Do we really need a Server OS just for fileserver SMB shares?

[Hemps]

So we busy upgrading from Server 2003, looking at Server 2019 to be on the latest, testing this all running on Proxmox 6 VM's.
I have setup 2019 as AD server's, DNS, DHCP etc they work fine.
Now to setup the fileServer which will only serve SMB shares, thats it
Do you really need another Server OS to just serve SMB shares or I can we try Windows 10 Pro?

I setup a windows 10 Pro VM as FileServer and it works.

 

[Hemps]

For some reason Server 2019 on Proxmox VM is not fast at all, I'm sure SSD would improve that but that's pricey at this point.

Followed the Proxmox best practices from their website.

 

[ginggs]

I setup a windows 10 Pro VM as FileServer and it works.

If I recall correctly, the "workstation" operating systems have a limit on the number of concurrent SMB connections.

You could also try Linux or BSD for an SMB file server.

 

[Hemps]

Server 2019 , if I connect via console, spice, RDP, Teamviewer all horribly sluggish and have tried numerous prox settings and Virtio drivers, kvm guest drivers helped but after a couple hours the server slows again.

Tried different graphics options but no luck, annoying, Server 2012, 2016 are just terrible.
Server 2008 R2 is fine but out of support.

Wheras Windows 10 Pro with same settings / drivers as Server 2019 flies.

 

[Claymore]

Server does provide stuff that Windows 10 won't, like data deduplication, and other server-oriented features, especially related to storage.

 

[Dairyfarmer]

Haven't used the registry hack to disable concurrent TCP connections since Windows XP. I see it was still working in Windows 7

How to Disable the Max Limit Set on Simultaneous Network Connections

You can manually edit your Windows registry to disable the maximum limit set on network connections. This can benefit users who utilize download managers and more.

www.technorms.com

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters
EnableConnectionRateLimiting
Create the DWORD value and set it to zero if it doesn’t already exist

Or copy code below into a txt file and rename it whatever.reg . Then double click on the file.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters]

"EnableConnectionRateLimiting"=dword:00000000