aware that Server 2008R2 is only available in 64 bit flavour so make sure you have a 64 bit printer driver.
Click to expand...

The driver is a generic windows one available through Windows Update, and works in 64bit W7, so hopefully will work...

Ascendancy said:
Easy enough to do. You can get a free version of ESXi from VMware, which you'd install as the OS on your server, and then connect to it using another computer to create VMs and install Ubuntu/2008R2. I'm not familiar with Microsoft's Hypervisor so perhaps someone else can advise if you'd prefer to go down that route.
Click to expand...

OK cheers, will look into it. Sounds like a plan though! I would probably want to go with EXSi, as I trust VMware stuff further than Microsoft for VM applications.

Just a thought, with ESXI, I could just backup the VMs right? So no need for a RAID1 backup of the boot disc?

Ascendancy said:
Software raid is generally bad, and won't work with ESXi as far as I'm aware.

Spec should be fine for running 2 VMs, SSDs will of course be faster, but price is always a factor.
Click to expand...

SSDs will not only be faster, but pretty much the same price, but I'd need to check on TRIM support. Boot drive only needs to be 40gb, and I can't find any HDDs for under £40-50 smallest size I can find is 160gb.

memyselfandi said:
Can't you just share out the storage space and the printer using Samba under Ubuntu?
Click to expand...

Possibly but I want the "strongest" option. I tend to find that I hit walls and break stuff in Ubuntu way too often to go with for my main server OS. As a web server any linux OS would be my weapon of choice, but as a general server thingy I think Windows Server 2008 might be worth a look.
 
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Muel said:
The driver is a generic windows one available through Windows Update, and works in 64bit W7, so hopefully will work...



OK cheers, will look into it. Sounds like a plan though! I would probably want to go with EXSi, as I trust VMware stuff further than Microsoft for VM applications.

Just a thought, with ESXI, I could just backup the VMs right? So no need for a RAID1 backup of the boot disc?
Click to expand...

If there's an x64 driver that works under 7 then you should be fine. And yes, you can backup the VMs using VMWare pretty easily :)
 
Muel said:
Just a thought, with ESXI, I could just backup the VMs right? So no need for a RAID1 backup of the boot disc?
Click to expand...

Sorry but this just jumped out at me. It maybe just the way you phrased it but just to clarify, raid 1 is redundancy and not backup. Raid 1 will allow one drive to fail and the other to take over so your system can continue to run without interruption. Backup allows you to restore back to a previous time. Raid 1 will not protect against files being changed / deleted / corrupted (at a non hdd level).

For ESXi you can just duplicate your disk files for the VM and store them somewhere as backups (I do this from base builds so I can just copy a 'good' build disk image across when creating a new VM of that type to save installing the OS). You can also snapshot which will save the disk and state of the VM at a specific time and allows you to roll back to that point. This is great for backing up before adding new software or applying a config change so you can just roll it back if it all goes pear shaped.

Personally I would go with a ssd for VM machine config files and a reasonable sized hdd for VM extra storage and snapshots. Remember also that VMs like ram. Have a Win7 VM @ 4GB and a Linux setup @ 2GB then add a copy of the Win 7 for some testing in parallel and you have potentially swallowed 10GB. You can play with hard, soft and over provisioning to dedicate ram or assign on the fly from a shared pool to manage this.

RB
 
RDP into the Hyper-V server and use the tools locally?? Or is it based on Server Core and has no GUI?? Never used Hyper-V server, only a full server running the Hyper-V role.
 
PistolPete said:
RDP into the Hyper-V server and use the tools locally?? Or is it based on Server Core and has no GUI?? Never used Hyper-V server, only a full server running the Hyper-V role.
Click to expand...

I only dabbled lightly with the Server Core (home use) but my understanding is that it works like ESXi and you need the server and a remote client to administer that server. The client would only install on Win7 Pro or above when I last tried. Not a real possibility for me for home use.

Would be interested to hear if this has changed though.

RB
 
Yes you will need Win7 Pro or you can probably do it on XP Pro too

Hyper-V server is GUI less (well you can rdp in but all you get is powershell/cmd windows and a few others (taskmanager)
 
RimBlock said:
Sorry but this just jumped out at me. It maybe just the way you phrased it but just to clarify, raid 1 is redundancy and not backup. Raid 1 will allow one drive to fail and the other to take over so your system can continue to run without interruption. Backup allows you to restore back to a previous time. Raid 1 will not protect against files being changed / deleted / corrupted (at a non hdd level).
Click to expand...

Ah OK, looks like that's not the best setup for me tbh. I'm guessing one boot disc with the VMs on it, and hopefully set up an auto backup once a week that gets stored on the RAID share (once I buy the HDDs for it).

RimBlock said:
For ESXi you can just duplicate your disk files for the VM and store them somewhere as backups (I do this from base builds so I can just copy a 'good' build disk image across when creating a new VM of that type to save installing the OS). You can also snapshot which will save the disk and state of the VM at a specific time and allows you to roll back to that point. This is great for backing up before adding new software or applying a config change so you can just roll it back if it all goes pear shaped.
Click to expand...

This sounds good. Can a snapshot style system be managed from my desktop via the network? Would be best to backup the snapshots to my desktop, then they're completely outside the server in case something gets severely shafted?

RimBlock said:
Personally I would go with a ssd for VM machine config files and a reasonable sized hdd for VM extra storage and snapshots. Remember also that VMs like ram. Have a Win7 VM @ 4GB and a Linux setup @ 2GB then add a copy of the Win 7 for some testing in parallel and you have potentially swallowed 10GB. You can play with hard, soft and over provisioning to dedicate ram or assign on the fly from a shared pool to manage this.

RB
Click to expand...

I'd rather not have Win7 on it at all tbh, as it's not accessible. It's tucked behind a load of stuff in the living room so I have to move the sofas to get to it. 8gb is the max the board will take so I think sticking to just a VM for WS 2008 and one for Ubuntu Server would be the best plan, with 4gb each. (Running a single Minecraft Server instance ups my current usage to 2.5gb, and seeing as I'm planning on running 2/3 within Ubuntu Server I'd say it'll need at least 4gb).

RimBlock said:
Last time I took a look, the HyperV management software required Win7 Pro of above or it would not install. Is this still the case ?. That was the show stopper with HyperV for me at home.

RB
Click to expand...

That would also be a show-stopper for me as well...

PistolPete said:
RDP into the Hyper-V server and use the tools locally?? Or is it based on Server Core and has no GUI?? Never used Hyper-V server, only a full server running the Hyper-V role.
Click to expand...

What is RDP? I've only connected to servers via SSH before. :o
 
Personally id stick with ubuntu, I run xubuntu on my home server and it works brilliantly

firstly the printer I would say your more likely to get a 12 year old printer working under ubuntu than windows, believe it or not if it has ever worked then it will probably continue to work as unlike windows and driver signing linux doesnt require new drivers each time a later version is released

secondly, ubuntu file sharing is pretty much the same as windows create a folder right click and hit share, add the users you want and away you go
 
Personally I would consider ESXi even if your running one OS. There are big advantages like snapshotting before doing any major changes so have that safety net of being able to roll back changes and the advantage of being able to move the virtual machine to a brand new host and the VM will be non the wiser its running on new hardware. You can also change hardware whilst the server is running.

For your backups Veeam do a free backup utility which has been greatly improved. The only downside is you can't schedule a backup. What do you expect for free though?

Virtualisation is the best thing to happen in IT for a long time IMO.
 
stuie said:
Personally id stick with ubuntu, I run xubuntu on my home server and it works brilliantly

firstly the printer I would say your more likely to get a 12 year old printer working under ubuntu than windows, believe it or not if it has ever worked then it will probably continue to work as unlike windows and driver signing linux doesnt require new drivers each time a later version is released

secondly, ubuntu file sharing is pretty much the same as windows create a folder right click and hit share, add the users you want and away you go
Click to expand...

Nah having run Ubuntu Server for a year I've concluded it doesn't do everything I want. It's fantastic in that it's very fast, highly configurable etc but it's not easy to play around with stuff, that's why I've decided to have 2 VMs.

Swarfega said:
Personally I would consider ESXi even if your running one OS. There are big advantages like snapshotting before doing any major changes so have that safety net of being able to roll back changes and the advantage of being able to move the virtual machine to a brand new host and the VM will be non the wiser its running on new hardware. You can also change hardware whilst the server is running.

For your backups Veeam do a free backup utility which has been greatly improved. The only downside is you can't schedule a backup. What do you expect for free though?

Virtualisation is the best thing to happen in IT for a long time IMO.
Click to expand...

Pretty sure I'll go with ESXi, either that or the Microsoft one. But I don't really like Microsoft so probably will just go with ESXi, because I love VMWare. :P
 
I see, I see. Could I use that to magic my way into the WS 2008 VM though from my W7 desktop?
 
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