linux_alternatives_to_windows_home_server_features
Table of Contents
Linux_Alternatives_to_Windows_Home_Server_Features
Computer Backup
[[http://backuppc.sourceforge.net/info.html|BackupPC]] (**[[BackupPC|Guide]]**)
- File-level storage pooling vs cluster-level in WHS.
- Supports Linux and Windows machines.
- Copies over SMB/rsync, thus will require whole HDD to be shared in order to back up the entire disk (alternatively only directories that need backing up can be shared).
- Web interface to view logs, configuration, current status, and can also be used to initiate or cancel backups, and to browse backed up files and restore them.
- Restoration can be done either over SMB or with a downloaded ZIP/Tar file.
- Emails can be sent if a machine hasn't been backed up in a while.
Expandable Storage Pool (Drive Extender)
[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_Volume_Manager_(Linux)|LVM]] ([[Logical Volume Manager|Guide]])
- Can add/remove physical volumes from a logical volume online.
- Can stripe the whole or part of a volume across physical volumes similarly to RAID 0.
- Can mirror the whole or part of a volume across physical volumes similarly to RAID 1.
- Can move logical volumes between physical volumes.
- Can create read-only snapshots of logical volumes.
- Can create read-write snapshots of logical volumes.
Shadow Copies (Volume Snapshot Service)
[[http://www.wlug.org.nz/SambaShadowCopyHowto|LVM + Samba]]
- Snapshots taken at scheduled times.
Windows-Specific Testing
VMware Server ([[VMware Server on Ubuntu|Guide]])
- Can use VMware Server along with various Windows ISOs from MSDN-AA to do any necessary Windows testing
File Sharing (SMB)
Multiple:
- Samba for SMB/CIFS.
- NFS for other Linux clients.
- iSCSI maybe for illusion-of-local-disk on clients. (Guide)
- Apache + PHP for HTTP/HTTPS, giving remote file access. Write my own or use pre-made software?
Media Streaming (UPnP AV Server)
MythTV
- Seems overkill just to share media to Xbox etc.
uShare
- Less overkill, if it works. Xbox 360 is able to see the music, but not play it.
Power Management
- Spin down disks? How will LVM affect this?
hdparm's -S argument. “-S 120” for 10 minutes, “-S 240” for 20 minutes. Anything above that gets complicated, so readman hdparm.
- SpeedStep support? cpufreq, but should be automatic. cpufreq has this bad habit of not actually changing the CPU speed and leaving it at its minium, from what I can tell.
DVD Ripping
- FairUse Wizard under a Windows VM shouldn't be much slower (can only make use of two cores anyway).
- A GUI'd Linux app no doubt exists.
- As (probably) does a CLI app, but that could very well be painful to use.
- A ripper that can put more than 2 audio streams in a container would be nice for, e.g. SG-1's 200. Also one that could extract more than 1 subtitle stream at once…
Other Considerations
- Support audio output over coax S/PDIF. So a music server could exist with web and/or (preferably) non-web remote control.
- MPD? (Guide)
- Volume mixing from desktop + Xbox?
- Network streaming? Using Windows machines as PulseAudio clients (audio sources) is really horrible currently.
- Bluetooth support? Not sure how far that could go, but could be interesting nonetheless.
- Local internet access on phone?
- Bluetooth media remote control for music player?
- 4+GB RAM. By recompiling the kernel, Physical Address Extension (PAE) can be enabled in the BIOS, allowing the operating system to address more than ~3GB RAM. Window Server also supports this, but most drivers do not, causing endless BSODs.
linux_alternatives_to_windows_home_server_features.txt · Last modified: by ben