Some questions about setting up a server...

[zidion]

I want to set up a server in my room to store stuff from my other computers. Like a local server, not an internet server.

Right now now i have a pretty basic network in my room. My pc, laptop, and then my video game systems connected to a linksys wireless router (b version, not g).

1) What should I look for in the sever? Around waht speed and stuff (since its basically just for storage).

2) what type of server should i get? Should i just get some cheap pc off of ebay or something and make it a server, or spend some extra cash on a cheap server rackmount like this click

3) If I wanted to set it up to share something online, would I be able to do it with this type of system, or would i need a different type of server.

4) Is there a way to control the server from like another computer. I only have 1 monitor and dont want ot have to keep switching it back and forth for when i need it.

ok thanks
-Alex W.

 

[oldpablo]

Not a bad alternative. You are just talking file storage right?

http://www.ximeta.com/products/netdisk.html

Just plug it into you router (ethernet port) then install the drivers on both systems. Bingo, network attached storage for cheap. Best Buy has 'em, etc. Treats it just like another hard drive, but straight on the network.

 

[ksanders2006]

If you have spare parts or a spare computer, you can build a pretty good server using that method

 

[Cactus Jack]

1) Speed doesn't really matter. A P3 500 would do, but of course faster is always better and fast processors are so cheap now. Only things that really matters are RAM (not that important since it doesn't sound like this thing would be worked out too much) and hard drive space. Better to have big fast hard drives than a really powerful processor.

2) Only get a rackmount if you have a rack to put it in. Best thing is to build your own server, then you can custom fit it to what you need. Or you could even pick up a server on ebay or whatever from Dell and the like (Compaq for example).

3) Yes you could. It is dead easy.

4) RealVNC or TightVNC are your friends.

 

[zidion]

"If you have spare parts or a spare computer, you can build a pretty good server using that method" I do but im building a pc for my aunt/cousins.

that external hd thing is pretty cool. But if i wanted to share sometinng online, could i use that?

 

[zidion]

how is this set up?



AXTOP Spybox Black Mini PC Case with 200W
Samsung Black 52X CD-ROM, Model SC-152GEBB, OEM
Alps Beige 3.5inch Floppy Disk Drive, Model DF354H068F, OEM
Western Digital 160GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model WD1600BB,
Kreton 184 Pin 256MB DDR PC-2100 - Retail
BIOSTAR SiS 740 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU
AMD Duron 1.6GHz Socket A Processor - OEM

less than $300 off newegg.


Also, what OS should I use on it? Im thinking like WindowsNT or 2000, mianly bc i dont know much about linux

 

[animeguru]

Honestly, that's almost overkill for a basic file server... but of course this is the [H]!! I'd probably up the RAM to 512. You can drop a slower processor in there to make up the difference in price if necessary.

You might consider a RAID solution if you want some redundancy. There are a number of really cheap RAID cards that'll do RAID 0 (striping) and 1 (mirroring). Or you could even run software RAID with Win2K, but you can't have the OS on the RAID array. Not necessary, but fun to play with if that's your bag.

Of course, if you really want to have some fun, you can pick up some refurb SCSI drives from surpluscomputers.com (like these monsters) for cheap and a SCSI RAID card off of ebay. Again, total overkill, but what the heck right??


But yeah, Win2K is pretty much perfect for a simple file server. You can set permissions and such to restrict access to various files and folders and you could even go nuts and set it up as a DHCP server or a DNS server if you're so inclined.

 

[zidion]

the processor is only $30 though lol. cant get much cheaper than that. And the system is a helluva lot beter than some of the oens on ebay i could get.

also, ive never used RAID or SCSI.........there is ntohign special to instlaling it is there?