Raspberry Pi Server - Other Alternatives.

Well the first question is surely....

What do you want the server to do?

Hello Omar,

most of it dpeends on the budget. To be honest, in my opinion - I am using the Raspberry PI in a lot of applications and I consider this device one of the best SBC - this is not adapt to make a server just because it is limited in two aspects: the network speed limited to 10/100 instead 1Giga and the USB2 instead the availability of a USB3 (that with an hard disk with a proper SATA-to USB3 interface reach a identical or comparable speed).

Instead - with a budget few more consistent - you can orient your choice to a Gizmo2Gizmo2. I am making a small server and progressively publishing some how-to that I hope maybe useful for the users, including a control board to manage the server powering, fan and temperature control and server health status. The two more important aspects that give the option to create a Gizmo2 based cloud are the availability of two USB3 (and two USB2 ports), the possibility to add a SSD disk - I am using a 120 Gb and it works fast and very well - or - alternatively - a SATA hard disk. Without excluding the availability of GPIO and other features.

Take a look to the following articles already posted:

Gizmo2 Advanced Controller Board (part 1)

http://www.element14.com/community/message/152505/l/gizmo2-ssd#152505

Gizmo2 connecting peripherals: searching issues solution

Gizmo on Fire!!

Gizmo2: 3D Printable Enclosure - First Iteration

As you see not all is so simple and we have already spent almost time on studying this hardware that is very nice but also include some issues and complexity. Last notice, the Gizmo2 board is open source and this is al a key factor in my opinion.

Speaking of Gizmo2 I can't mention that has done a very good job on this board and fvan that has designed a good 3D printable case for this board.

Enrico

HI Paul,

I wanted it to store files such as music, word docs etc, nothing too complicated.

Thanks Enrico,

I will check that out,  at the moment I want to keep everything simple as I am beginner, i have an external hard drive (1TB) and i was wondering if it possible to programme one of the boards to act like a server and store the files e.g. music, movies onto the external hard drive which will be attached to the board.

Thanks for your reply.

Any of the Odroids or Banana Pis would work for you here Omar!

Thanks Paul,

Would OwnCloud work on the Arduino and Galileo Gen 2 in the same way it does on the Raspberry Pi.

Enrico: I was not familiar with the Gizmo2. Thanks for mentioning it. I will most definitely be taking into account this item for future projects.

Omar: For the kind project that you are describing I think that you need something more powerful/complete than the Arduino or similar. I would definitely go for the Raspberry Pi, similar or the Gizmo2 that Enrico describes. Do not worry too much about being a beginner. Do research, ask questions and be patient. You'll always find people willing to help you. My apologies to Nike, but Just Do it! :-) Salvador

Thanks for the help John.

Hi John,

Would you be able to recommend me a Odroid board which I can use. I was thinking of the XU4, I intend to create servers which will hold files such as music and documents and then somehow run a cloud service.........also later on I intend to do some security tests on these devices.

Thanks in advance.