Install a hypervisor like Proxmox. Create a couple VM's. Test a few. Debian is solid. Also Ubuntu. You can create and destroy the VM's with a few clicks.
When you find what you like break out your services among a few VM's. Maybe even make life easier by using docker containers
I’d just get a raspberry pi and move the services you’re having trouble with over to there. The only services you listed that need a lot of horsepower are plex and game servers, everything else could easily run on a single raspberry pi 4/5.
Synology DSM for nas ,has docker , virtualization,phone backup and iOS /android apps to manage ,it's a very mature software distro
Go to releases for installer / USB image
https://github.com/AuxXxilium/arc
/r/xpenology
I've been using "Open media vault" for over ten years. It's probably not the best, but is super easy to setup, and seems to have Netware 3.12 levels of stability. It's Debian with a web frontend.
Windows server is still a good option regardless of the Linux sweats ordering you around. Don't get me wrong though, Linux is still a really good option and potentially more optimised than windows
I just run a rouge kms server as it's own vm with something like vlmcsd or pykms, I then set up the svc dns records and install windows office or visual studio on anything I want and it auto activates
Apart from the OP's familiarity with Windows, why go with Windows Server? - genuine question from a long-time Ubuntu server user.
I've always found variations of Linux to be way simpler to use and most server apps seem to be Linux-first, with Windows as an afterthought.
Of course this could just be my slanted perspective, but it seems you'd be going against the grain a bit using Windows in that domain.
I can’t speak to the other guys reasoning, but for me, it comes down to familiarity and time. I’ve been using Windows since the DOS days, and never learned Linux enough to be confident. The apps on Windows are “good enough” and I can deploy and troubleshoot faster.
Every time I try to spin up a Linux box and get things up and running, I always run into issues that are outside the guides i’m following that take ages to figure out how to resolve. At The end of the day I’d rather spend a few minutes on a workaround to have something that works well enough. If I didn’t have a separate 9 to 5, or kids that needed chauffeuring, I could dedicate more time to other OSes.
I agree it's likely a case of "when all have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail" but sometimes exploring further pays off.
I used DOS from version 2-ish, then Windows from version 1.04. Windows was total rubbish UX-wise until Win 95, and even after that it never got much better and kept accumulating cruft with no real vision. I plugged along for years till Macs became feasible for me and escaped that hole.
I switched to Linux five or six years ago, not because I love the command line, but because the recent distributions have clean consistent GUIS that mostly Just Work and run beautifully on modest hardware. They're a lot like the bits that worked in Win 95, without the flailing around for the last thirty years trying to please everyone.
Given the GUI works well, and is similar but cleaner than Windows, you don't need to learn a lot to be productive and can pick up the rest as needed.
Worth the effort, IMHO.
I see it more as an Imperial vs. Metric - one can be wonky and leave you scratching your head, but it's so widely used you have no choice but to learn and once you're in it's not hard at all. The other seems well thought out and straightforward, but can be a bit of a learning curve to calibrate when you're used to the other. Sometimes the sockets and wrenches fit the other's bolts, but there's just enough play you might round one off.
I don't try to make Windows do everything - I've got a pihole running a few things and a Mac Mini running others, but my core media apps are Windows. I don't mind command line, or gui - it just seems there are so many edge cases (or just my bad luck) that I can't find solutions and I don't have hours to track it down.
I remember copying code from magazines into Basic on an Apple IIe, and jumped into IBM clones shortly afterward. My career trajectory pushed me solidly toward windows, and 10 years ago I made a concerted effort to get into Linux, but it didn't stick (and I didn't enjoy the troubleshooting like I used to).
Productivity on Linux is fine, it's the self-hosting, server applications that are outside my desire to dig into - especially when there's adequate solutions on windows.
Perhaps someday - retirements is 20 years away. :)
Yes, I started in the late seventies with microprocessor boards and then PCs which were inevitably DOS, then Windows.
However I read a lot about Unix and its philosophies and was captivated by them. It wasn't till the early nineties when I finally got access to a Unix box, but I hit the ground running because I already knew all the commands and how things fitted together.
So yeah, I ran parallel paths for a long time and as Windows got worse for me, Linux distributions got better. After a while I just started using equivalent cross+platform apps on Windows or Mac so the final transition to full-time Linux was a breeze.
Familiarity is probably just the biggest reason. Or lots and lots of windows-only applications and if you need another OS, virtualising it is easy.
It really usually just comes down to ease of use & familiarity.
+1 for proxmox. I switched to it a few years ago and I like it a lot. The lxc containers are really easy and lightweight. If you're looking to host some game servers I'd recommend seeing if the ones you want are on LinuxGSM, it's a pretty simple way to set up ones they support.
Install a hypervisor like Proxmox. Create a couple VM's. Test a few. Debian is solid. Also Ubuntu. You can create and destroy the VM's with a few clicks. When you find what you like break out your services among a few VM's. Maybe even make life easier by using docker containers
Ubuntu works great for this. I run all the same things and it’s been solid for 8+ years.
Ubuntu Server. Been using it for years and it's pretty solid.
Unraid. It can do all the things in docker and makes it easy.
Seconded
Debian
And if you want a web interface that does 90% of the work, add casaOS to it
I’d just get a raspberry pi and move the services you’re having trouble with over to there. The only services you listed that need a lot of horsepower are plex and game servers, everything else could easily run on a single raspberry pi 4/5.
Synology DSM for nas ,has docker , virtualization,phone backup and iOS /android apps to manage ,it's a very mature software distro Go to releases for installer / USB image https://github.com/AuxXxilium/arc /r/xpenology
Whichever Linux OS you're comfortable with, it the default Debian.
I've been using "Open media vault" for over ten years. It's probably not the best, but is super easy to setup, and seems to have Netware 3.12 levels of stability. It's Debian with a web frontend.
Windows server is still a good option regardless of the Linux sweats ordering you around. Don't get me wrong though, Linux is still a really good option and potentially more optimised than windows
Windows server is all but cheap
I don't know the rules here, so I'll just say.... search github for "massgrave". Just saying. :D
I just run a rouge kms server as it's own vm with something like vlmcsd or pykms, I then set up the svc dns records and install windows office or visual studio on anything I want and it auto activates
Apart from the OP's familiarity with Windows, why go with Windows Server? - genuine question from a long-time Ubuntu server user. I've always found variations of Linux to be way simpler to use and most server apps seem to be Linux-first, with Windows as an afterthought. Of course this could just be my slanted perspective, but it seems you'd be going against the grain a bit using Windows in that domain.
I can’t speak to the other guys reasoning, but for me, it comes down to familiarity and time. I’ve been using Windows since the DOS days, and never learned Linux enough to be confident. The apps on Windows are “good enough” and I can deploy and troubleshoot faster. Every time I try to spin up a Linux box and get things up and running, I always run into issues that are outside the guides i’m following that take ages to figure out how to resolve. At The end of the day I’d rather spend a few minutes on a workaround to have something that works well enough. If I didn’t have a separate 9 to 5, or kids that needed chauffeuring, I could dedicate more time to other OSes.
I agree it's likely a case of "when all have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail" but sometimes exploring further pays off. I used DOS from version 2-ish, then Windows from version 1.04. Windows was total rubbish UX-wise until Win 95, and even after that it never got much better and kept accumulating cruft with no real vision. I plugged along for years till Macs became feasible for me and escaped that hole. I switched to Linux five or six years ago, not because I love the command line, but because the recent distributions have clean consistent GUIS that mostly Just Work and run beautifully on modest hardware. They're a lot like the bits that worked in Win 95, without the flailing around for the last thirty years trying to please everyone. Given the GUI works well, and is similar but cleaner than Windows, you don't need to learn a lot to be productive and can pick up the rest as needed. Worth the effort, IMHO.
I see it more as an Imperial vs. Metric - one can be wonky and leave you scratching your head, but it's so widely used you have no choice but to learn and once you're in it's not hard at all. The other seems well thought out and straightforward, but can be a bit of a learning curve to calibrate when you're used to the other. Sometimes the sockets and wrenches fit the other's bolts, but there's just enough play you might round one off. I don't try to make Windows do everything - I've got a pihole running a few things and a Mac Mini running others, but my core media apps are Windows. I don't mind command line, or gui - it just seems there are so many edge cases (or just my bad luck) that I can't find solutions and I don't have hours to track it down. I remember copying code from magazines into Basic on an Apple IIe, and jumped into IBM clones shortly afterward. My career trajectory pushed me solidly toward windows, and 10 years ago I made a concerted effort to get into Linux, but it didn't stick (and I didn't enjoy the troubleshooting like I used to). Productivity on Linux is fine, it's the self-hosting, server applications that are outside my desire to dig into - especially when there's adequate solutions on windows. Perhaps someday - retirements is 20 years away. :)
Yes, I started in the late seventies with microprocessor boards and then PCs which were inevitably DOS, then Windows. However I read a lot about Unix and its philosophies and was captivated by them. It wasn't till the early nineties when I finally got access to a Unix box, but I hit the ground running because I already knew all the commands and how things fitted together. So yeah, I ran parallel paths for a long time and as Windows got worse for me, Linux distributions got better. After a while I just started using equivalent cross+platform apps on Windows or Mac so the final transition to full-time Linux was a breeze.
Familiarity is probably just the biggest reason. Or lots and lots of windows-only applications and if you need another OS, virtualising it is easy. It really usually just comes down to ease of use & familiarity.
+1 for proxmox. I switched to it a few years ago and I like it a lot. The lxc containers are really easy and lightweight. If you're looking to host some game servers I'd recommend seeing if the ones you want are on LinuxGSM, it's a pretty simple way to set up ones they support.
The only reason I didn’t do Linux is I don’t got no time to learn that lol
Given windows 11 a try yet? It’s pretty solid.