The Home Server Tips website bought a Linux based alternative to WHS called Amahi to my attention.
The Amahi server (pronounced ah-MAH-hee – rhymes with Mahimahi, the fish) is about making your home networking simple. They came up with the term HDA (Home Digital Assistant) to describe what the Amahi Linux Home Server aims for. Something as simple to use as a PDA, for home networking.
An Amahi HDA provides:
- Calendaring
- Wiki
- Shared network storage
- Network Backups
- Printer server
- Remote access
You can use a spare computer with at least a 800MHz processor and 512MB RAM or they can send you a desktop box pre-configured as an HDA with a Pentium III 800MHz processor with 256MB of memory and a 20GB disk for FREE (-shipping). A Power user option is available with a PC using an AMD Opteron 244 chip running at 1.8GHz with 2GB of memory and a choice of hard disk, all in a black desktop workstation case for a very low cost.
Amahi is currently available as a private beta program for enthusiasts and I have got 3 invitations available for anyone interested in participating. Just leave a comment below. If you still want to participate once all 3 invitations go then email Amahi for an invitation code as they state:
“We really love it when people write us telling why they would like to use the Amahi Linux Home Server, and we are very thankful for the requests we get to join the program.”
More information on Amahi, including an FAQ, a WIKI and their blog are all available from here.
March 24, 2008 at 11:38 am
I would be interested in checking it out. Built in calender and a WIKI make it look promising to a small business.
March 24, 2008 at 1:23 pm
I would be interested as well in checking it out.
I have a machine I could test it on, :) same one I tested WHS on last year!
John
March 24, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Would like to see this in action as well – have a nice test box at home i’ve been trying to decide how to use.
March 24, 2008 at 2:32 pm
I am also interested :)
March 24, 2008 at 4:13 pm
I would very much be interested in this, please send an invite if you have any more.
Thanks!
March 24, 2008 at 4:57 pm
You Gotta love Amahi (Linux Open Source) Home Server distribution targeted for home and home office environments.
Thanks, Philip Churchill!
:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
March 24, 2008 at 6:04 pm
And best of all, Amahi supports true cross platform functionality unlike WHS. — Amahi just ROCKS! —
Amahi includes FREE downloads, base, live or boot media.
See: wiki.amahi.org/index.php/Self-install
Did I mention the many cool Amahi features too!
* Calendars: including Outlook Sync.
* Storage and file sharing: movies, pictures and files.
* Wiki
* Remote Access: Accessing your network remotely.
* Backups: Easy full-disk backup and restore!
* HDA Apps: Gallery of application for your HDA.
+ Slideshow
+ Torrents
+ Recipes
* Create a Bug/Feature/Support ticket!
* Top level domain!
If you want you can even use LVM (+RAID) in your Amahi server.
LVM = (Logical Volume Manager) is convenient for keeping multiple drives, very common nowadays, viewed as a single drive.
March 24, 2008 at 7:19 pm
[...] good folks at MSWHS blog introduced me to Amahi HDA – a free linux-based home server software with many of the features [...]
March 25, 2008 at 2:35 am
Philip,
THanks for posting this info. I’d like to try this one out for sure! Been cutting my teeth on RedHat for the past year. This Amahi may have some good options!
March 25, 2008 at 4:11 am
I couldn’t use my WHS due to the WHS proven data corruption design flaw (KB 946676). Instead of bashing RedHat, how about taking care of WHS first?
It’s always amazing how broken WHS is, but some fanboys would rather over look the inherent design flaw, which puts everyone at risk with their data when using WHS, than to admit how everyone including fanboys are cutting their teeth when thinking about how their data can experience data corruption…
March 25, 2008 at 4:30 am
A Free Home Server Alternative to Windows HS – Amahi :)
http://www.egonitron.com/2008/03/24/amahi-a-free-home-server-alternative-to-windows-hs/
March 25, 2008 at 5:00 am
http://www.amahi.com
Domain Name: AMAHI.COM
Registrar: NEW DREAM NETWORK LLC
Updated Date: 05-feb-2008
Expiration Date: 14-feb-2009
http://www.amahi.org is online until expires: 2008-04-18, so is the above domain going to be the new website for Amahi?
March 25, 2008 at 5:14 am
Amahi Dashboard Screen shot! Hot!!!
farm2.static.flickr.com/1322/1041099278_50431c0850_o_d.jpg
March 25, 2008 at 5:20 am
Amahi is hiring! Seems they need some Ruby on Rails developers!
railswork.com/jobs/131-ror-developer-for-open-source-apps
March 28, 2008 at 12:33 am
[...] and others. We have also been featured in popular sites like Newegg, and reviewed in various blogs in the home server [...]
March 28, 2008 at 10:51 pm
Does anyone have an invitations left? I really want to be part of this Beta.
May 29, 2008 at 3:29 pm
I have 3 invites left contact me if anyone needs an invite, or has any questions.
June 27, 2008 at 12:05 am
Hi. I’d really like to try Amahi, if you’ve still got an invite free. Thanks.
July 18, 2008 at 3:02 pm
hello, if you’ve still got an invite can you send to my email
Best regards
August 14, 2008 at 2:39 am
You can get an invite if you request nicely .. read http://www.amahi.org/invitation for more info.