Virtualbox Voodoo – Backup Your Plex and Emby Servers
I’ve long struggled with what operating system to run on my server. I want to run a Linux based system for the stability and flexibility, however I’ve been stuck on Windows for a couple of reasons:
- I’m new to Linux and can’t (yet) replicate all the necessary functionality in Linux (e. g. split tunneling through my VPN client)
- Remote desktop – I rely on RDP as the primary means to access my server. I manage everything through this connection. I’m not aware of a solid linux equivalent to RDP.
So what Virtualbox allows me to do is keep my Windows server running while having a Linux OS, in my case Ubuntu, running within the Virtualbox. I can have my Plex and Emby servers up and running within that Virtualbox, but if something breaks and I need to take the time to figure out how to fix it I can simply fire up the Windows versions of the servers to keep the family happily watching their shows.
Virtualbox also allows me to easily backup my Emby and Plex databases along with the whole operating system. That means if I need to do a system wipe or reinstall, I simply backup the Virtualbox file, reinstall Windows and the Virtualbox application and point it to the backed up file and everything is up and running exactly as it was before!
The comfort of being able to backup working versions, the ease of reinstall and the safety of being able to rely on Windows servers should something break allows me the ability to play around with my Linux install without worry! The bonus is I don’t need any additional hardware.
The world of Virtualbox has been revealed to me and it is glorious!
~Raze42
