Using Amahi For Your Home Server
Let me preface this by saying I had used Amahi before when it was first coming out, beta if you will. It was not everything I thought it would be. But with that said, I just installed it to give it another shot and I am very happy with the progress hey have made.
The Amahi server takes over DHCP and DNS for your network. After you install you simply turn off dhcp on your router and the Amahi server takes care of the rest. I am not going to go into the install right now, just kind of give a run down oh what it gives you the ability to do. Anyone with comcast will welcome the dns change, Amahi uses Opendns so you can stop dealing with Comcast and their lousy dns highjacking.
Once you are up and running you simply open your web browser and use the short url: http://hda to get to your amahi dashboard. Here you can see what programs you have installed and a number of other things.
Once you click on setup you can see a number of tabs.
If you move to the applications tab you can see the ton of applications they are offering now. The main thing I wanted Amahi for was to use Ushare easily to stream music and movies to my xbox in another. Ushare with Amahi works fantastic, much better than using it stand alone on a separate server. There are somewhere around fifty applications that can be installed on your server through the Amahi Dashboard with a simple click. Everything from multiple databases, database managers, games, media managers and streaming tools. Tools to help you collaborate on projects (Horde) Wiki software, Blog software, even a fantasy football manager. For a complete list of all the programs available or to suggest a new one head over to http://www.amahi.org/apps?category=sbs
Another great feature for access is the ability to use the server for VPN access, you simply use any web browser and you have access to your network. You can see all the upcoming applications at http://www.amahi.org/apps/upcoming
Overall since this is my second time around with Amahi I would definitely recommend it. It allows a ton of features that if you were to try and install yourself on a server would take time and more than likely be a pain. As they state on their website:
Just for starters you can:
- Share your photos (or any files) with any device in your network
- Centrally store all your music and videos
- Quickly backup your computers
- Run applications to co-ordinate your household (eg. shared calendars)
- Securely access all your ’stuff’ when you are out, whether at work, a friend’s place, or out of town!
Those reasons alone make it great for a home server, the ease of install and the many choices you have make it just that much better.
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