OS on a Via Epia 5000

[donlon]

OS on a Via Epia 5000

[donlon]

Hi

I'm planning to set up an home server with a Via epia 5000 MB, 384 MB RAM and a 120 GB HD.

Now I'm wondering, what kind of OS should I get ?? - I will use it for an file server ONLY, for my 3 other PC's on my home network, and that's it !!!

I am not in to Linux, BEOS and other "FreeOS", so I guess it's between Win2K, WinServer or Win XP (Win98 and sh** is out of the Q :-) )

I'm loking for the most stabil and fast OS for that purpose, what would you suggest

What about WOL on a Epia 5000 ?? - will that work ??
I'm figuring that, if the server is not used it could go in "stand by" and if one of the PC's need files on it, it could "wake up" .... or

Sorry about the "stupid" Q's, but I'm a TOTALY newbi .....(Don't even have the MB yet, but next week .... I hope)

John  

[DickH]

Why not linux? its free, usually more stable than any windows os, takes up less system recourses, and isnt all that complicated to set up  

[OLIRC]

Don't know about WOL but if that doesn't work then use Power managment to shut down the hd

[Wrawrat]

donlon, Windows 2000 would be okay. Of course, you will get a legit copy... right?

If you don't want to pay for licences, you could always give a try to Linux. Samba is an excellent software that emulate a SMB/CIFS server. It can also emulate a whole Active Directory domain! I use it on my Linux server (anemone) and it works great. Performance is quite good, too: about 6MB/sec. It's not blazinly fast but you must give my server a chance: it's a K6-2 on a 430TX board. It's a bit tricky to set up but I can help you. You just have to start a new thread in the Linux forum.

WoL is a protocol that allow network administrators to power up computers via the network. The BOFH just have to send a magic packet to the target(s) to wake them up. However, I don't think you would need it if you set up your server to wake up at some IRQ events. However, you should note that frequent power up/power downs might not be healthy for your hard drives.

[donlon]

Of course it's a ligit copy of Win2K, I'll use (If that will be my choice) ;-)

What about WinXP PRO ?? - is that not a better and more stable OS than Win2K ??
What's the different between Win2K and Win2003 Server (besides the web, mail and ftp server) and  is Win 2003 server faster and more stable ??


And to "Wrawrat" and "DickH", no i'm not installing Linux, I simply don't have the time and effort to get familiar with it.

John  

[Naki]

Hi there, donlon, and welcome to Sudhian forums!
I think Win2K is the most stable, because it has been released a long time ago, lots of patches for it (SP4).
WinXP is better for home users and games (pretty colorful interface).
I dunno about Win2003, and I'm not sure which Win2000 is better (Prof., Server, Advanced Server, etc)...

[Wrawrat]

donlon,

Windows XP is not a server OS. Sure, you can share files with it but no more than 10 simultaneous connections will be allowed. It will probably be okay at home but don't bring it in a LAN party.

I recommend Windows 2000 over Windows XP as it takes up less ressources. Both are quite stable as long as you use good drivers. Many people claim that Windows 2000 is more stable for desktop usage, though. Personally, I never had major issues with both.

Windows 2003 Server is stable as a rock but you have to sell an arm and a foot to get it. The Server version is about 950$ with 5 CALs. It's more stable and secure than Windows 2000. However, I'm not sure if it will be faster on your EPIA as it takes up far more ressources than Windows 2000 and your platform isn't the fastest on Earth.

naki, there's not many differences between Windows 2000 Server and Advanced Server. You should use the former unless you need clustering, network load balencing, NUMA support and support for more than 4 CPUs or more than 4GB of RAM.