Choosing an OS for the home server

How it all started

I needed to build a small home server for the following tasks:

1. Print server
2. Backups of several home machines (a couple of laptops, one and a half desktop).
3. Photo Archive Storage
4. Music storage
5. Document storage

For the future, perhaps, several more USB devices, such as webcams and thermometers,

will be hooked up , but this is so, for the strong future ... He will not be a router - this is done by another computer. And this server will handle exclusively internal needs. Plus, for complete happiness, you will hang in a different phase (and ideally, it will also be connected via wifi n, but this is also for the future).

Iron

It looks like this: an Intel board with 330 atoms (dual core), a gigabyte of RAM, an Inwin 639 ITX package, a pair of screws - 250 gigabytes and 640 gigabytes (this is temporary, then I will replace it with a larger one). Such iron was chosen due to its small size. The case allows you to put only two hard drives, but it will suit me - very large volumes are not expected. Even the current 640 + 250 is enough for a long time. But iron is not interesting, they constantly write about it. And all about the same thing. :)

And I’d better write about the server software stuffing - what I chose, why I chose it. Well, I’ll write about impressions too. Later. :)

OS selection

Options.
Well, first free and open source:

1. The FreeNAS . Free, but inside the fry with all its flaws in terms of supporting iron. USB thermometers do not shine. :) And the functionality is not very interesting.
2. ebox is certainly interesting and noteworthy, but inside it is neon Linux. That is, either take what they give by default or a lot of manual work, because what they give by default rarely suits me in Linux ... For example, I don’t like Linux file systems.
3. Any Linux distribution. See the previous paragraph.

After I went through the open source, went proprietary options, but free (in my case):

1. Windows XP Home (a distribution with a sticker on it). I will not say anything. Only from poverty or complete Linux unsupport of the necessary equipment. The rest is no better than Linux. The file system is more pleasant, perhaps (from the point of view of the user - accidentally deleted files can be restored, for example :)). But if there was a choice of Linux or XP Home, then I would choose Linux.
2. Windows Web Server 2008. I have 3 of them - MS handed out in due time at every opportunity. Maybe he would have stopped on it, but WWS does not know how to share a printer, for example. Checked.

Somewhere at this stage, I remembered a product called Windows Home Server, promoted by MS just like the OS for home servers. After reading the description, I realized that this is almost what I need.

What is WHS all about? It is a server operating system from MS, based on the base of Windows SBS 2003 SP2. That is, inside it is almost a full-fledged Windows Server with some additional features.

What I personally liked:

• Gathering information about all home computers is initially only a complaint from the security center, but it is expanded with plug-ins.
• Automatic full backup of all home machines. That is, if the hard drive is covered, you can install a new one, boot from the CD, which will merge from the backup server and deploy it to the computer. To save space, identical files that are located on several computers are stored on the server in only one instance. Not very important data can not be backed up - there is an exception setting. Any swap files, hibernation files, etc. entered there immediately.
• Unified storage (all disks are combined with a single array, something like JBOD). But there is one very useful function - replacing disks in an array (Drive Extender). It is possible to connect the new drive, turn it into an array, then tyknut on one of the old disks button "Extract from a file" and all the information from him remove the disc will automatically raspihat all other drives. It can be said that for this alone, in my eyes, WHS has no competitors - maybe Linux can be added to the desired functionality (digging towards LVM, mhddfs, etc.), but this is all the time, plus usability.
• Possibility to assign storage on two disks for important data. Those. select a daddy, in the properties click "Duplicate" - and it will be physically stored on two different disks. Those. when one of them departs, information will not be lost. True backups are not duplicated. On the other hand, it is rarely the case that both the original and the backup are simultaneously covered.

There, of course, there is some other functionality, but in this case I needed this one.

OS mining

And here it is necessary to stop in more detail. I prefer to use legal software, because torrents in this case were closed for me. You can try it completely legally . 120 days, it seems.

But with buy there are some problems. It’s not possible to just come to the store and pay $ 100 - it will not be sold at retail (I’m in Russia if someone decides to prompt the store’s address :)).

• Option one: Buy a piece of hardware based on WHS. It doesn’t fit - I don’t know the companies selling such pieces of iron in Russia.
• Option Two: Order a piece of iron abroad. Stops the price of such pieces of iron (especially taking into account delivery and customs).
• Option Three: Buy a box on ebay (~ $ 130). You could try, but I still have not got a normal credit card.
• Option Four: www.softkey.ru . In principle, the most real and convenient, but not without pitfalls, whose name is the WHS license, which allows it to be distributed only as part of ready-made devices. That is, you cannot buy, put on a self-assembled piece of iron and use it. The assembled computer must be sold. No problem. It’s necessary - I’ll sell it. To myself. :)

A friendly company trading in iron is taken. Ask her to order in the WHS softkey (the cost is around 3800 rubles + delivery). Then you order from this company the assembly of the system unit from the components you are interested in. When buying in the same check, enter WHS. Everyone is happy.

A couple of notes:
Components, in principle, can be bought elsewhere, and if the company simply gives the sales receipts, they will pretend that they bought, then they will sell it to you. :)

WHS in softkey can be paid only to a legal entity, they do not give private. After ordering, they called me back and warned about the aforementioned license restrictions.

Conclusion

In principle, everything is about choosing and buying.
I don’t see the description of the WHS installation - the server is like a server. About iron already said everything.
But I’ll do an overview of the management interface (WHS Console) and add-ons I like.

PS. All that I write is my personal opinion. If I am mistaken somewhere - point out the errors. But it’s advisable not in the option “you are wrong, MS paid you”, but approximately “in this place you are wrong, here’s a pruflink.”