Newbie Setting up a Server at home

[Evan]

So my company just canned a really nice server, and I inherited, my question is All i want to do is run it as a file server for my media and maybe run a little bit of hashing for litecoin on it, is there a simple linux gui based server OS that I can use?

[Xch4ng3]

Need a little bit more details, by file server what do you mean? Do you mean that the files would be accessible on a LAN or WLAN? However, to start off with I would use Linux Mint. I loved the GUI for this and it was my first step into running a server for my projects.

http://linuxmint.com/

and then LinuxApacheMsqlPhp should be all you need.

http://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/486

Follow the instructions and you should have a basic server to use for your personal use.

[Gatorhex]

Ubuntu http://www.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/take-the-tour

[Gatorhex]

It's designed to be easy to use.
Millions of users who can help you for free.
It's the closest Linux to a Windows "it just works" experience.

If the user base cannot help, you can also get commercial support from
www.canonical.com

It's beautiful
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jq_WaOLjdyQ

[01BTC10]

Ubuntu Server is really easy to setup. You can chose to add a LAMP and FTP server directly from the installation menu.

[scamdetector]

So my company just canned a really nice server, and I inherited, my question is All i want to do is run it as a file server for my media and maybe run a little bit of hashing for litecoin on it, is there a simple linux gui based server OS that I can use?

Ubuntu distro is at the most supported by Linux community at the moment, but if you are more into coding and making your stuff fit your needs you could start with some really small linux distro, strip it from packages you don`t need anyway and end up with tweaked filesystem support, small compressed OS size (more disc space is handy), some networking (eth0 or wifi) and all cpu cycles allocated to hashing only.

[micahs]

All i want to do is run it as a file server for my media

You don't really need a "server OS" for that. You can just share folders to LAN, using Samba for Windows clients.

If you want a GUI, you might as well install Ubuntu desktop. By default, there is no root login (just sudo) and no ports are open.

If the machine has more than 4GB RAM, use the 64-bit version. If you want software RAID and/or whole-disk encryption with LUKS, use the alternate CD. If you don't like the Unity desktop, you can use Xubuntu or Mint instead.

and maybe run a little bit of hashing for litecoin on it,

I doubt that any used server will get a block during your lifetime.

[micahs]

I would like it over the LAN, for now, with maybe an option FTP later on the WAN, so I can move files between work and home,

For sftp, you just need to install sshd.

[micahs]

I doubt that any used server will get a block during your lifetime.

x2 AMD Opteron 6200 wont?

I apologize. I didn't read your post very carefully, and was thinking BTC, not litecoin. And I didn't realize that litecoin blocks are still easy enough for CPUs.

I am going the Ubuntu this weekend wish me luck

Good luck Try LiveCDs first. If you don't like Ubuntu's Unity desktop, either Xubuntu or Mint Cinnamon will give you essentially the same OS, but with a much lighter desktop (especially Xubuntu).

One other thing. If you plan to use the OS for more than a couple years, pick 12.04 (long term release) rather than 12.10.