Server Operating Systems

SimonR said:
I just installed WHS for my father (HP EX490) connecting to his 3 laptops and desktop PC. All his Laptops are running W7 and his Dell Desktop is running XP, it was an absolute doddle. Fully mapped shares on all of the machines for his work. Mum has her own mapped folder for her stuff, the family have their own folders to remotely upload family photos, and his clients have their own folders that they can remotely access with their reports and data.

It backs all of his PCs up at 6pm whilst he is having tea and it holds all of his music, which he listens to on a Logitech Squeezebox Radio.

I chose the WHS as it is low maintenance and gives him the flexibility to use it for both his consultancy business, as a repository for family photos and for streaming his media. Plus he has the peace of mind of daily backups.

I have also subscribed to McAfee Total Protection for the server as he has a diverse range of data sources.

The server also hibernates between 1am and 6am when it is not in use.

Mushii
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I'd leave it on all the time - rebooting daily with drives power on and off is going to vastly reduce their life and put strain on the drives + other components. Servers are supposed to be left on and work with little day to day interaction imo.
 
Ph4lanx said:
Right, well after installing Ubuntu, my first port of call before starting to setup RAID1 was to make sure I could remote onto the server from Windows.

Turns out this isn't as easy as it seems. I've setup the right settings in Ubuntu to allow it, but every time I try and connect, it refuses the connection.

So you know what? I can't be bothered with the hassle of Linux. Despite advancements in the operating systems and how they are presented to people in a non-technical manner, you still need to fiddle WAY too much to do something simple.

I will be purchasing Home Server and running that instead. At least it works without problems.
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what was you actually using to connect remotly to ubuntu ?

i've really never had a problem with getting it to work.
in most cases i never had to configure anything, vnc remote connection and samba all worked straight from install without problems.

however, running them as proper servers tend to be abit more tricky, as most linux/unix server versions run command line only and allow ssh connections to do what you need. Which personally i find much easier to configure and manage
 
Just use windows server 2008 R2, its better than the current WHS version which is based off the old server 2003. Ive been running server 2008 R2 for a few months now and its been great, runs tversity and everything works fine, had to google a few issues but they were easy fix's.
 
CaptainCrash said:
What data do you have to support this interesting claim? :confused:
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Ever seen a light bulb blow when not switching it on? Ever used a power meter to monitor a computers power draw when its first switched on versus up and running? There's lots of "wear and tear" done during power up, given the role of a server i'd leave it on all the time.
 
Don't talk rot.

PC != Light Bulb

Yes, a machine does use more power when booting up but booting once a day is not going to cause any significant wear and tear on his HDDs or any other component. If this were true millions upon millions of PC owners would be swapping out their dead hardware every year.
 
SiriusB said:
Don't talk rot.

PC != Light Bulb

Yes, a machine does use more power when booting up but booting once a day is not going to cause any significant wear and tear on his HDDs or any other component. If this were true millions upon millions of PC owners would be swapping out their dead hardware every year.
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Whether you consider it worth while or not - power up does produce increase strain versus powered on this is not "rot" as you so eloquently put it.
 
MaxP779 said:
Just use windows server 2008 R2, its better than the current WHS version which is based off the old server 2003. Ive been running server 2008 R2 for a few months now and its been great, runs tversity and everything works fine, had to google a few issues but they were easy fix's.
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If I could afford a licence like that for home use, I would :)
 
ecksmen said:
Whether you consider it worth while or not - power up does produce increase strain versus powered on this is not "rot" as you so eloquently put it.
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We're not talking io from a 10,000 user system here though, it's a home server where the priority is keeping costs low and for that purpose, I think the design is quite innovative; it certainly goes against the norm of keeping everything on 24/7.

I think, in reality, the affect on the MTBF is going to be negligible too.
 
ecksmen said:
Ever seen a light bulb blow when not switching it on? Ever used a power meter to monitor a computers power draw when its first switched on versus up and running? There's lots of "wear and tear" done during power up, given the role of a server i'd leave it on all the time.
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ecksmen said:
Whether you consider it worth while or not - power up does produce increase strain versus powered on this is not "rot" as you so eloquently put it.
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Speculation and your dubious analogy aside, let me repeat the question, slightly rephrased for clarity - what *evidence* do you have that powering a drive on and off once a day will have any significant effect on its longevity, let alone "vastly" reduce its lifespan?
 
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