Setting A Personal Server Up At Work (What Has To Be Done?!)

Minimoke

Minimoke

Minimoke

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27 Feb 2009
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Hey all,
I have recently acquired a few Dell Blade Servers (P3's I think, haven't looked at them yet)

What I would like to do is set these servers up at my workplace, so I can access them from the internet (I don't want to have them at home, because my broadband is not consistant or reliable enough to have 24/7 access)

These servers will have all of my generic documents, and will be a place I can save files too large for my memory stick to, and so I can access movies from anywhere, so I don't have to have them on my memory stick. I probably wouldn't buy a server to do just this, but since I was given two I thought I might as well do something with them :)

Networking is my weak point with computing, and although I do have a general idea of what has to be done, I am still not 100% sure. I want it to be as safe as possible (Not my files as as such, but the network) and accessible everywhere and fast.

The servers, as far as I know, are running a version of WS (When were the P3's around, what edition might it be?) but if they haven't, would VNC be the best idea? I have some licences of XP that I can use.

So basically, I would like to know what I should take care with, and what has to be done to get my servers online. I would really appreciate some help with this, and I may have to kiss the person who makes this a reality.

Cheers,
Chris.
 
Is your employer happy with you taking their electricity, rackspace and bandwidth.

If all you want is an online file store, there are plenty of services out there that will do that job
 
You would also need to convince the IT Security people to allow this connection in from the internet as they would need convincing, as they would need to configure the inbound connectivity.

I don't really think you are going to get this done, certainly nowhere I have worked at in the past would allow it.
 
LOL - Agrees with all the above!
Would love to sit in on the meeting to convince the IT Security team and IT manager to allow you to host your own servers and media streaming on the companies network and Internet connection!

Good Luck!
 
Sorry, I should have been more specific. The workplace in question is a local golf range; I work there part time, and I'll be off to College soon (I'm 16 :O)

The owner is a good friend of mine, and he hardly ever uses his internet there as his home is a 30 second drive across the range. He gets 400k upload, which should be plenty for my needs, right?
 
You still dont need a server.

For one thing a blade chassis is is going to make a LOT of noise and use a lot of electric, most require a 16A feed which needs an electrician to install it.

The whole point of a server is to "serve" multiple people at the same time, it isnt a document store.

If you must access your documents online, cloud storage services are a much better option. You say its for files your memory stick is too small for but unless your stick is a 16mb one, 400k is going to be woefully slow and too slow to stream any useful media

At 16, you should be spending your time drinking cider in the park and chasing girls, not playing with servers :( Just buy one of these before its too late

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-060-HI&groupid=701&catid=1240&subcat=
 
I think you need to enhance your knowledge before doing anything like you suggested. It's not as easy as you mentioned.

As suggested buy some beer and go sit in the park with some girls. 400k upload won't be fast enough (depends what files your talking about). Your wasting your time for one person to access the files. Servers are built for multiple users to access at the same time. Enjoy learning and playing with girls.
 
Plus file serving over the WAN is something you should not be trying to do if at all possible (security, speed, you name it).
 
Hey all,
Believe me, I'm busy enough with the cider and the girlies, I am just interested in doing this and the only reason I am doing it is because someone has given me two servers. I wouldn't buy them myself. I have got a couple of old computers that could be used, if those servers will be that power hungry. It'll be in the office, where there is already a security server, so the noise isn't really a problem. The boss is happy for me to do it, and I also am friends with the owners of a couple of computer shops near me, so they are a possibility as well.

Is it really as hard as you guys have been saying? I never thought it would be a walk in the park to get it going.

Cheers, Chris.
 
And the other factor of it is my boss wouldn't charge me a penny to host it, and that is another reason why I am doing it. If I had to pay £20 a month I would forget it. I find it hard to steer away from bargains :(
 
It is very simple to get servers up and online, your problem will be security and remote access. What are you intending to do with your servers? Again, i reiterate dont use it for file serving, it will rinse your internet limits and bandwidth.
You can use RDP to access it providing it is enabled via My Computer on the server and the golf clubs router has port 3389 (TCP) forwarded to the LAN IP address of the server.

All you need to do then is rdp to the external IP of the router at the golf club and you can access your server (using your administrator username and password on the server).

Its pretty good to play around with AD, DNS and DHCP first to give you a good understanding of how it all works. Also, look at setting up LogMeIn (http://www.logmein.com) (The free version) on it so you can access it should your port forwarding trials go bad!

Dont let the old timers here put you off (joke) - i'm only 21 and i've been playing with servers since i was 15; hell i was building them for money at 16. Your never too young to own your first rack :)
 
hmm, id get dropbox for your file storage needs and use the server for serving porn and hosting game servers and charge your friends for usage :D :D
 
Hey SMN,
Thanks for the positive words; I've been like this for about three years now. Building computers and loving every minute of it!

I have had a LogMeIn account since they first started, and it is good. My boss never uses his internet connection there anyways, so he won't mind me rinsing his upload. Thanks for the advice, I'll get right on that.

I like your final sentence, I have to agree :D

Cheers, Chris.
 
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