Building a home server

feeddagoat · 30 Jan 2009 at 23:25

Hey guys. Was hoping I could get some advice for a beginner about building and maintaing a file server. Ive looked around the net but I cant seem to get one good straight source of information. I would like to learn how to use and maintain a server. ATM I want it to act as a main store of files, such as movies, music and my work, act as a collective email server from my numerous email addresses. At a later date I hope to expand it to be able to record tv and host a web site. I know a server can be expensive and akward but its something I want to learn and im willing to put a bit of money into it. What Im looking for is something that has a good trade off between reliability and cost and to be realitivly quiet (since its a home server)

1)What sort of Specs would I be looking at for a basic file server, that would allow me to start simple and gradually add and build up to include everything im aiming for?
2)Can you direct me in the direction of a good information source on the subject be it a website, book or your own knowledge.

Thanks in advance =)

feeddagoat · 31 Jan 2009 at 00:59

Low power costs would be ideal. The other specs I considered more prioity. From what I did manage to find It doesnt seem too task heavy (a file server) so low power would probally come with newer generations of processor and not needing huge clock speeds anyway. I thought about a gaming server but im worried about my internet not being able to handle upload speeds for gaming (unless its a very local lan party). It is an avenew I probally will explore in the even more distant future. I dont think the website would be a popular one anway. Its more the learning experience im after but if it ever became popular I would look into investing in improved hardware. As I said, hosting a website will be at a later date (possible a year or more down the line depending on cash and addictiveness lol).

I would love to hear what you have to say but remember, im completely new to this lol

feeddagoat · 31 Jan 2009 at 11:32

Thanks for the replys. ATM I have an old sempron-LE 1.6GHz ying around. I read that some people start with old Pentium III's as a way of reusing old parts. Although im not saving much would that still be reusable so to speak?

As for the OS, I only have vista-64 and xp (cant remember but its one that comes bundled with prebuilt pcs). Since I have to get an OS would getting Windows server be worthwile? Again just to learn to use the software. The other alternative would be to use Linux.

In terms of Storage would raid 5 be worthile. Im terrified of loosing data (terrible thing for an 8year old to leave his PS1 memory card in his pocket for it to get washed lol) but want increased speed performance. I think having 1tb disks may seem overkill but it would save hassel later on down the line. Would I be able to use a small disk for the OS or would all disks be the same? I know some people warn heavily about mixing HD's aswell as ram.

If I did go for NightmareXX's build suggestion what would I be looking for when I come to upgrade apart from more harddisks? For example, if I had 2-3 users downloading their stored files and a web page up, would te dual core processor be able to handle the amount of traffic?

feeddagoat · 1 Feb 2009 at 13:22

Thanks for the advice everyone =) I was thinking after reading that raid 5 is overkill but I still want to back up data just incase. Was thinking of compressing everthing onto another HDD but the suggestion of an external HDD is a good one I never thought about. Ill save up a bit and try and start the build towards mid feb all being well. Ill post back to let you know how it all goes. Im gonna stick to what NightmareXX suggested spec wise earlier in the post and go from there. Thanks again everone!

feeddagoat · 21 Feb 2009 at 13:27

brainchylde said:
If your aim is to learn I would invest a little more in some decent hardware and then go for OpenFiler or FreeNAS - you could even run ESXi and run a virtual windows distro with the file server manangement tools on if you so wish and point it at an OpenFiler LUN. From a storage point of view, this sort of experience is likely to be 'better' experience in a commercial environment. As other's have said - a file server basically runs itself and running ESXi will give you the ability to run a few virtual servers on one bit of hardware - you can dabble as much as you want! In work we have a few ML110's running ESXi for testing things on - I imagine that the ML115 would also work for this purpose!

Hey brainchyld. Could you explain your post in a little more detail? I dont understand some of the terms or quite what your getting at (complete noob remember lol)