Home Server Suggestions
November 10, 2015 9:01 AM   Subscribe

Have a computer I'm repurposing to a headless home-server. Looking for some suggestions on what server software I should need, with special snowflake needs inside!

I just transitioned to a Amazon Fire TV for my HTPC needs (thanks mefi!!), so I'm turning my HTPC into a home server now!

I installed Amahi 8 last night, and I really like the features and ease of use, but I'm a little disappointed in their app store. I'm fine with having to pay for some of the apps to support them, but most of them are still in BETA for Amahi 8. And as far as I can tell, that means I have to also have a monthly subscription fee to have access to them until they come out of beta, which I'm not OK with. (And I don't need any of the features that come with the subscription.)

So this brings me to my situation. Needs aren't that complex or terribly crazy:

- Basic file serving capabilities

- Media streaming to a FireTV with Kodi.

- Seamless backup software for 3 laptops (2 macs, and 1 Windows - Ideally I'd like for it to sync seamlessly with time machine. I can do whatever work arounds are required for the PC)

- Remote access from outside the network (If they have a nifty android app like amahi, even better?)

- Able to interface with network via WIFI (Amahi apparently requires a wired connection (because it takes over DNS & DHCP). This isn't a deal-killer, but I'd rather have it somewhere else than my living room.)


Pretty tech savvy, just don't know what's out there as far as home server software goes. Even if Amahi is my best option, I didn't want to spend hours setting it up only to find out it doesn't meet my needs! Thanks everyone!
posted by mayonnaises to Computers & Internet (12 answers total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
Response by poster: Oh one quick bit of info: I run my router with dd-wrt installed. Not sure if that's relevant at all, only putting that out there just in case there's any servers that integrate with it instead of just taking over functionality of DHCP & DNS/other network stuff.
posted by mayonnaises at 9:14 AM on November 10, 2015


Best answer: FreeNAS is pretty good, I hear.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:16 AM on November 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


You can disable DNS and DHCP on your router and let Amahi handle it. But it sounds like there are other performance considerations -- it's not a "hard no," though, but for starters your HTPC needs to have an excellent signal to ensure it can be responsive to all requests from your network devices.
posted by aydeejones at 9:25 AM on November 10, 2015


Best answer: I tried Amahi and Ubuntu server solutions and, while I found them easy enough to use, I found that I was missing some things that Windows Server provides. This is probably due to being uninterested in digging into yet another Linux distro. There are only so many hours in the day, after all.

I ran with the eval version of Server Essentials 2012 for the 90 day trial, and I liked it. (Server Essentials is the replacement for Small Business Server) Like you, I don't need a DNS or a DHCP server because my router does that. Also all of my computers are home versions of Windows, so they can't connect to a domain.

(Can you turn of DNS/DHCP in Amahi? I don't remember what I did to get around this if not, probably turned it off in the router. )

If you need wired and don't want it in your living room, you can use powerline ethernet as a workaround.

What I did like in server 2012 was seamless backup, which worked very well. Time machine backup is supported but I can't speak to how well it works, ditto streaming media.

Remote access was through RDP, but you could use VNC if you wanted to.

Download and try the 90 day trial for Server 2012 Essentials to see how it fits what you want to do. You can find licenses for less than retail through usual sources, MSDN, Academic licensing, etc.

Eventually I got a Synology Disk Station from work which is my home sever now.
posted by Ecgtheow at 9:41 AM on November 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


Best answer: FreeNAS is pretty good, I hear.

I just set it up last night for some file storage. It's pretty slick, though does need to be configured carefully.

The built-in snapshotting helps with a lot of problems I'd been trying to solve, and it ties in with the Previous Versions tab in Windows for extra user-friendliness.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 9:59 AM on November 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


Ecgtheow, I am a sysadmin for big Unix systems…and I bought a Synology, too.

Running Plex Media Server to share media to our Rokus and devices (laptop, iPhones, iPads), we are very content.
posted by wenestvedt at 11:39 AM on November 10, 2015


Best answer: If you need wired and don't want it in your living room, you can use powerline ethernet as a workaround.

Another option is ethernet over (cable tv) coax.

But consider calling someone to do the real deal. Getting an electrician in to do two drops and fish a single CAT6 wire is often not a lot more money than a powerline set-up. I got it done a couple of years ago for near $100 a drop. Neat socket plate and everything.
posted by bonehead at 11:59 AM on November 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


Best answer: After trying a few options, like MythBuntu, I ended up using Amahi for pretty much the same list of needs. There may be better options out there, but although I have the skills, I don't have the time to fiddle with configuring a server. Amahi does the job well enough without too much fuss, and the cost of apps is not that high when I weigh it against the hours I spent trying to get MythTV to work. However, some of the apps do not work at all.
posted by Grinder at 12:59 PM on November 10, 2015


Best answer: I've gone the DIY method with Debian (plex server, netatalk for timemachine and general file servering to Macs, samba to talk to Windows devices, crashplan for off-site backup).

If you don't feel like setting up your own system, I second wenestvedt's Synology recommendation. Just be sure to get a model that will have enough oomph to transcode (plus anything else you decide to make it do).
posted by Brian Puccio at 1:04 PM on November 10, 2015 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: If you need wired and don't want it in your living room, you can use powerline ethernet as a workaround.

Oh man! I totally forgot those even exist! Thanks.

Another option is ethernet over (cable tv) coax.

But consider calling someone to do the real deal. Getting an electrician in to do two drops and fish a single CAT6 wire is often not a lot more money than a powerline set-up. I got it done a couple of years ago for near $100 a drop. Neat socket plate and everything.


Unfortunately if I had coax where I want it, I wouldn't have a problem as I could just put the router there too! Also it's a rental so no installation of cat5. I would totally wire my house though if I had one.



I think I'm going to try out FreeNAS and see if that meets my needs. If it doesn't I'll look into setting up the windows home server as others suggested. Thanks for all of the help everyone! I'm out of town for work for a few days, so if anyone has any suggestions/ideas in the mean time - I'd be happy to hear it!
posted by mayonnaises at 2:25 PM on November 10, 2015


I think Openmediavault covers your needs
posted by Akeem at 2:53 PM on November 11, 2015


Two more options: There's a ~version of Synology DSM that will run on generic hardware called xpenology, and unRAID might also be worth a look.

If you want/require hardware-accelerated transcoding, particularly that based on Intel Quick Sync, Windows might be a better platform.
posted by unmake at 2:04 AM on November 12, 2015


« Older My VPN service has blacklisted torrent sites. so.....   |   One Day in Lima Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.