Old PC Good Enough for File Server?

[lumencreative]

I work for a design agency and we use Dropbox to store and sync all client work between the computers in the office (and a couple of Macbook Pro's that the directors have at home).

This solution works well EXCEPT some of the files are 300MB+ Photoshop files, which take a long time to sync up to Dropbox and then down to other computers, so I'm looking at implementing a server that will contain all the files, then sync the server to Dropbox so the files can be accessed from the directors Macbook Pro's.

We have an old Core 2 Duo PC that's sitting unused so just wondering whether this would be sufficient for this kind of task (if I buy some WD Red's to go in it), or should I opt for a small server instead?

 

[Uhtred]

Core2 Duo is really quite old, if it's something you want to depend on then I'd want newer hardware or preferably server grade with built in redundancy for power and ECC RAM etc.

PS take a look at https://www.getsync.com/

 

[Illusion]

A file server really doesn't need much processing power unless it's going to be extremely busy. We have some Linux based file servers running as VMs on 6-8 year old hardware no problem. Can't comment if you are talking Windows though.

I doubt there'd be any harm in trying it out although going down this path will potentially open you up to other requirements like backups etc so keep that in mind too

 

[Steveocee]

No reason not to use it, if you get a bit pinched for CPU room most older C2D's were compatible with the C2Q's (q6600 kind of thing) that are available for around £25 these days.

Will be much better specced than pretty much all NAS units on the market.

 

[DIABLO]

What you suggest should be fine, but a Dell T20 can be had for £98 after cashback.

 

[nox_uk]

Or hp Microserver.

You will save the cash in lower power bills after a year too

 

[Amraam]

Or hp Microserver.

You will save the cash in lower power bills after a year too

Yeah I've just ordered my G1610T for £170 before cashback. As said above though, if you have an oldish PC lying around (and it has space for drives) that will suffice for a basic home server/NAS. You're not going to be accessing it 24/7 from several devices.

The microserver is in fact probably over kill for my needs but at the price I paid I can't really justify getting as synology etc instead.

 

[nox_uk]

I bought a single bay synology to use with my microserver - it's just the backup target

Size & ease were factors!

Nox

 

[DJMK4]

I'm using a core 2 duo E8800 wolfdale running esxi5.1 with 12gb ram

Spun up quite a few vms off this I'm sure you will be fine for file serving !