Want to make a server for my home...

alias301

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So I want to make a server for my home, it should be able to share files, backup files, would be nice if it was incremental and not full backup, access the files from the internet and if possible the computers, but with a username and password to protect it. Is able to add hard drives and external hard drives quickly and easily and be able to upgrade the processor or the RAM, ect. without voiding the warranty. Should have a way to change the server setting from a computer on the network and has user restrictions, like what they are allowed to access and change. Needs to be protected from others and needs to work with my wireless laptop, with Mac OS X 10.5 and Windows XP, Media Center and Vista.

So what I am wondering is:

1. What OS to use, is Windows Home Server the one or do I need something better?

2. What kind of computer should I get to use as the server, will a desktop work if I use external hard drives as extra storage, but will that hurt performance speeds?

3. What hardware do I need, what kind of processor, how many cores, what video card, etc.

4. Were should I buy it?

5. And anything else you can think of?

Also, I cant afford to get something to fancy, unless you know of a place that will help out a learning student.

Yes I do know it will be hard but I am up to it. :D

-Thanks in advance for any help
 
ok OS you could use home server sever 2003, or majority of the stuff jus a copy of XP and then have norton ghost on it for the backups etc.

i wouldnt use externbal hardrives if i was u the |USB speed would kill it,

my advice would be jus get a medium desktop build doesnt have to be super fast, if you are gonna build for this dont go over the top, you ca run servers on old p4's with 1Gb RAM it doesnt have to be a super computer.

video card ? well again if this is JUST going to be a server jus get like a 8400 or 7100 something stupidly cheap you only need to display a picture on the screen.

where should you it ?? you shouldnt you should build it.

ahhh jus noticed the last bit you cant afford anything fancy.

my advice would be look on ebay for a an pentium 4 or amd 3200 or something like that or even build a 4800X2 / phoenom depening on budget, with 2Gb RAM as its sooo cheap nowa days.

get some sata II hardrives and id reccomend converting everything to gigabit ethernet, its not that expensive nowa days.

i know your prob from us, but jus double the prices to get an estimate.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/38027

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/64190

for file servers Gb networking is usually a must espicially for films and complete computer backups
 
Well, This is what i'd do:

Get Windows Home Server
Two Gig of ram (even one?)
A Lower-end processor - Maybe a P4, or a AMD 64?
A Couple of 250GB SATA/SATA2 hard drives
A Motherboard that supports RAID
Configure the two disks in RAID1 - Then you will have all of your data written twice, so if one drive fails, the other still has the files

But that's me. It's up to you :)

As ssc456 said, you could do with a gigabit Network card (a lot of motherboards come with them as standard).

So, pretty much the same what ssc456 said :D
 
The most important part of a file server is arguably the hard drives. That is where your bottleneck will exist. If you are willing to put the money into it, I would recommend getting a hardrive that is 10000RPM or more. Otherwise you don't need a video card if you get onboard, and network is still fine at 100MBPS. You would have to buy new cables and a new router to do that, and it isn't worth the money for that part.

one or 2 gigs would be fine, and same with a low end processor. :) in the end, basically the same as what the other two said, with a few tweaks :p
 
500GB -1tb 7200rpm drives are generaly faster then 10k raptors (due to the perpendicular recording and higher platter density)

There is nothing on 2003 server that you cant do with xp in your situation.
Xp 64 bit can take 16gb ram and two processors (no limit on cores)
 
2-4 gbs of ram
linux or windows home server
a p4
get a few wd raptors
configure them to be in RAID 1
 
You guys are going way over the top. A home server needs barely any system power. It's not a webserver or anything.

Get Windows Home Server. It's very easy to set up compared to other server software, and will do everything you need and more. Read about it here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/windowshomeserver/default.mspx

As for components, you don't need anything too powerful. In fact, you don't even need a video card (except for the install process)

Let's see how cheap we can make this...
Windows Home Server - $150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116395

Motherboard - $35
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186142

Processor - $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103212

RAM - $20
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146580
(If you want a little performance boost, buy 2 of the RAM sticks for a total of 2GB)

Hard drive - $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148261
(I'm not sure how much hard drive space you want. Buy multiple drives for more space if needed)

Gigabit Ethernet Card - $10
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166002

Silent PSU - $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703018
Then just get a case of your choice. Total should be well under $500.
 
500GB -1tb 7200rpm drives are generaly faster then 10k raptors (due to the perpendicular recording and higher platter density)

There is nothing on 2003 server that you cant do with xp in your situation.
Xp 64 bit can take 16gb ram and two processors (no limit on cores)
both of those statements are arguable. I wasn't referring to a raptor HD but 10k HDs meant for servers.

Also, one thing about XP vs server that matters is your number of connections allowed. XP can host up to 10 connections. server can host many more, depending on your version and license. There are more differences, but I am not going to go into that detail unless requested.
 
Home Server would pretty much do all this. Just to point out, the connection software that is needed to run the backups with home server does NOT work with MAC or any 64-bit version of Windows (as of now). However these computers would still be able to access the shared folders and stuff.

You mentioned the want to add hard drives quickly. Home server could not make that any easier. Pop it in the computer and open the connection software. In the connection software there is a tab for hard drives, go in there and click add. it'll format your hard drive and add it's storage to the total available storage and boom your done.
 
10k raptors are not that fast.

I use 15k SAS or SATA 2 Enterprise 7200 drives (non raptors) in all my servers. No one sells raptors for servers. They are desktop / gamer drives.

I have never used a 10k in a server in recent years (other then 2.5 SAS drives that can't do 15k) But i only buy the larger SAS drives.

He does not need more then 10 rpc connections. He does not need to install any server limited software (sql 2005 or exchange)

It just does not pay to buy server or home server.
 
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