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Given that the next version of Windows Home Server isn't going to support Drive Extender (no single storage pool, no software data redundancy) I'm investigating alternative solutions

Requirements

  • Redundant Storage (at least 1 drive failure)
  • Backup data from machines on the network
    • Must be able to wake machines up
  • Run Squeezebox server software (Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7, WHS, Linux, Netgear Ready NAS NV/Duo/Pro)
  • Act as a file server for my home network (music, photos, video etc.)

Nice to have

  • Fire and forget (everything should be as automated/automatable as possible)
  • Offsite backup
  • Run Zune Software
  • Low power use
  • Ideally I would like to reuse my current homebrew WHS h/w (Intel Core 2, Lots of drives of different sizes and a USB external drive for backing up the server)

My initial thought was to put Win7 on the machine and find some kind of backup solution.
Any other suggestions?

I'm a software developer by trade and I'm comfortable with Linux/Windows

David Hayes
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3 Answers3

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This is my setup and works great.

Headless Ubuntu server hosted on this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16859321014&Tpk=acer%20easystore

you have 4 hotswappable bays

madmaze
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Something like a Synology DS410 might work or the higher end DS1010+. It doesn't support Squeezbox but does have a streaming service (among many many other features). ~Edit, it actually does support Squeezbox

One of the Synology devices seems to be the most efficient solutions offering quite a few features for a decent price, and I believe it meets most of your requirements.

There is also comparable boxes from QNAP, such as a TS-419P+, either system costs around $600. Otherwise a custom built server, like the one madmaze mentioned, using a linux distro is probably the cheapest, most flexible (although hardest to setup) option.

Nori
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I suggest moving to Ubuntu as well, but for someone used to Windows you may want to stick with Ubuntu desktop edition. It can run all the same things, but offers a GUI out of the box. Try it out with a Live disk, but to run at full speed with all the features you'll need to install.

My box has: FTP, DNS, Samba (windows share), Web serving, SQL, version backups for my code, rsync backup server, etc.

And that's all off a 1.4ghz single core 32-bit processor with a gigabit connection!

Eric Fossum
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