Review: Excito Bubba home server

Sharing files and streaming media across a home or small business network has often been better in theory than in practice.

The Bubba server is the closest we have seen to a computer that fulfils this dream of sharing files, networking a printer, streaming media, downloading files and Bit Torrents as well as organising emails and acting as a web and ftp server.

Getting it out of the box, you might be forgiven for thinking that you had bought an external hard disk by mistake. No larger than most enclosures, the only hint that there is more inside is the presence of a network socket in addition to USB A and B sockets.

In fact, there is a complete system built around a 160MHz Arm chip. This might sound underwhelming but it uses a specially written version of the Debian version of Linux, so it's more than up to the task. The model we looked at had a 320GB hard disk - other models are available up to 750GB.

The smaller form factor means lower power consumption - useful since it's likely to be left on continously - and relatively quiet operation.

Setup is simple assuming your local network has DHCP running. If not, you will need to change the network settings using another computer on your network; since there is no way to access the server locally, everything is done via a web browser. The server can be accessed by typing http://bubba into the address bar rather than having to remember an IP address.

Annoyingly the full user manual for the Bubba is not installed on the drive itself; instead you must download it from the Excito website. Once we'd downloaded we found it well written and very helpful, but you really should get at least a PDF copy included in the package.

The first job is to create new users for the server. Each user has a private, password-protected space on the server along with a public area. The folders can be mounted as a drive in Windows or accessed through the web interface; the latter can be viewed outside of the local network if the correct ports are opened on the broadband router. Disappointingly, there is no search function although this may be due to the slow speed of the Arm processor.

Music and picture files in the correct folders can be played using DAAP compatible media players such as iTunes or Pinnacle Soundbridge devices. It will also hook up as a UPnP drive to many other media streamers. The print server detected our rather elderly HP 930 printer and setting it up as a network printer was no problem.

Remote access is where the Bubba really starts to shine. In addition to being able to remotely access personal files the Bubba can be set to start downloads by itself - either actual files or via Bit Torrent - which is great if you find a download when at work or in an internet cafe. Bit Torrents are shared until removed from the list.

The Bubba server also solves the problem of multiple email addresses by aggregating email into one place. Each user can set up multiple Pop3 and Imap accounts that are automatically downloaded onto the server. They can then be accessed via a web mail interface (again either on the local network, or over the internet) or by using an Imap client such as Outlook Express or Thunderbird.

Googlemail fulfils this role to a certain extent, but the Bubba server provides one location that's easy to backup rather than placing your trust in Google. It's a shame, however, that there is no way to synchronise contacts and calendar with clients such as Outlook, but this is due to a dearth of suitable software rather than a deficiency in the Bubba.

Advanced users get shell access to the Bubba server to install new software if required, but this is not enabled by default.

The Bubba server fulfils all of the roles it sets itself up for at a very low price point, and the fact it runs Linux should not put any newcomers to this operating system off as there is no need to venture outside of the web interface. In short, it's a very impressive piece of kit.

Like this story? Spread the news by clicking below:

 del.icio.us     Digg this     reddit!