Server question for you.

Hi peeps,

been a while since I posted last. Got a question for you.

Just bought a HP Microserver N54L and it came without an OS. Is there a course somewhere I can take / read just to get info so I can make an informed decision what to put on it? The CompTIA Server+ is a few years old now, anything more up to date?

Cheers peeps.

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Comments

sizeon

You are suppose to install the OS yourself. Just use the smart start CD and install firmware for the server.

Essendon

Well, what did you buy the server for? If it's to get the look and feel of a server, just download a iso from, say Microsoft, burn it to a DVD and pop it in the server's DVD-ROM drive and power it up again. Then follow the prompts on the screen to install the OS.

CDRichards

Oh, I know I could just chuck on WMS 2008, or Server 2012 etc, but would like to read up on all the different server options like Ubuntu and the other Linux options, even Xpenology. Was just wondering if there was a general course out there. Don't want to go through each option one by one to find the plus and minus points, and far too many contradiction things on Google, just want an unbiased view from somewhere.

DoubleNNs

Couldn't you use virtualization to try out multiple different OSes simultaneously?

Essendon

Yeah like DoubleNNs said, install VirtualBox or VirtualPC or even VMplayer on the server (needs a Windows OS first though) and then throw the various iso's on there, build virtual machines with each machine pointing a different OS - this should give you a feel of the things you want to look at. Then delve deeper into for closer look.

CDRichards

I could yes, and that would be the sensible option, but I'd like to read up on it too. By just setting it up with no real knowledge I may miss things that I'd regret later on. Currently using Xpenology with it which is basically turning into a NAS. That's fine by me, does what I want, but seems a waste when it could be so much more.

CDRichards

Essendon, I bought it mainly to stream stuff and as backup to my PCs, it's not THAT powerful a machine so don't want to overdo it, but still want more than just a NAS setup.

Essendon

How much grunt does it have any way? You could slap on a couple of VM's surely, 2008 R2 can make do with 512MB for example (wont be super-snappy but wont be bad either) and you can check out the various things in there. Linux distros too dont need much RAM as long as you are jst "checking them out". It's not as bad as you think! Put the server to good use, get the most out of it. If it slows down intolerably, just scale back.