Homebuild Slimserver box .. which OS? which spec?

[monty77]

Hi all,

I currently run Slimserver on an Intel iMac but really like the idea of having all my mp3s (for now just music, but maybe video too in the future) on a standalone box.

I've looked at NAS solutions but I'm thinking of maybe building a new PC to do the job for around the same cost but giving me added flexibility.

Which OS am I best off using? I fancy a Linux box as I've always wanted to dabble, but would XP offer better compatability and easier maintenance?

Also what kind of spec am I looking at needing? For now it'll just be running slimserver and maybe host a basic website ..

Thanks!
Adam

[Pale Blue Ego]

Linux is a good choice for a file server. There is a learning curve for new users, but it isn't too steep for somebody with decent computer skills. And there's a great amount of satisfaction in using Linux.

As far as maintaining it, I think Linux is significantly easier to maintain than Windows. For many situations, a Linux machine can run with zero maint for months or years. And there are good tools such as "apt-get" which will update your operating system AND all your installed programs with one simple command.

Linux also includes server programs that allow you to host a website, FTP server, or mail system.

For a file server, it's probably best to use a modest-sized hard drive with 3 partitions for the OS, swapfile, and home (user) directories, then add a big honkin' drive (or 2) for your media files. If you decide to wipe the OS, or go back to Windows, you can do that without messing with the rest of the system

Any modern CPU will do nicely. 1 GB of RAM should be plenty, but of course more is always better. No need for an expensive video card or soundcard. You could even run headless (no monitor, keyboard or mouse) and log in from your OSX box. You can also use older hardware.

Good luck!

[notanatheist]

Linux would certainly give you greater advantage. Command line administration is a snap for a few distros. Upgrades/updates often require stopping and restarting a service. Very rarely would you have a need to reboot. My new fileserver has only been on 41 days now but the other day I logged in via SSH, downloaded the latest Slimserver and a couple packages, killed the old slimserver process, installed the new one and watched it automagically restart the process. All this from the comfort of my laptop in the living room and the fileserver in the garage without a keyboard, mouse, and monitor.

As far as recommending a distro... that's a whole other bag of worms. Do a little search. Favored distros tend to be Ubuntu, ClarkConnect, and Fedora Core. I'm running ClarkConnect on my fileserver and I'd say it's very newbie friendly and about right for a machine that is a server only. Ubuntu can be wholly managed from a command line but as a desktop OS it likes to update regularly and require reboots. Do that 1GB of RAM too to reduce any hiccups. My streams almost never miss a beat unless I've got a half dozen torrets uploading of various legal high def stuff and Creative Commons music.

[monty77]

Linux it is then .. I work a lot with AIX at work so it shouldn't be completely foreign to me.

One probably very silly question ... does linux work ok with external USB hard drives ? Ideally I'd like to build something with an internal 40Gb or so HDD and use an existing 300Gb external for the storage.

Thanks!
Adam

[ltb76]

If you only want Slimserver and maybe SMB file sharing the SlimCD might do all you need! I can be installed on a HD / USB Stick / USB Harddisk or CF card.
With the SlimCD you would be able to run it on hardware that does not consume a lot of electricity if that is at any concerne.

[Ramage]

I have used and old PII box with only 6GB of hard drive with Clarke Connect 3.2 Linux. I have mounted a 250GB USB drive using FAT, which means the drive can easily be moved to my XP box.

I also use SMB file sharing so that new music can be transferred over the network from my XP box on which I do all the ripping.

It is also acts as a NAS drive.

I've had no problems with this setup.

To mount usb:
in root
mkdir /mnt/usb
mount -t vfat /dev/sda1 /mnt/usb
add the following line to fstab:
/dev/sda1 /mnt/usb vfat rw,exec,user,umask=000 0 0

That's it

[Havoc]

Linux is great for this.

If you use LVM for the music lib, then you will never run out of space! It will let you add drives to the volume without bothering that they are on different drives/partition. It won't matter what filesystem or interface they are connected to. So you can you can use internal or external drives or any combination of them. This was my first try of LVM, but not the last. when I have to rebuild my pc one day I'll put it on it.

Linux works fine with USB drives, provided you install the needed modules and add them to the fstab.

Mine runs on a Via Epia with an 800MHz C3. Not a powerhouse but fine if you don't use transcoding. And the HD's use more power than the cpu. Using Gentoo as distro (yes, it took a while to install). The wiki here for gentoo and the scripts worked first time.

[thoeng]

Hi everyone lately i have been thinking the same. Been considering NAS VS standalone PC. but now i am leaning over PC as it costs less, faster perfomance, and less effort (NAS requires hacking).

I am planning to get one of those old box as server (no idea how old is the spec perhaps PIII ? 256 RAM ?) any suggestion guys ? the server will be used only for store music and video that i would access from my laptop in the living room, and serve slimserver nothing other fancy features.

i have seen those quiet and small PC form. it seems nice and might be the solution. however i am wandering what OS to install (i have windows xp tweaked edition with minimal driver installed (only 64RAM require) i also have no exp of LINUX although it seems interesting to play with.

my question is will this plan work ? am i better with windows of LINUX (requires me to learn) also how about monitor and keyboard? i hate to place and old looking box with monitor in my bedroom. i was planning to hide the box (forgetting the keyboard, monitor and mouse of course) somewhere in my bedroom


Thanks guys for any solution

[Havoc]

Running mine without display, keyboard and mouse. Make sure you can set the bios to neglect all errors at startup (like missing keyboard). I just ssh into the box through the network if I need the OS.

[tscales]

Running mine without display, keyboard and mouse. Make sure you can set the bios to neglect all errors at startup (like missing keyboard). I just ssh into the box through the network if I need the OS.

I'm about to do this very thing with an old Dell Precision workstation and Fedora C5 (which I'm totally new to)

My question, is do I want to hook up the drives to the box before during or after the install of Fedora? Full or empty?

-tim