forum.excito.com

Good things about bubba

Very diversitile
When you are a techie, it's heaven
Price
It's cheap in comparison to other 'servers'

Things i don't like about bubba
Speed
It isn't a device you can use to backup your big files on to. The more MP3's you have, the slower the system works. Further more, backup is a real problem (i've tried many times to backup data files but it does take a very long time to backup data). In comparisson to an external HD (300 GB through ethernet) it's about 500% slower.
Few music playback options
I've got a soundbridge and when i connet to my windows media player, i get al lot of additional functionality (search options, and off course: PLAYLISTS). Theses functions don't come out of the box or don't work (playlists). When you want to extend these functionalities, it's possible (with scripting in mediatomb), but with an update of bubba, you can start all over again....

It's to much techie initiated
When you want additional functionality, you have to search for proper software and install it manually; for this, tech knowledge is needed..

For these reasons i bought an server with windows home server (€350,- with an 500GB HD) and it does exactly what i excpect from an server. Speed (due to an normal cpu and 1gb off memory installed) is great. Backup is a real treat and i've got all WMP playback functionality on my soundbridge. Playlists are supported, but only the static ones...

If you just need a file and/or music server, there are probably better options than the Bubba. At least if matters like low power consumption and small size don't count.

Personally, after owning it for almost 18 months, I'm still very impressed with the realibility and the things what you can really do with this little server.

I'm running a FireFly media server on it (~9,300 songs) and playing it on a Roku Soundbridge without problems. On the same time, bubba manages to run several PHP/MySQL-based applications, taking care of torrent downloads and also work as a mail server. I think this is amazing, considering the "mobile phone" ARM cpu that the bubba is based upon.

It's true that a certain amount of Linux knowledge is good to have if you're going to 'hack' the bubba, but that's also mentioned in the manual.

I agree that a little bit of Linux knowledge is required to get full use from a Bubba, but one of the main reasons I bought it is that it came configured with a fully operation mailserver/webserver out of the box. The reliability is very high, in fact most times I forget about it never had to reboot it because of a software fault.

My previous, ancient PC running Suse was forever crashing, I could never get the mailserver to work for more than a few days before that crashed and there is nothing worse when you are out and about and suddenly find your home network is inaccesible without reason. Bubba has never done this to me (touching wood).

More importantly, my old PC made such a racket that it would wake me up at night, it also had a visible effect on my electricity bill ! Both these issues are solved by Bubba.

When I try and balance the positive versus negative aspects of Bubba, the positive aspects win everytime hands down.

I agree, it's totally wort is money, I will buy the next version tomorrow.
I'm very happy with it and I know almost 0 of Linux ,but what he das is what I was doing with my old MSserver2003 and my elettrical bill is now a lot less
So ... long live to Bubba

Actually I'm also in the process of replacing bubba.

same reasons, mostly performance. I just wish they had chosen 15watts not 10 and made it more powerful.

Actually thats basically a Qnap 109 which is probably what I'll get. And a lot cheaper.
You can put progs on it too and get ssh access etc.

If Bubba is not for you then so be it. I hope you'll find what you need with another product and give your bubba to someone who does appreciate its versatility and low power consumption. I for one have never regretted my purchase for a second and have not yet foud a product that can match its performance with its noise level and form factor.

Ubi

Ubi wrote:If Bubba is not for you then so be it. I hope you'll find what you need with another product and give your bubba to someone who does appreciate its versatility and low power consumption. I for one have never regretted my purchase for a second and have not yet foud a product that can match its performance with its noise level and form factor.

Ubi

Thanks, it will be donated FOC to a worthy cause!.
And I have found the "bubba plus", a Qnap TS109 (pro) Which is also fanless, approx same size, uses 14watts max (not much more!) can install programs in a 'similar' way, has ssh access and is quite a bit more powerful in many ways.

Jeff

no mail server though ?
can one be added

I bought Bubba for three main reasons:
1. Low on powerconsumption
2. Mailserver out of the box
3. Streaming music

It does all of this very well. After a long search I have found a lightweight DAAP player for Windows, so I don't have to use the dreadful iTunes.
Backups are performed during the night. It's slow, but no problem as I am sleeping anyway

One thing I am still searching for: how the **** can I use Mediatomb on Windows??

jimcuk wrote:no mail server though ?
can one be added

Yep. you can add almost anything you like. It also has a package management system, a bit more basic but it works.

When checking out a new device to purchase, it is always good to check out the forums of that specific device. This will give you a good "feel" for a product given all the user inputs. If the device hasn't a forum, well that's part of the test

Bubba
When checking out the Excito forums, the reviews are all extremely positive and there is much help to be had even directly from the developers/engineers.

QNap
You are talking about the QNap in this thread as a replacement for Bubba. Check out the forums at http://forum.qnap.com/ and see the user comments and feedback.

Windows Server
Well.. This solution is not really in the same category as the Bubba so I wouldn't know why anyone would do a comparison between these products. If you want a full fledged server, then get a stable Linux server or worst case, a Windows Server which will do what you need. However you wont get attention from Microsoft and the energy consumption is way too high. But that is why you are checking out this product. To get a energy efficient and versatile product. And also to take benifit of the full opensource community.

But as I said before this is just my personal opinions..

I agree 100% ,
this why I wait for the new bubba , so I can have a new server with more power than the actual "bubba"