Server Update: Elementary Error?

I have been running a Windows server in our basement pretty much nonstop since 2008. Originally a personal Web server, this HP Proliant machine has in recent years mostly worked as a LAN file server for backups, media archives and for home-internal sharing. Even with a new 1.5 terabyte disk installed some years ago, it was running out of disk space. The old Windows 2008 Server was also getting painfully slow.

I decided to do bit of an update, and got a “small” 120 GB SSD for the new system, and a WD Red 4.0 terabyte NAT disk for data. (I also considered their 8 TB “Archive” disk, but I do not need quite that much space, yet, and the “Red” model was a bit faster for my general purpose use. It was also cheaper.)

This time I decided to go Linux way – my aging dual-core Xeon based system is more suitable for a bit lighter OS than a full Windows Server installation. On the other hand I was curious to try newer Linux distributions, so I picked up the “elementary OS”, which has attracted some positive press recently.

The hardware installation took it’s time, but I must say that I respect the build quality of this budget-class Proliant ML110 Gen5 machine. It has been running soon ten years without a single issue (hardware-related, I mean), and it is very solid, and pleasure to open and maintain (something that cannot be said of several consumer oriented computers that I have used).

Also the Linux installation, with my Samba and Dropbox components is now finally up and running. But I have to say that I am a bit disappointed with the elementary OS (0.41 “loki”) at the moment. It might have been wrong distribution for my needs, to start with. It surely looks pretty, but it is also very restricted – many essential administrative tools or features are disabled or not available, by design. Apparently it is made so easy and safe for beginners that it is hard to use this “eOS” for most things that Linux normally is used for: development, programming, systems administration.

It is possible to tweak Linux installations, of course, and I have now patched or hacked the new system to be more allowing and capable, but some new issues have emerged in the process. I wonder if it is possible just to overwrite the “elementary” into a regular Ubuntu Server version, for example, or do I need to reinstall everything and lose the work that I have already done? I need to study the wonderful world of Linux distros a bit more, obviously.