Amahi Forums

Hi Folks,

I have been interested in Amahi for quite some time, but I have been a Windows Home Server user. Based on the recent developments with Vail (removal of drive extender) and my recent purchase of some Apple hardware, WHS is not serving my needs anymore.

If I install Amahi I'm wondering if I will be able to do the following:

• Access my network remotely using my Mac when on the road - I would like to be able to VPN into my network and use Microsoft RDP to use my Windows 7 desktop.
• Will Amahi's DNS client eliminate the NetBIOS name issues I'm having between Mac and Windows (i.e. I can access a computer via IP but not via NetBIOS name on my Mac)?

I would also like to know how Amahi handles a failure of the root / installation drive? If your installation drive in WHS fails you're hosed. The only way to recover data is to pull the files off the drives manually. Can Amahi gracefully recover (e.g. replace the drive, reinstall the server / OS and it recognizes the other drives and files contained in the storage pool) from a root drive failure?

I'm excited about getting back into Linux; Amahi looks like a great way to do so!

I am also a Mac user who manages a Windows 7 network of 8 clients. I'm currently using WHS Aurora but will be migrating to Amahi this weekend after frustrations with the beta extension and licensing costs (likely to be quite high, out of our budget). Now I'll answer your questions:

Access my network remotely using my Mac when on the road - I would like to be able to VPN into my network and use Microsoft RDP to use my Windows 7 desktop.

There is definitely a VPN built into Amahi. You should be able to do this, although I haven't tested it yet.

Will Amahi's DNS client eliminate the NetBIOS name issues I'm having between Mac and Windows (i.e. I can access a computer via IP but not via NetBIOS name on my Mac)?

I have had trouble with NetBIOS using WHS Aurora. Everything works fine on the Windows 7 clients but the two Mac clients connect to the server VERY slowly. It doesn't matter whether I use the static IP of the server or the name (smb://SERVER). The Macs reconnect after sleep if still in the same IP subnet but fail if used elsewhere and then come back to the office.
Basically, my answer is that I don't know! I will test this as well. My previous experience with Amahi (using Express CD 5.4) was quite positive and the network worked really well. I don't like how Amahi takes over all DNS and DHCP services from my router because that reduces the reliability of the network. But the tradeoff is worth it because of the easy DNS names given to all connected clients.

As for your third question, I don't know. I think Crashplan *might* be able to recover the server from bare metal. Server backup is an essential feature for me too.