Video server: possible?

[G-Nome]

The storage HD on my main computer is getting pretty full, mostly due to all the movies I've..aquired..over the past couple years. Sitting in my closet happens to be a spare computer with about 60GB of storage between two drives, which should be plenty for my videos right now, until I can get a bigger HD for it. The rest of the specs are:

Old Intel mobo (possibly 845 series?)
PIII processor
Old nVidia GPU
DVD-ROM
Etc.

My question is, how would I go about setting this up? Would an OS like Ubuntu work, or should I just run Windows? How would I go about connecting the two? Remember, this is only going to be used for me. Sorry if these Q's are kind of noob-ish, but I've never done anything like this before. Thanks all!

 

[shadowwyvern]

Linux is defiantly an option here. Remote admin is much better, so you will need a head (Keyboard, mouse, monitor) for it less often. Samba is an excellent linux server for windows machines(I think the proper term for what is serves is cifs). It offers a web interface, and most linux distros have a graphical config tool for it. Ext3 is a reliable FS that deos nto need defragging, checks instantly thanks to journaling. If you want a quick solution though, go with windows XP-generation (prefferably pro, even better is server, but a liscence for that is likley worth more than the computer), if you have another copy.

Another great thing about linux is software raid, lets you set up redunancy (with 3 or more drives) arcoss mixed interfaces, drive sizes, etc.

You need a network, preferably gigabit, but unless you shuffle files around on it a lot, or have really HD stuff, etc, 100mb is fine.

 

[board2death986]

60GB's good enough? wow. .well . . just wait until you are getting dual 300GBs at a time, and end up needing another set every 3 months or so. Servers =