Amahi

After successfully installing Windows 7 on my server, I noticed that it was slower than I really wanted. I thought about alternatives and came across some software called AMAHI http://www.amahi.org/. This software is designed to create a web based server so that all you need is a web browser to access your files and media.

However to run, AMAHI needs a Linux OS called Fedora which is a derivative of Red Hat. I have never tried a Linux OS before and thought that it would be a good learning challenge for me.

I wanted to try out the OS first so I downloaded the 'Live' version which boots from a CD. You need to select the version that is compatible with your PC.

The good part about this is that you can try out the OS without having to install it, then if you are happy, there is an option to download and install the OS on to your hard disk. This was fairly painless, there are numerous guides on how to do this, and I found the setup very easy to follow.

There is an option that is explained in the Amahi guide, that enables Amahi to be loaded at the same time as installing the OS, this is really useful and makes the process much easier.

Once everything is installed, you will have the option to run Amahi, within the program are 'widgets' that you can install to add features to your server, such as media players, video streamers etc. This all enables you to access your content from any web browser.

Unfortunately, I haven't got any screenshots as I deleted Amahi to work on another project, but there screenshots on their website along with a list of the widgets and guides on how to set it up.