Home server OS

[Grimas]

Hya,

I searched the forum for similar topic, however I could find it so I made a new one. sorry..
So...

I want to build home server for online storage of music, movies, game files and etc etc.. Some streaming of 720p videos (no super max 3d hd enormous files) and I want it to be easy accessible, easy manage, also easy file copy/pasting. All my computers uses windows, and tablets phones androids. Server will be used purely for files storage/sharing. And preferable torrent downloading/uploading.
I have some old hardware:
cpu: intel E5400 (i dont remember correctly) about 2.1ghz
ram 2gb ddr2 667
no vga (for less power consumption) there is integrated.
I currently have psu of 250w (i have no idia about required voltages for HDD)
Also I have hdd 200+250gb, and I am planing to get 3+3TB more. (4-5 in total)
My MAIN question is: What operational system is best in my case?

I am thinking of linux server, but will it be easy manageable?
What about windows 2010 home server? or free4nas?
Server will be running headless.

 

[jmacavali]

To be honest. Any version of Windows will do what you want. There's no real reason to setup a special server to do it.

 

[Grimas]

Well I think so too. But.. I want machine to be headless and used via other devices (shut down, copy/paste, etc). I think if I will use windows server 2008/2012 I will need to connect monitor every time to shut it down, or am I wrong?

What about linux? Wouldn't it be safe and faster? And is it compatible with windows?

 

[Grimas]

EDIT:
I want to access it on LAN, not via internet.

P.S. This is the first time I am making this system, so I am a newbie.

 

[jmacavali]

You can remote desktop to it if you are on the same lan (or use any other free remote control software).

A windows server OS will have way more features than you need. There's no sense buying it (we don't support torrents here). Use the Windows that's on the computer (that's what I'd do because I know nothing about any other OS) or use one of the free OS's out there.

FreeNAS might be a good one.

 

[BK_123]

Everything that Jmac said is correct. If all you want to do is simply share files then any computer with a copy of Windows will work, Just map the drive so that devices can access it and it works a treat.

 

[Grimas]

But would it be better to use dedicated OS? I would like to use my drives as raid, so they would be like one big drive. And I read somewhere that windows home server do not allow to use it as a single drive, or do i need to install raid controller then?
Can this machine run headless? just push on button and use my server as nas or ftp? especially for torrent

 

[BK_123]

What do you mean by dedicated OS, If you mean a Server OS then like said before you only want to share files so Windows 7 or 8 would be fine. Windows 8 allows you to great storage spaces which allows you to put two physical drives together and combine the space Storage Spaces: FAQ - Microsoft Windows Help. If you just want to stick with another versions of Windows such as 7 then you would need to get a raid controller or check if the motherboard it self supports raid.

 

[Grimas]

By dedicated OS I mean OS like NAS4FREE or similar Linux based systems. If I remember correctly its called Apachi. The main reason I want to usit it is for torrent download/upload, media (music/video) streaming. And easy access via lan/wifi. I think like entering ip address and accessing folder like window. easy copy paste. and with torrent file that I could simply put .torrent file to a folder and it automatically would start to download to my specific folder. Maybe it would be more like FTP server.

 

[BK_123]

You mean Apache which is actually an Server OS for web servers which would of no use to you unless you were to be hosting a website.