rustyp Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 What windows operating system would you use for a home web server if you had your choice and why? Please I am looking for solid advice I am not taking a poll asking what your favorite operating system currently is, I am looking for the best windows OS to use for a home web server and why. If you want to give info on using a linux based system thats cool too I am just not use to using linux stuff I have played with Ubuntu for a few hours but thats about it I would not be opposed to running a linux based home server since once its running I would not be messing with it much. The box this server will run on would have the minimum amount of apps installed, and just be used for running the web server all the webpage work would be done on another machine then the files sent to the web server computer. As we all know all windows versions run fast as a fresh install then soon as you install one app performance and sometimes reliability goes down hill fast soon after so the plan would be to install the OS on a freshly formatted hard drive then all current MS updates installed, then install The Uniform Server no other apps would be installed unless required to support the web server, I would have to install a anti virus program so suggestions on one of them is welcome too. Sorry for all the dumb questions I am sure I can make this work on my own but would love to get other points of view on the subject if two heads are better than one imagine what all this sites users can come up with :-) Thanks in advance. FYI I ask these questions on this site because the advice I get has always been rock solid, not just advice for questions I have asked but from reading others post , currently you guys are 100% a big thanks for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoni Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 Opinions are like butts, we all have one. I have been running the server in Windows Server 2003 Web Server Edition (gift from a friend). It also hosts my e-mail server services and it seems to hold pretty good. There is a 2GB memory limit in the Web Server edition which is stupid in my case but I welcomed the gift. I believe the OS is awesome for its proposes or serving pages (with apache, of course) and it is also very stripped down. The memory limitation is a factor to consider IF you are planning on serving outrageous amounts of requests (doubtfully in a Home web server). Limited and all, is still a server Set it and forget it. Quote <p class="bbc_center"><span style="font-size:12px;"><strong>Yoni</strong></span></p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traxxus Posted January 9, 2012 Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 I think Windows Server 2003 Standard is a great choice. In my eyes it is less overloaded compared to Server 2008. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobS Posted January 9, 2012 Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 I agree that a server-oriented version is a good choice. Again, though, it depends on the reason you want to run a web server on your home machine. Here are three reasons NOT to open it up to the WorldWildWeb :1. How well do you maintain your software? Do you install updates promptly? Do you have a good antivirus program running? Is your firewall as tight as possible? 2. Who is the intended audience for your server? Anyone? How much traffic will your visitors create? Will that amount freak out your ISP? If it's over, say 200GB/month, you could have a problem.3. What's your backup plan when someone compromises your web server and gets into your system? Can you wipe and reload, or will you have stuff that's irreplaceable on the server? How long will this take? While I have had servers open to the net from some of my home machines at various times, I'm not attempting to do "web hosting" for a production site. It sounds to me like this is your intent. Now, if you only want to have a tiny portal for friends, and you can keep it secure (don't use port 80, for example), then it really won't matter what OS you use. I might even suggest, though, that Win 7 Home Ultimate would be a reasonable choice. No reason to waste a Win 7 Pro license on this. Win XP would also work for a server that you'll upgrade in the next 2 years. Oh, and you really should dedicate the machine to being just a web server. Regards,BobS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyp Posted January 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 Thanks again for the replies and ideas. the site would be for a small sort of private audience of like minded people but open to the web so if someone stumbled onto it they could join too, the traffic level would be low I doubt it would raise the attention of my ISP. The site would not be a business or used to make money or for providing other web services for others just a hobby thing. As I grow older and my body physically fails me and I can no longer do all my current hobbies I need to start dropping some hobbies but replace them with something else to occupy my time spending time on a hobby at home using a computer but still with my like minded friends kind of fits the program for me. Using a dedicated computer is not a problem, only installing the programs required to run the web server on a fresh clean install of Windows is not a problem, I can use my other computer and thanks to The Uniform Server do all the website development on it then after testing upload to the running server. Right now I am leaning towards Win 7 Home Ultimate but still looking for others suggestions so keep them coming. Thanks all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobS Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 As I grow older and my body physically fails me and I can no longer do all my current hobbies Ahhh, explains your userID LOL I'm getting rusty as well, and fully appreciate your comments! Now, back to reality.If you're going to use a dedicated machine, and it's going to be Windows, then I'd still suggest not going whole hog on a Win 7 Ultimate. Only one reason is the cost of a license (I assume you'll have a legitimate copy). The other reason is that there would be many more bells and whistles added on, and for what purpose? To create more code vulnerabilities? Use the most stripped-down OS that you can get away with. Uninstall as many "features" as possible. I exhort you to look at the article that Yoni just made available concerning REAL security. You can read about it here: http://forum.uniformserver.com/index.php?s...post&p=9875 Regards,BobS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traxxus Posted January 24, 2012 Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 FYI: I got the best performance and reaction time on Windows Server 2003 32bit.On Windows Server 2008 the CMS (joomla) is much slower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobS Posted January 25, 2012 Report Share Posted January 25, 2012 Totally believable, since 2008 has more inherent overhead. All those extra nifty features. But you bought a faster machine to go with the 2008, right? Regards,BobS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traxxus Posted January 26, 2012 Report Share Posted January 26, 2012 No sir, the hardware is already super performant. But i switched to Server 2003. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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