Currently have the system in my signature. That's been down for a while now, however it was running the usual BT Sync/Plex/MinimServer/SMB etc. However I really wanted a one-box home lab, which that machine wouldn't be particularly good with. I'm probably going to move to a Xeon D when that's available, and move the old board into a new desktop build with a Broadwell chip.
Whats on your Home Server
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It's easy enough to setup if you're fairly confident with Linux. There's enough good guides out there to get it up and running within a couple of hours. I wouldn't recommend using port 80 though - go straight for 443.
There is a Windows variant, which I'd assume would be childsplay to set up for any computer enthusiast; however, I've read a few articles which claim syncing files is around 80% slower.
One type I would give if you go down the Linux route is to spend a few extra minutes to configure a MySQL DB. You can use SQL Lite out of the box, but it is only really suited for a single user. If you have a few accounts for it, it gets noticeably slower.
I've not had my Asrock C2750D4I for long, but having seen the Supermicro X10SDV-F, I can already feel an upgrade itch coming on...
Hi Dreadhead. Very interested in your setup. I have a similar spec machine made up from old parts that I have put together in a single server 2012 install. Currently being used for basic media sharing only (such a waste).
Would you recommend having an AD domain at home? How difficult was it to set up? I like the idea of hosting my own exchange server as well. Do you use DynDNS to assign your domain name to your server, or have you some other method?
I started with AD to learn something new around 3 years ago and now I wouldn't be able to do without a domain at home.
When I started I had never installed a Windows Server OS. I followed some guides from Trainsignal CBT videos. If you have a basic understanding of IT they are easy enough to follow along. There are also lot's of guides on Youtube if want a more in depth explanation of sections the Trainsignal don't cover.
Hi AMMUT,
I work as a systems admin, so having a home lab is invaluable to me. It provides a great opportunity to learn and provides an environment I can play about in without screwing up a live environment. Snapshots let me tinker away without worry.
Saying that, if the DC goes down, or DHCP or DNS screws up, family can end up unable to get online, so be sure to set backup DNS server settings and static IPs on each family workstation!
Setting up is easy. I follow the technet guides and have no problems. Just be sure to follow best practices.
http://social.technet.microsoft.com...-your-first-domain-controller-on-2012-r2.aspx
Exchange is great. Having Enterprise email for my family is actually quite useful. We use shared calendars to good effect.
To begin with though get yourself a static IP from your ISP if possible. Otherwise you will have to setup MX records to a DynDNS type service. This should work, but if your updater app fails then you'll end up loosing emails without a backup MX in place.
Also perhaps start with a secondary external domain on the emails until you are happy its working before moving your main domain over.
Good Luck!
I have a microsever running freenas (8tb) and an old Q6600 box (spec in sig) cobbled together running esxi with pfsense and Ubuntu in the garage.
Pfsense does all the internet stuff and Ubuntu runs Plex,sonarr,sabnzbd and couch potato. I do have a 2012 VM but I don't have it switched on much anymore.
Pfsense does all the internet stuff and Ubuntu runs Plex,sonarr,sabnzbd and couch potato. I do have a 2012 VM but I don't have it switched on much anymore.
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Second that, I use win2012 R2 to provide the home network and then a bunch of VM's as a Lab. if you want to get started check out Eli the Computer Guys you tube channel, really good explanations and explains the principles in non MS speak. If you feeling brave and have some time to kill look at a fall over cluster for the core services that you network needs.
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I've got a Dell t320. 6/12 cores 64Gb ram and 3 600Gb SAS drives. It's running ESXi from an onboard SD card.
I've only got a 2012R2 DC and Solarwinds LEM running on it at the minute.
To be fair. I very rarely use it. I had a load of applications built on there last year but I wiped it to try out Hyper-V server (don't even go there!!)
I've only got a 2012R2 DC and Solarwinds LEM running on it at the minute.
To be fair. I very rarely use it. I had a load of applications built on there last year but I wiped it to try out Hyper-V server (don't even go there!!)
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Makes a heck of an improvement to general internet browsing etc... significant latency reduction... which is why I have one running too
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What operating system are you running on your home server?
Most (if not all) server software has the functionality built into it... you just have to enable it and configure it.
That process is different depending on the OS.
I switched my main non-storage server to S2008R2 a week or two ago and all you have to do is enable the role in server manager and then configure the lookup zone (which is basically telling it which DNS servers you would like it to check records on before it stores them locally.
In Linux variants it's a bit more complicated... but if you have a Linux server OS, then you are probably already used to command line.
The Synology OS has a app you can download through package manager. Only I didn't want to configure it on there as when the disks go to sleep, they can take a while to wake up and so it'll either keep the disks active when they don't need to be on my network... or your DNS query will wait until the drives have spun up... which would be slower than using any default DNS setup.
So it's running on an SSD that doesn't sleep in my home-built server system.
Vmware Esx 5.1 licenced.
VMs I'm running at the moment are
Windows server 2008 R2 as my vpn is server, terminal server/jumpbox, GNS3 box for my Cisco labs, Plex media box.
Ubuntu server - general learning box
Ubuntu server (web server host which Is running and simulating 5 web servers in a single VM instance of Ubuntu, the 5 virtual web hosts having different IP addresses (for below reason)
2 x F5 bigip v 11.6.0 virtual load balancer appliances planned to run in HA failover and config sync as active/ standby to lab and test load balancing to above 5 web servers
That's it for the moment
VMs I'm running at the moment are
Windows server 2008 R2 as my vpn is server, terminal server/jumpbox, GNS3 box for my Cisco labs, Plex media box.
Ubuntu server - general learning box
Ubuntu server (web server host which Is running and simulating 5 web servers in a single VM instance of Ubuntu, the 5 virtual web hosts having different IP addresses (for below reason)
2 x F5 bigip v 11.6.0 virtual load balancer appliances planned to run in HA failover and config sync as active/ standby to lab and test load balancing to above 5 web servers
That's it for the moment
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Makes a heck of an improvement to general internet browsing etc... significant latency reduction... which is why I have one running too
Do you find it's slower to resolve a new host? I just set one up and the first time i go to a new website it takes a second or so to resolve.
Hi mate,
Thanks for the info,
Im just running Windows 8.1 as my Home Server OS. Main reason being its an HTPC running Plex as well so couldn't find a good way to virtualize this with the TV Tuner card as graphics card inside it. I have 2x 2TB WD Reds running with Stablebit for the main storage and VM Workstation for my VM's. I do have a server 2012 license and did want to use this and setup a Hyper V server and run my VM's that well but found limitations with being able to virtualize the HTPC
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Not on this system... This one only seems to take about the same amount of time as without a local DNS... But i remember setting up one through Ubuntu server a few years ago and that was doing what you mention... So perhaps it depends on the specific implementation. Seems like DNS is one of the few things WS2K8 is good at