Success Deployment Home Server

Yup, my home server finally successful deploy yesterday. It sure took a while when I first assemble last month. But because of sudden switch to Linux using Ubuntu server distro as a start, I require more time to learned and get familiar with. I forgot the numbers of time I have reformat and reinstalled Ubuntu server just to find tweak the right setting.

Why I Choose Ubuntu?

I just get started relearning Linux so I believe Ubuntu is a good start since I do play with it before. I read a lot suggesting going for CentOS. Without doubt Ubuntu is one of the most widely used and supports in the world. Even you can find in the exam and free “Introduction to Linux” online course requires installing it for learning.

Installation and Setup

Installing Ubuntu is easier than before I got to admit. Although there are few options you will need to go through to understand more using server version. It is surprising you can create software RAID directly before going to the final step complete installing the OS. My setup for my two WD 160GB SATA is RAID1 configuration for the mean time until I invest mSATA and the PCI next time.

The next task will be playing around installing different GUI version to try which works best for the current system performance. However, I do made mistake using Unity in the end instead Lubuntu themes due to complicated guide causing misunderstanding the whole thing when configure remote access.

The Unity sure does sucking up the performance bad even I am running an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 with 6GB memory. Feel like I’m using Vista for some reason. So I switch to the Lubuntu desktop using Terminal to install. It's fast, however I discover it causes problem and back to Unity again. Not too much worry since it just a temporary setup.

Configuring X11VNC

When it comes with remote access, X11VNC is the best to go for. The only things scratch my head is configured to work properly. Yes, there are plenty of helpful guide on the internet. I am able to find the code and but got stuck in the next steps. I discover almost all of them didn’t include the crucial parts working in Terminal. It's like they expect you to know everything.

It took a while to understand after I decided to look into how-to edit file using Terminal. That was when I get the X11VNC running. Once done, I install TightVNC in my Windows, tested working and disconnect all the cables. The headless home server is finally ready.

Final Test and Network Sharing

The hardware I built does running stable despite I’m using one 4GB and 2GB memory ram mixed mode. The Transmission program is working great so far without require trying others except the sharing part.

Sharing between Windows and Linux are quite a bit tricky. I encounter some issue doing the sharing. I didn't know the Ubuntu won't mount the NTFS drives automatically other than main drive which is why the share I set always went back to default after reboot. No idea why, but I manage to found a great guide from Debian Help blog to solved most of my problem.

Well, everything is ready to roll and time to test out the Plex program streaming all my collections!