Building a fileserver

[Lancelot]

I have a few spare parts around; Athlon 1Ghz, a few sticks of SDRAM, and a few HDD's that I want to turn into a fileserver on my network. I would prefer Windows 2000pro on it, but how much RAM would a fileserver need? Isn't 256MB recommended for Win2k? And are there other settings I need to take into account besides sharing the drive-folders or partitions on the network?!

[ghettocomp]

I use Win2K pro for file servers using P3-700 & 250Mb RAM. The server I built serves Video to 5 TV's and does folding in the background as well as minor file storage. The stuff you described you have will do very well.

Edit: I forgot to add that all I do to use it as a file server is to share only the folders that will do the shareing and serving... :cool:

[Gnufsh]

Windows 2000 runs very well in 128M, it's not nearly as resource hungry as XP. Microsoft says it only *needs* a 133MHz entium and 64M of RAM:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/professional/evaluation/sysreqs/default.asp

Have you considered giving linux a try for a server? Using a program called Samba, linux can easily (well, eassily relative to some things on linux) share files using window's network. On the other hand, it is very painless in windows. Install, right-click on the the folder you want to share, and that's about it.

edit: W2K server requires 128M and recomends at least 256, and datacenter server requires 256. You should still be fine with whatever you can pull together.

[palee72]

I'm using server 2k3 Enterprise for my server.. 1.6Ghz athlon, 512Mb ram... works great as DNS server, fileserver...

[CrystalMethod]

Well, when I upgraded my fileserver to 512Mb of ram I did notice a speed increase in accessing files and data. The system does have to keep track of where it's sending which files and this uses CPU power and RAM. If it's only one system accessing hte server at a time, there should be not difference, but if it's multiple systems at the same time you'll notice a difference with more RAM.

[Slackfumasta]

It will work with 128 MB, it will run better with 256 or 512, but if it's something you just want for network storage in your house it's not going to be a backbreaker if you only have 128 MB.

"Say good-bye to all of....this. And hello..... to oblivion!"


I know where that quote is from! I know I know I know!

[palee72]

I know where that quote is from! I know I know I know!


We are a rare breed... :)


Lee