Home file and printer server

[jbaldwinroberts]

Hey everyone,

I am going to start making a cheapish home file and printer server. It will either be running linux if i can get it working or XP pro. Will a server running linux work with windows XP and Vista?

What does everyone think of this component list.

Shuttle K45 Mini Aluminium Barebone System (http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(35653)Shuttle-K45-Mini-Aluminium-Barebone-System.aspx) x1 = £88.11

Hitachi 320GB Deskstar P7K500 (http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(35586)Hitachi-320GB-Deskstar-P7K500-7200rpm-16MB.aspx) x2 = £74.62

OCZ 512MB Value Pro DDR2 (http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(11665)OCZ-512MB-Value-Pro-DDR2-PC4200-Memory-533Mhz.aspx) x2 = £15.04

Intel CPU Celeron D420 1.60GHz (http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(17740)Intel-CPU-Celeron-D420-160GHz-800MHz-LGA775.aspx) x1 = £23.69

Lite-on DVD ROM (http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(19077)Liteon-DVD-ROM-Black-IDE-oem.aspx) x1 = £10.88

Total = £212.24

Will this be powerful enough for a server?
Will all the components work together?

I already have a screen, keyboard etc.

I also need it to be as quiet as possible as it will be running 24/7 in my room. Do you think i would be able to get quiet enough fans to cool it enough or would water cooling be the answer?

Any other ideas or comments would be much appreciated.

Joe

[chaksq]

Nice idea. Linux is perfect for server applications, it can be configured to work for a network of Windows computer. I'm fairly certain there is a way to make it appear on the network as a Windows machine/server. I haven't personally worked with this so I don't know specifics but I know it is possible. If you do decide to go the windows route see if you can get your hands on Windows Server 2003 as it is designed for use in servers.

If you are only going to be using this as a file/print server on a small home network I think you can use some cheaper hardware than a Core2 which is frankly excessive for your use. Get a few years old high end for the time system, or if you can look for a few years old small buisness server. I picked up 2 Gateway servers from a school equipment auction that had dual processors and an excess of ram for an extremely low price. What you really need in a server is fast RAID, fast network connection, and decent ram.

As for quiet use the largest fans you can, larger like 140mm or larger are the quietest. Water cooling should not be needed in a server, or else you are running way to hot. Just get large fans where you can and maybe soundproofing in the case.

Also on a server you do not really need or want a monitor/peripherals other than for setting it up. You won't be messing with it enough (at least you shouldn't be) to warrant more than a remote desktop connection.

[jbaldwinroberts]

Thanks for your help.

Ok so i will stick to aircooling and install the biggest fans i can, either 120mm or 140mm.

Would this (http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(28636)Asus-Vintage-V3P5945GC-Intel-LGA775-black.aspx) barebones system be better then?

I could build from scratch but getting a case, motherboard and PSU for £60 looked cheap to me. What would you suggest for a motherboard and processer combo for this if i was to build from scratch.

I am going to have a look on ebay to see if i can find any old PC's but they seem to be pickup only and i dont have a car. Maybe a Car Boot fair will have something i can use.

Thanks again.

Joe

[jbaldwinroberts]

I found this (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HP-Compaq-proliant-ML310-G1-2-53GHz-1-5GB-server_W0QQitemZ260230033921QQihZ016QQcategoryZ148 4QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem) on ebay. Is this the kind of thing i should be looking for?

And then i would still get the HD's from above but connected by IDE instead of S-ATA. Would it be worth getting a S-ATA controller as I have heard IDE is much slower.

Thanks

[chaksq]

I am not really an expert on servers so you might want to see if anyone else has any advice for you. I do know SATA is far better than IDE, significantly faster. If you need it you can buy SATA controller cards.

[halcyonforever]

My question is how much server load do you anticipate?

Number of simultaneous connections?

Types of server load file share/music streaming/media player/application server/personal web server/game server/mail?

for less than 5 users of a basic file share you can squeak by with a dumpster dive of a computer... the more you want it to do the more you need, it just looks like your planning overkill to me at the moment.

[jbaldwinroberts]

Printer, scanner, file sharing, music and video streaming. Eventually i also want application/game sharing and intranet + mail server. With 4 other pcs using it.

thanks

[halcyonforever]

ok, so your not going overboard at all then...

by video streaming do you mean all your video files will sit on the file share and be played by the client machine, or that the server will stream video to an output source such as an network connected TV/Monitor. The main difference is processor load. In the first scenario the server just works as a file server but has to maintain a steady data stream and the client does the decompression/video codec. The second the server does the decoding and must maintain a larger data stream with less margin of error and requires a much more beefy server but the clients are much thinner.

Depending on the game server you setup, that can basically eat your entire machine. Some game platforms have the funky requirement that the server has to actually be able to run game straight out... I want to say it was BF1942, I had to have a gaming video card that installed in a server box just to get the game server software to initialize...

[jbaldwinroberts]

I am not sure which type of video streaming it would be, but basically i just want to be able to copy DVD backups and TV programs onto the server, then be able to access the server through the network and play the file on the pcs connected to the network. As for gaming and applications, i want to be able to install the game on the server and then access it to play from each computer. This should save me from having to install onto each pc separately, i want to do the same thing with free software e.g. openoffice. The games i play are not very graphics intensive. I think the most recent game i play regularly is Diablo 2.

Thanks

[chaksq]

Oh ok, I somehow had the impression you were only going to use it for file and print sharing. Your talking about a much higher level server. Yea you were more on track with the original hardware listing, then. To just to basic file/print share you don't need a whole lot.

You are going to want a very fast network set up, I'd probably use hard lines for everything, no wireless. Make sure you have a good backup plan in place. If your server goes down you might lose the greater functionality of your entire network (if all your programs are on the sever you can't use them without the server).

[jbaldwinroberts]

Ok thanks. I was going to use wires mostly anyway but now i know i need to. The laptop will be wireless but i only use that mostly for pictures and documents anyway. To keep it backed up i will probably use an external drive, and then if something breaks i can plug that into the computer to access my files and programs.

Thanks

[Okele]

I've been wanting to figure out some of the same things as far as video streaming/sharing on a home server for awhile now. We have 6 computers in my house with individual users. It would be great if we could all watch the same movie without tying up the TV.

As far as the games go all I can say is: no way, no how, will never happen etc etc.

Heres why - To my knowledge 95% of all games use a form of DRM. Not to mention each computer unless they are all built the same(including the server) will have different signatures in terms of hardware. There is absolutely no way that this can be pulled off because your servers hardware specs are not going to allow you to play a game from its system on 4 different set ups without errors.

Even a LAN center has to install a copy of every game they have on to each computer. Im afraid there is no easy way out. They are working on a LAN center option though since they are getting a bit more popular these days.


Then again I could be wrong. ya thats it

[jbaldwinroberts]

ok so no games then. I can still use it for everything else though. Would my original spec in post one be good enough, too good or not good enough.

Joe

[crenn]

It would work, just you won't be able to install much more. Barebones are good for compact spaces... but if you can, I'd recommend getting a mid-tower ATX case and PSU, as well as a motherboard.... it works out better since you'll have a better ability to upgrade at a later stage if you choose to.

[jbaldwinroberts]

I chose a bare bones shuttle case for two reasons. It seemed a cheap way to get the main parts i needed and because i wanted it to be in a small case as it will be in my room. Because of this i am going to stay with a mini itx case but i am going to look into buying everything separately and see how much it comes to. You say i wont be able to install much more Crenn, but im wondering why i would want to, apart from adding bigger HD's at some point.

I was also wondering which OS i should use, i want Linux because it runs more stabily and faster than windows but i don't know how hard it would be to set up. Otherwise i will go with XP, just because i have a spare copy and i cant justify spending £80 on MS server 2003 off ebay. (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Microsoft-Windows-Server-2003-Standard-Edition_W0QQitemZ120249219803QQcmdZViewItem) Any tips or helpfull online guides for linux would be brilliant.

EDIT: I could use MS server 2000 as i can get it off eBay for like 99p, but im not sure what features this has compared to MS server 2003 and linux and whether it would do everything i need it to.

Thanks

[jbaldwinroberts]

I think i am going to use Xubuntu (http://www.xubuntu.org/) with Samba (http://us3.samba.org/samba/) as it has the features i need and seems kind of easy to set up. What do people think of this OS? Has anyone used it before? Good or bad choice? Im going to download the Live CD overnight and play around with it as i found some tutorials on Google that should help.

Any help, experiences or advice is still much appreciated.

Thanks.