Some opinions

[msdobrescu]

Hello,

I am a totally newbie with Amahi.
I have found it by looking for a NAS + Media Center setup.
I have an ASRock A330Ion motherboard (with Ion A330 onboard) + 4 GB RAM + DVD/RW slim unit + 1 SATA/ATA controller. I have put them in a Chenbro ES34069 case where I will add one notebook drive od 500 GB (for the main OS and downloads) and, in time, I intend to install 4 WD of 2TB Advance format disks.

I know it sounds crazy...

I am also a control freak.

So, what do I expect from such setup? I look for a good distro. Amahi sounds great on paper, but I couldn't manage to run it yet.

Here are some issues:

First, I would like to test it. I have downloaded the latest express disk and run it. In the end it keeps asking reboot in a loop.

I would like to see Amahi more flexible in distro: to have a DVD with all the packages, in order not to download them again and again when I try to re-install it.

I would like to install it in a VirtualBox machine. To see its features and if it fits to my needs.
Having an ISP (only this one available for me) that allocates me one IP only, always dynamically, prevents me from using Amahi at least once. I don't have a router yet...
I have tried to install it in a network (available to me from a kind friend) where the ip is allocated dynamically also, but where I have one IP for the host machine and one for the guest (i.e. Amahi) does the same issue of reboot loop.

So, I would like to be able to skip all the dyndns thing/registering with the install code and configuration, to see it working.

This and downloading packages prevents me from testing it or deploying it in a "closed" network.

The screenshots and movies online could be insufficient to evaluate it. Maybe some online demo as WebMin does? (I know, it means a lot of work ... don't shoot me, please ... yet!!)

As for a media center... last time I have checked, Fedora (6) needed to install media stuff by myself because of patents and so on... Did it changed that?

Anyway, this is not intended to hurt anybody's feelings. Just let you know my issues that are in the way of evaluating it... Till using, is a long path then.

I know all these things are meant to ease user's access to Amahi, but in my case is exactly what keeps me away from it. Sad.

Thanks for patience,
Mike

[barry]

What to do? what to do? I am probably the biggest dummy when it comes to Linux but I do love my Amahi server. Although, I did make the mistake of trying to fix what wasn't broke and I keep making things worse (my own fault).

As far as whether or not to use Amahi, here is my suggestion: I would find an old computer to try it out on for a few weeks (borrow a friends, maybe) and see how it goes. Read the forums and the Wiki's as guides to what you want to accomplish. You will be pleasantly surprised at how easy Amahi is to use and how stable it is. And, you can't beat the price.

Finally, if your slightly tech savvy, I would get a cheap Linksys router off of Ebay and install DD-WRT or Tomato on the router (the DHCP is internal and doesn't affect your external address). You will have awesome control over your network (I'm still learning) and a very frugal home server setup. I'm into my whole server/router for approximately $400.00 and it is serving four media centers in my house (strictly wired, not wireless).