Linux alternative to Windows Home Server

Rwac

Rwac

Rwac

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I have explored CentOS but it does not seem to be quite what Windows Home Server is.

Is there anything else available?
 
Your not going to find a Linux distro really that works/feels the same as Windows Home Server.

What exactly do you want the server to do e.g. what services.

I would be genuinley amazed if you can't do what you want with CentOS. It's pretty much the best Linux Server OS (Others may differ - FreeBSD/Debian) - since it's based off Red Hat Enterprise.
 
it's not my realm as i prefer to just run a normal O/S with my media server, but something like FreeNAS might be what you're after.
 
I would like to easily access my files from across my network, and remotely over the internet. That is the main purpose if i am honest - and of course this can be done with much simplier offerings.

I guess i'm literally just exploring the area as i just stumbled on a cheap computer. :)

Is CentOS easy to use? Does it have a simple to use GUI etc?
 
CentOS has the same GUI as pretty much every other Linux distrubution, you can choose between Gnome or KDE GUI's. Both of which are very easy to use. Although you will want to get your hands dirty in SSH/Terminal to change some configuration files about.

Infact you'll find the GUI of most Linux distributions is virtually identical.
 
However if you have not used linux before, it is still a fairly steep learning curve compared to the point-and-clicky-ness of windows, (not as steep as it used to be, but prepare for some googleing)

Sounds Like any linux distro running samba (for sharing files to windows PC's) and maybe a webdav server (for sharing files over HTTP for when you are out and about over the net) may be what you are looking for.

I cannot compare to windows home server because I am not sure how that does things (have not had a play with it.)

//TrX
 
Well, i ran ubuntu as a desktop for about 18 months but it's such a friendly OS it doesnt really count. I only had to run anything on the command line a handful of times.

I shall look into all of your suggestions thankyou :)
 
OMG i cant beleive nobody suggested this.... WEBMIN!

Step 1. Install Ubuntu.

Step 2. Install this package: http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/webadmin/webmin_1.410_all.deb

Step 3: Go to terminal and type: sudo passwd root
Then type a password that you will use to login to the web interface.

Step 4:
Go to https://localhost:10000
Username: root
Password: (you typed this in step 3)

Also you can install some services from package management like: mysql for database, apache for web server, vsftpd or proftpd or pureftpd for ftp, samba for windows shares, etc...
 
Last edited:
Rich43 said:
OMG i cant beleive nobody suggested this.... WEBMIN!
Click to expand...

Webmin's cool, and very handy for server/sysadmin, but it's hardly a drop in replacement for Windows Home Server, is it? :p Automated backups, multimedia streaming, centralised storage, all in a few clicks. It's a powerful (and useful) little app, and I'm starting to find my way around it (been using Linux for a couple of years now) - but I certainly couldn't set it up as a WHS replacement, never mind Joe Bloggs who only just found a live cd.
 
Hi guys,

I not set the computer up yet but have been looking around the CentOS website - and it looks like it could be good even if i have to get my hands a little dirty.

Once i download the OS and burn onto a disc, install it etc, do i need to install something like WebDav to enable access over the web?

Essentially i would be interested in:
Accessing my server + home network from the web
Accessing files on the server from my home network
Backups

In that priority :)
 
There used to be a load of these for a time. Something like ClarkConnect does this ootb, but I would get a netinstall debian disc, install base system, apt-get install samba vsftp sshd then edit samba.conf and vsftpd.conf That's LAN and ftp set up and secure shell.
 
Hi guys,

I popped fluxbuntu on to start (posting from it now) onto the intended dell optiplex server - and i wondered... is there a way to turn this into a *basic* server.

I investigated webdav and saw lots of mentions of it in the synaptic package manager but i cannot seem to figure out what i need/want.

As above my my needs are:

- Access files on the server/network from over the web (edit: would be nice to just goto a webpage and access it through there, so a HTTP webdav of some sort?)
- Access the files on the server internally at home through the network

Those are the priorities really. Thanks =)
 
install samba for LAN filesharing.

I take it you mean you can load a bunch of files into a directory and then download them via http?

Install apache for http sharing, although you could consider tinyhttpd as a smaller, similar alternative.
 
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