home server

buzzlightweight · 21 Jan 2011 at 23:30

i dont know if this is in the right section of the forum for this type of question, if it is'nt then sorry but i need a little advice on a home server.
i have a lot of data on my pc, films, music and pics but rather than keep four hdds in my pc i was thinking i could have a stand alone unit just for backing up data.
so my questions are 1) what components should i use 2) what is the best way to connect other machines to it (firewire, ethernet, usb?) 3) is their anything else i should know?

many thanks

Subliminal Aura · 21 Jan 2011 at 23:38

1 - Look into what is meant by a NAS

http://www.google.co.uk/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=nas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network-attached_storage

Pay attention to the protocols : CIFS and uPnP are the keys ones for starters

If you get it right, you'll be able to share your files to everything pcs, mobiles, tv, streamers, ps3, xbox etc etc etc

As you can see from the google search you 'can' buy one off the shelf albeit I prefer building it myself as you have the ultimate say on the performance and inner workings.(use an old PC or laptop and download something like freeNAS)

2 - The above relies on ethernet

MikeHiow · 21 Jan 2011 at 23:44

The best "bang for buck" NAS, IMO is to pick up a cheap HP ML110 - these can be had for as little as £100, chuck a load of hard drives at it, load up your OS of choice and configure sharing in whichever way you see fit.

But I guess it depends how much storage you need. If 2-4TB is acceptable, then you could pick up an off the shelf NAS unit with space for two hard drives for around £80. The downside to this is you lose the complete flexibility you have with running a server, but the upside is that the power consumption will likely be significantly lower.

buzzlightweight · 22 Jan 2011 at 12:12

thanks guys

jamesfreddie · 23 Jan 2011 at 14:10

Windows Home Server

If you are willing to spend about £200 + HDD's then you can grab a,

Gigabyte G31M-ES2L £30
Intel Celeron Dual Core E3400 £35
2GB DDR2 Ram £20
Chepo Case £40
Windows Home Server £85
Total £210 + HDD's

Look at reviews on Windows Home Server, It backs up PC's, Shares files and other things.

PhillyDee · 23 Jan 2011 at 15:16

I run Windows Home Server, and by far the best feature is folder duplication (Drive Extender). This is a type of software RAID. The best thing is you can just plug in another hard drive, and add it to the 'pool'. The hard drive then becomes available for storage. I currently have 5x1Tb and 1x2Tb Drives in there.