I received all of the parts and assembled the server without much trouble. One note to anyone looking to build a computer in the near future: Check that the motherboard and power supply connections match up, especially if you are using server type motherboard. A change I did make to the hardware since the last post was to add a third hard drive that is identical to the other two. I still set up two in a RAID 1 arrangement, but I used the third alone for the operating system. This allows me to reinstall or remove the operating system without disturbing the data on the server. Also, it has disc space for a daily backup of the RAID data. This provides protection from accidental deletion or overwriting of data.

The trouble started when I went to install and use Ubuntu Server Edition. I did eventually get it installed after burning multiple copies of different versions, but I ended up removing it. Come to find out the main purpose for which Walnut Creek was wanting the server, a database server for Quickbooks, requires Windows in order to work properly. Emphasis on the properly since it will and did work on Ubuntu, but it did not perform consistently. The server holding the Quickbooks data file has to have a service running on it to coordinate the multiple computer access to the same data file. The service is only available for Windows.

Besides all that, I don’t think I was ready to handle setting up users and share permissions on a Linux/Windows/Mac network. I have come to realize that despite all the knocks on Microsoft and their products they, for the most part, just work and work quite well. I know that most of my problems were probably just because of a lack of knowledge and experience on my part, but some were a result of Linux just not being as seamless and user friendly as Windows. I know it’s blasphemy to say this in some circles, but I guess that’s what you get with the $150 or so odd dollars it costs to purchase Windows XP. I’m not off Ubuntu completely since I am still running the regular install on my old laptop without any issues at all.

I ended up installing Windows XP Professional X64 Edition without any problems. I purchase the OEM version from Newegg.com for $139.99. It was the best deal I’ve seen on XP Pro. Quickbooks installed without any problem and the muiltiuser interface was up and running without a hitch.

One additional note. I added a APC UPS battery backup behind the server for surge protection as well as to increase reliablility through power outages.

My next post on Building a Server will be on setting up remote access capabilty.

Also see: Building a Server – Part I