Should I run Ubuntu or WHS 2011

tomb56

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Jul 31, 2010
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I need a server type storage system to act as a cloud file server for a small business. After looking at different NAS products and then various WHS 2011 system variants, I ran across the Fujitsu Pimergy TX100 S2 for only $299. I'm thinking this is plenty powerful and won't give bottlenecks on performance for the most part compared to some of the Atom processor based systems or other NAS products for similar $$$.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 20primergy

Here's the system basics: Tower Server System Intel Core i3-540 3.06GHz 2-Core 4GB DDR 3, 2 x 250 GB HDD, NO OS.

I was thinking of doing WHS 2011...but a friend tells me use Ubuntu? I've never set up my own server but need good security (financial industry) for certain documents and I want to allow employees access via remote locations(cloud). We also need solid back up for multiple systems. This hardware seems plenty capable, but I don't want to become a the network engineer and have to learn Ubuntu if it will become my second life.

I'd appreciate any feedback on WHS 2011 and Ubuntu?

Or any other similar OS that will do what I need. Thanks very much for the feed back.
 
You say that you don't want to become a network engineer, but you want good security combined with remote access. And solid backup - I presume you are talking about backing up clients, but what provision have you made for backing up the server?

TBH, the only recommendation that I would make is to find a local consultant to look at your systems and recommend and install a server for you. There are too many things that you can get wrong and you say security is important because you are in the financial industry. It may seem an expensive option, but what is it going to cost you if your data is compromised or lost?

 

bmouring

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May 6, 2006
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This.

If you don't really know what's happening, network-wise, then any tool to make network security more accessible can be abused or misconfigured, rendering your system vulnerable. Either get your learn on or hire someone to do it right.
 
I just wrote a reply to this and then deleted it as I read your post again. In all seriousness and having worked in financials and other regulated environments I have to agree with the comments other have made, it's to much of a risk if you don't have the skills already. That's not saying for a moment that this is something that you couldn't develop the skills to do yourself, just that it's really not the environment to learn them.

I've got a good few years in IT but have turned down work like this myself because I know it's not my specialism. The business I was consulting to at the time really respected this and asked me to help them find people that did know how to do it and sanity check the design they came up with.

If you do decide to do this yourself then WHS is not going to cut it. Ubuntu has more than you need, FreeNAS would be a better option. The other thought would be do you need a server at all? It might just be easier to buy into an existing cloud solution and spend the money on bandwidth to make use of it.