File Server

sideshow4069

sideshow4069

sideshow4069

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Joined
7 Mar 2005
Posts
72
Just a quick question.

I need to build a very cheap file / RIS server, as i said it needs to be cheap and it will only support my main PC and a wireless laptop.

Can anyone tell me what is the minimum processor speed i would be able to get away with.

Cheers
 
To be honest, anything over a 2GHZ CPU with 512MB of ram is a waste of time for JUST a fileserver... if it is doing anything more though, feel free to splash out.

A 1 - 2GHZ CPU, with 512MB of ram, and a basic built in GPU (or a Radeon 9000 or similar) would be more than enough TBH. If I were you, I would buy a low heat producing CPU, and get a more silent cooling solution.
 
utherpendragon said:
Go for a pentium 3 or celeron tualatin. Low heat output (can be run passivly with a decent heatsink), decent speed and motherboards are cheap, flexible and in ready supply.
Click to expand...
ROFL wobbly motherboards :eek:! Love your name btw dude.

@ OP ... A pentium 3 would be fine. As said, get something that can be run quietly. There is no need to go for a separate gfx card - a built-in job would be fine.
 
And 256mb will be fine, as XP/win2k on it's own, just serving files wont use more than 150MB of ram. Adding more wont make your file transfers any quicker.
 
If you're after a cheap setup to just store files and be accessible from your pc and laptop, you may want to look into external drive enclosures that have ethernet ports (NAS). Up to 2 drives is reasonable-ish in price but after that they get pricey.
 
Ive been using a dual p2 450 rig I got given years ago with IDE cards, just been running for years.

Looking into replacing it now, whatever you can afford really, a Duron 1ghz+ would be ideal.

The motherboards support for large hard drives is the most important consideration.
 
Like Imy said, nas device is a perfect solution.
Put it this way my NSLU2 box from linksys (with UnSlung firmware) serves video and backs up my data easily and thats a 266Mhz Pentium equivalent. Bung as many USB drives on it as you need to store your data.
I believe you can run PXE on it to build a machine on bootup if needed which would be equivalent of running RIS on 2000 IIRC. Plus it can do more besides - Mail server, webserver, printserver, iTunes server, VOIP box ... the list is growing.
Add to that its 50-60 quid, no software license needed, uses next to no power and completely silent except for an attached USB hard disk.

If you can't guess, I love it, best purchase ever! ;)
 
Hehe yeah I know someone else with one too and they love it just as much but I wouldn't recommend it to a novice.

But you do bring up a good point about the USB ports. A lot of routers these days (you would need one (or a switch) for NAS anyway) have USB ports. Just add an external USB hdd and sorted. They only cost like £10-£30 above the price of the hdd on its own.
 
sideshow4069 said:
Just a quick question.

I need to build a very cheap file / RIS server, as i said it needs to be cheap and it will only support my main PC and a wireless laptop.

Can anyone tell me what is the minimum processor speed i would be able to get away with.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Can I just ask why will you be using a RIS server for 2 machines ? .... its pointless and waste of time IMO. (In My Opinion) .. Push comes to shuv, what I did was just make a unnatended boot dvd with Windows XP / Drivers / Applications. Took me 3 days to make but was well worth it much better than a RIS Server. I do on the other hand have a file server.
 
am setting up a file server, only a PIII 800Mhz, 512MB RAM with 1 TB space. Just need to find a good cheap IDE contoller
 
I'm using an XP1900 with 256mb RAM. The mobo has onboard gfx and I've added a RAID card for extra IDE channels. I've got Linux installed, but I'm going to install windows soon due to the extra hassle of me not really knowing how to maintain it properly. I also want to add a TV card and look towards PVR functions.
 
I'm using an Epia M6000 with 512Mb of RAM for a Windows 2003 server with two other desktops on the network. It's not the fastest machine to work with but copes with 2003 well thanks to the memory (256Mb was very slow).

Of course, it loves Debian Linux and I'm going to be using it at some point depending on how much I learn about 2003 so it really depends on what o/s you're thinking of using?
 
You really need to know berfore had what O/s you want to run an dif your machine will handle it. Windows Server has various versions:

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter Edition
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Web Edition
Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition

A linux o/s will run on almost any hardware but the faster your machine the better. For simple File Server operations: Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition or Web Edition would do the job nicely.

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition

Computer and processor
PC with a 133-MHz processor required; 550-MHz or faster processor recommended; support for up to four processors on one server

Memory
128 MB of RAM required; 256 MB or more recommended; 4 GB maximum

Hard disk
1.25 to 2 GB of available hard-disk space

Drive
CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive

Display
VGA or hardware that supports console redirection required; Super VGA supporting 800 x 600 or higher-resolution monitor recommended


So if you can match that then Windows Server will run no problem.
 
Can't you just share a folder on your desktop PC, a file server for 1 PC and a laptop seems overkill - unless your just doing this for a hobby thing?

In which case use any old bits you can find and stick something like redhat debian or suse on it.

Minimum CPU? Um, Pentium 60 would do, if you can splash and get a P120 you'll be laughing :D
 
I was using a celeron 433 as a fileserver and it was rather slow. I wonder if putting a decent harddisk in it would make it a lot quicker?
By the sounds of it you don't need much cpu power at all...
 
for just serving up files, not much CPU power is needed at all. but it does depend on how many connection at anyone time the server will handle.
 
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