home servers?

Cold Dark Shadow

Cold Dark Shadow

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Mar 24, 2003
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I was just thinking what people build and use there servers for? i was thinking about building on for gaming but honestly have no idea where to start or what software to use.

Also when i see some peole selling there servers or parts to them they all seem to say they use Linux, why??
 
A 'server' is just a pc running certain software; no different than a regular system. (There are exceptions, ECC RAM, RAID, but they all can be run on regular systems)

My server stores all of my media, keyboard drivers, etc. I has Samba shares for each item spread across 5 drives with over 300 gigs of storage (not alot compared to others).

It also runs Apache2, Php4, mySQL and DNS for my webpage.

Oh, FTP too.

and VNC.

It's my downloading box. It's in another room; very quiet.
 
I don't quite understand what kind of software you'd use to do something like that (I'm a complete idiot when it comes to servers)

Also are they powerful enough to be used for gaming servers? (with only a few people obviously)
 
i was thinking about building one for a Q3A server but not sure what id need, also a storage server type thing

anotherguys set up sounds hard to set up, is it?
 
Building a server is all dependant of your skill with the OS.
If you plan on running a Linux server and have no skill/prior knowledge of Linux, then sure, you're going to have a hard time setting it up.
 
Jeeze... all you guys make it sound so hard.

Build a box... load windows XP onto it.

Mine runs an FTP program and a 24/7 teamspeak server for people I know. It also runs a remote administrator program so I can log onto it whenever I need to without going downstairs.

A server doesn't need to be LINUX. This is not rocket science. You can make it as difficult or as simple as you want-- you have to just decide what you would need/use it for, and then find the software to do it, regardless of the OS.

-Skystalker
 
Now back to his actual queston... What software is needed... lets say for a winxp pro server? A lot of people wont go buy a server edition of windows just for their home network.
 
For internet sharing, you can use ICS, it works fine and has custom port forwarding built in.

For webpages, either IIS (Which wont work on XP) or Apache(free).

For gaming, most games have their own software either built in when you check "Dedicated" or you can download the dedicated package.

For filesharing, FTP server software is easy to come by a good *free* one is GuildFTPD. Google it.
 
I use a 4 year old computer for my server. It's running Win200 and just sits in a closet. Nothing is plugged into it besides power and ethernet, its all controlled remotly. I run ventrilo, gameservers, ftp, web servers, and mail servers on it. Along with storing files there for my friends to download ;)
 
i have 2 servers.

server1: webserver celeron 466Mhz 256MB sdram
server2: test file server 133MHz 64MB sdram
 
I run win2k3 mainly just used for fileserver - stores all my movies - samples - mp3's - compositions - software - blah blah blah, Also host my website stuff like that. I have run Linux before and well its fun but for some reason I clung to MS server OS *shrug* everyone has their preferences.
 
I have a home server that has Windows 2k Pro on it, with IIS. I have 2 120gb drives mirroring eachother, so I keep all my files on it, downloads, music, work stuff, etc. And I use IIS while I'm learning .net and some server admin stuff.
 
Originally posted by n64man120
I use a 4 year old computer for my server. It's running Win200 and just sits in a closet. Nothing is plugged into it besides power and ethernet, its all controlled remotly. I run ventrilo, gameservers, ftp, web servers, and mail servers on it. Along with storing files there for my friends to download ;)
Click to expand...

Yea thats what i wnt to do but have no idea where to start and im using XP pro
 
Download VNC - realvnc.com - install the server on your server, install the client on your other computer.

Use your internal IP address to access the server in VNC.

For Ventrillo/Teamspeak, it's just a matter of downloading and install the server software from their websites.

With whatever software you use, it most likely uses a port number - i.e. Webserver is :80, FTP :21, etc, so you need to edit your router to enable port forwarding of those ports to your server.

Once you have the port fwding set up, you can access the server from the outside using your IP address that your ISP gave you, which is probably displayed somewhere in your router software also.
 
How well will an old machine going through a cable modem run teamspeak and ventrilo? Also I doubt an old machine on a cable modem would run any type of game server very well.
 
running a server is as simple as having a computer running ANY OS, doing a specific task.. If it's there just for storage space for your pr0n, then it's a storage server... If it's running a dedicated server for a game, then it's a gaming server..

it's not that difficult... what do you want it to do? think of something specific, give us what kind of OS and hardware you have, and we can tell you how to do it..

I currently have 2 servers in my house.. One is a Pentium 200 MMX with 64 megs o' ram.. it runs Slackware 8.1 currently (yea, time to upgrade again.. ), and I have it as my Firewall, router, MP3 server, web server, and some storage..

The Linux server is obviously a more advanced server to set up, but my other server is my old P3 running Win2k that just has a big share drive set up for me to store MP3's on..

neither of my servers have monitors, or any input devices hooked up.. they hide in corners and do their thing.. I remote admin into them when necessary..
 
Originally posted by nappa
How well will an old machine going through a cable modem run teamspeak and ventrilo? Also I doubt an old machine on a cable modem would run any type of game server very well.
Click to expand...


actually, an older machine can run a game server just fine.. You have to remember, that if you run a dedicated server, it's not running any graphics.. This cuts down on systerm requirments ALOT...
 
Originally posted by Barnaby
running a server is as simple as having a computer running ANY OS, doing a specific task.. If it's there just for storage space for your pr0n, then it's a storage server... If it's running a dedicated server for a game, then it's a gaming server..

it's not that difficult... what do you want it to do? think of something specific, give us what kind of OS and hardware you have, and we can tell you how to do it..

I currently have 2 servers in my house.. One is a Pentium 200 MMX with 64 megs o' ram.. it runs Slackware 8.1 currently (yea, time to upgrade again.. ), and I have it as my Firewall, router, MP3 server, web server, and some storage..

The Linux server is obviously a more advanced server to set up, but my other server is my old P3 running Win2k that just has a big share drive set up for me to store MP3's on..

neither of my servers have monitors, or any input devices hooked up.. they hide in corners and do their thing.. I remote admin into them when necessary..
Click to expand...

I want a file server that i can hold my music,pix, ect. Id use it to host Vids and whatnot for remote linking to webpages or forum posts, Also to host small webpages
OS im running Win XP Pro
Hardware will be a PII 333mhz not sure on the ram, unless i sell the stuff then im not sure on hardware specs
 
Guys Im also thinking of doing this with my PIII450 and 384 megs of RAM.

Im a little familiar with networking as I have one set up in my house through a router to share my internet connection.
However, I was under the impression that I would also need a keyboard, mouse, blah blah blah for this computer to boot it everytime I would turn it on, or watever. Now I see some of you just have the box and an ethernet port. That would be awesome since I could just hide it somewhere. Can any teach my how to do this please? I would really appreciate it.
 
Maxse, that config should be fine in running a server. It is not like anyone here is going to run a enterprise server at home. Hardware depends also on the type of server. Like file server would require lots of HD space, while game server would benefit off of ram and network connection. Webservers run better with a lot of ram, but it is not like you are going to get like 1000 hits a day. WinXP Pro can make a decent home server.
 
Originally posted by Cold Dark Shadow
I want a file server that i can hold my music,pix, ect. Id use it to host Vids and whatnot for remote linking to webpages or forum posts, Also to host small webpages
OS im running Win XP Pro
Hardware will be a PII 333mhz not sure on the ram, unless i sell the stuff then im not sure on hardware specs
Click to expand...

Yea my server runs on an 7year old computer and performs all the above tasks quite well. Its got 64 megs of ram in it and I used to even be able to run CounterStrike 1.5 on it decently. As far as I file server goes the specs aren't too cruical. I'd hook it up with Win2k2 and Apache and let it do it's thing
 
My old P3 500mhz with 256mb ram is running Win2k3 Server. I use it for FTP, Terminal Services, and file server.
 
well, my server is down at the moment due to RAID problems...but once it's up it'll shape out like this:

P3 733
384mb RAM
30gb OS drive
80gb Swap drive (for DVD rips)
8x80gb RAID 5 (for music and movies)
Gigabit NIC for file shares
10/100 NIC for DHCP server (if necessary)
802.11g NIC for wireless transfers (I'll have it in the closet most of the time)


It'll pull duty as a file server, DVD ripper, FTP, DHCP, and NAV server.


here she is in her messy glory
IMG_0001a.jpg
 
i have two servers at home myself. One is a file server, the other is my web/DB server.

i initially set up a server about 4 years ago so i could practice using win2k server at home (setting up domains, DNS, DHCP..etc..) and just kept one since then.

Like others said, there is nothing "special" that makes a computer a server. A server is just a machine whose job is to perform one (or a few) specific tasks, like storing files, or serving web pages, or hosting games, etc.. For home use you really just need an old machine to do your serving tasks.
In the business world you need servers to be more robust, since they are considered critical, and are often required to work much, much harder than your little home server, so you want added features. Depending on what its role is will determine those added features. So a good file server will have fast, RAIDed drives, a good Web server will have lots of RAM, and so on.
 
I use 2000 adv server, running

---IIS(webserver)
---Filezilla(FTP)
---also serves as a file server(mp3), I just set up a network drive, so every computer that logs onto the workgroup can access all of my mp3s


When I had XP Pro on my server, I used EASYPHP....google it.....great program!!!


It is fairly easy to setup a server, just set up the programs and let them run.
 
But what about the remote access? I assume you need to change bios settings for the lack of mouse/keyboard, but how about the rest of it?
 
radmin looks nice, but I try to spend as little money as possible at all times. If its free, its for me.
 
My server is dedicated for media storage for the house network. No mouse, no keyboard, no display. Changes are made with pcAnywhere
 
Originally posted by Monkey34
But what about the remote access? I assume you need to change bios settings for the lack of mouse/keyboard, but how about the rest of it?
Click to expand...
either terminal services (built into windows, just choose to install it when you install windows), or tightVNC (free, non-Microsoft, but slower than TS for desktop browsing)
 
VNC Is great, at first I used to it for my server but now it's running on every computer in my house so i dont have to walk from place to place
 
I cant really have a webserver because my ISP prohibits it when Ihave a continous upload...

However I have a question. Lets say when I set up a file server. I can just load tightvnc on it and it configures everything automatically? So I will not need a keyboard or anything for it correct?

Anyway, what I want to be able to do is if I have some pictures to share with friends. So that I can log in from the www, and show it them . Kind of like an album or something. How a lot of sites have, how there is an album and u see the thumbs of the pics. And u can click on them to view the actual picture. That shouldnt be too much bandwidth so my ISP should be ok.

Any1 know how to do this?
 
Originally posted by maxse
I cant really have a webserver because my ISP prohibits it when Ihave a continous upload...

However I have a question. Lets say when I set up a file server. I can just load tightvnc on it and it configures everything automatically? So I will not need a keyboard or anything for it correct?

Anyway, what I want to be able to do is if I have some pictures to share with friends. So that I can log in from the www, and show it them . Kind of like an album or something. How a lot of sites have, how there is an album and u see the thumbs of the pics. And u can click on them to view the actual picture. That shouldnt be too much bandwidth so my ISP should be ok.

Any1 know how to do this?
Click to expand...

-well you would first have to register for a domain, I used them .
-and then you would have to set up a webserver. EasyPHP(apache) is great(google it) or IIS if you have 2000/2003 server
-develop a webpage that acts as a "photo album"

if that is what i understood you were talking about.....

having an address like www.billybobsalbum.com and then having a "picture album" on that site
 
I dont think I need to pay for a domain. I can use my ip no? My IP changes like every 6 months, so its mostly static. I can register for one of those no-ip.com things for free.

SO my real quesion is how would I go about setting up the web server AND a web page that I would be able to customize from my main computer (having the webpage stored on the server, so basically change it remotely) and so that it automatically indexes the picture folder when a file is added and displays a thumbnail in the appropriate category name?
 
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