Basic Home Server Idea - Help?

Hey guys,
This may be a long post so bare with me. And please pardon my noobishness, networking and servers is not area at all.

Let me start off by saying networking is not my strong suit in computers. I can build computers, bench them, push hardware to the limits; yet I have no clue, whatsoever, on how to create my own simple and elegant home server. I have a decent AMD rig sitting around doing nothing (965BE, MA790FXT-UD5P, some G.Skill DDR3 and a bunch of 1.5TB hard drives) and would like to convert it into a home server machine.

I would like to host my music, my movies, important files. Just about everything. That way I can have access to it across my two PCs that I use and my MacBook Pro.

This sever needs to be able to:
-Host files for me to grab with my Mac and PCs
-Would like to be able to send files to the server from my Mac or PC (not sure if this is possible)
-Would like to be able to grab files while traveling

Could/Should I use Linux? I have a basic idea on how to use Linux as I've used it a lot in the past.

Any ideas? Links to tutorials? Anything you could help me out with would be great. A "dummy's guide to a home server" type tutorial would be best for me.
I've tried things I've found on Google before. It was always a combination of not being able to get it to work and not knowing what to actually Google for to find what I am looking to do.

Thanks
-Benny

What you use completely depends on how much effort you are willing to put forth. If you are short for time or don't have the patience to learn Linux (which can and will very likely be frustrating), then you can go with a simpler solution such as FreeNAS or UnRAID. Beyond those options, a Linux server can certainly do what you are looking for. I've been running mine for over two years now. I've put a lot of effort and time into the server to make sure it performs exactly how I want it to.


--Host files for me to grab with my Mac and PCs
Easily done on any OS.

--Would like to be able to send files to the server from my Mac or PC (not sure if this is possible)
The only way to do this is to have shares on each system, which can be time consuming to setup. Otherwise, you simply transfer the data to the server and pull it off the computer that you want to move it to.

--Would like to be able to grab files while traveling
This depends on what you need to access and how you need to access it. For obvious reasons, you don't want the file sharing aspect of the server directly open to the internet, but there may be solutions to access it remotely. A simple one would be FTP, and more complex (and complete) solution would be a VPN.


What you need to do is think about these questions and come to an answer. Some aren't easy and you may need time to think about it.

What do you want this server to do, specifically?
How much time are you willing to invest into learning a new operating system?
--Would you have the patience to have the server offline for a day or two while you troubleshoot problems?
How do you expect this server to perform?
What type of data is it going to store and transfer?
How much of each data type do you expect to store?
Will you look at expanding the space or requirements (processor, RAM, etc) in the future? If so, how soon?
How much are you looking at spending, as a whole, on the server?

for free 2GB of data you can access where ever. Try dropbox

For starters, a server, especially a home server, is really just another specifically-purposed computer. As far as networking, there's not much you have to deal with if you're staying within your LAN.

For an OS: I use Windows XP on my server. It was dirt cheap, and all my PCs are Windows machines so they play nicely together. I'm not sure how Mac's play with Windows filesharing, but I believe it will work with relatively little pain. I'm not sure how Linux plays with Mac/Windows.

For the sake of simplicity, I'll assume you have Windows on the server to give you an idea of how you might set some stuff up.

To host files, you can put all of your files in a single folder (or multiple, even) on the server, then use Windows file sharing to allow your other computers to access it. This is really easy to set up, and you can get into some of the complicated bits to control user access/password protection, etc. I'm pretty sure Macs can get on Windows file shares as well.

To send files, you can actually use the same thing without any additional set up, or having to set up shares on your other computers. There's an option that allows users to modify your shared files. Then they can drag/drop, copy/paste, create new files/folders, etc. It's very easy to use since it just appears as another Windows folder.

For having access while traveling, you can do one of a few things. My favorite method is to use an FTP server. They're pretty easy to set up (check out Filezilla FTP Server). Then you can ftp in and grab files from anywhere with an internet connection. As far as networking goes, you'll have to forward the appropriate ports in your router. This is pretty easy to do, though, and there are tons of guides online.

Another option is to use something like Dropbox. Dropbox will basically do all of the things you need to do, for free, and with a single software installation. Not sure about Mac compatibility, and FYI there have been some privacy concerns with it. It would be a very simple and easy solution though.

If you use Windows, you can set up media streaming just by adding music/videos to your Windows Media Player library. Then you can grant access to your other machines to stream them. You can also use this to stream to an xbox if you happen to have one. Maybe a PS3 too... You can also play movies/music just by running the file from the network.

If you're familiar with Windows, I'd suggest starting there. It can pretty much handle anything a "normal" server does. Mine runs http, php, mysql, ftp, a tf2 server, and a terraria server. All are accessible from anywhere I can get internet. It was pretty easy to set up too.

To clarify on Kayson's post, using Samba/CIFS on Linux to share files works perfectly with Windows and Linux clients, it is actually what I use.

thideras said:

To clarify on Kayson's post, using Samba/CIFS on Linux to share files works perfectly with Windows and Linux clients, it is actually what I use.

Click to expand...

Does it work with Mac too? I recall some issues at work with accessing the Linux shares from Macbooks

I don't have a Mac to try it on. I'm not sure.

thideras said:

What you use completely depends on how much effort you are willing to put forth. If you are short for time or don't have the patience to learn Linux (which can and will very likely be frustrating), then you can go with a simpler solution such as FreeNAS or UnRAID. Beyond those options, a Linux server can certainly do what you are looking for. I've been running mine for over two years now. I've put a lot of effort and time into the server to make sure it performs exactly how I want it to.


--Host files for me to grab with my Mac and PCs
Easily done on any OS.

--Would like to be able to send files to the server from my Mac or PC (not sure if this is possible)
The only way to do this is to have shares on each system, which can be time consuming to setup. Otherwise, you simply transfer the data to the server and pull it off the computer that you want to move it to.

--Would like to be able to grab files while traveling
This depends on what you need to access and how you need to access it. For obvious reasons, you don't want the file sharing aspect of the server directly open to the internet, but there may be solutions to access it remotely. A simple one would be FTP, and more complex (and complete) solution would be a VPN.


What you need to do is think about these questions and come to an answer. Some aren't easy and you may need time to think about it.

What do you want this server to do, specifically?
How much time are you willing to invest into learning a new operating system?
--Would you have the patience to have the server offline for a day or two while you troubleshoot problems?
How do you expect this server to perform?
What type of data is it going to store and transfer?
How much of each data type do you expect to store?
Will you look at expanding the space or requirements (processor, RAM, etc) in the future? If so, how soon?
How much are you looking at spending, as a whole, on the server?

Click to expand...

Hey Thiddy, thanks for the reply.

Personally, me learning Linux is too much right now. I think I may go for the less time-consuming option.

I was reading around on things I found on Google. I found FTP, which will do the job for me. My question: Can I do an FTP ontop of using this machine as a server in my home network?

What I want above all, is to make this machine into a server on my own home network that I have setup. I want it to serve files so I can easily go from editing high res raw photos on my MacBook Pro to my PCs.

-I want this server to allow me to store files on the machines drive (movies, raw photos, TV shows, music. Basically all my multimedia files. I want to have quick access to these files and be able to grab them from the server on one of my machines as I need them.
-I don't have a lot of time to learn a new OS.
-I would easily have the patience to troubleshoot problems for a couple days. Less troubleshooting is better, in the case.
-I expect this server to perform as a fast way to grab my data. I basically want it to be a hotspot for all of my major files.
-As stated above, it will mainly store and transfer multimedia files
-I will update this "server" as needed to keep it up and running. Currently it has: 965BE, 8GB DDR3, basic passive video card, 550W PSU, it has 10 onboard SATA connectors so it can host many drives as it is
-This machine is already here, sitting in this room. No need to spend any money on it

EDIT: If I were to do this with a Windows OS, what version of Windows should I install? I have every version...

FTP is a completely separate service. So yes, you could have that portion public, while the file sharing service is only on your private network. You will still want to look into securing the FTP server, so someone doesn't gain access to the files or the server.

I would suggest looking at prebuilt options if you want a very hands off approach or using FreeNAS/UnRAID if you are building your own. The only downside to running these "simple" options is that you waste a lot of computing power on nothing. Sharing files is incredibly easy on CPU/RAM and you won't have access to it otherwise. The reason I use a Linux server is for other services (FTP, web, SSH, etc) and virtual machines. The file server itself doesn't do much, but I can use the VM's as a testing ground or for other services that would require their own box. This saves on hardware costs.

thideras said:

FTP is a completely separate service. So yes, you could have that portion public, while the file sharing service is only on your private network. You will still want to look into securing the FTP server, so someone doesn't gain access to the files or the server.

I would suggest looking at prebuilt options if you want a very hands off approach or using FreeNAS/UnRAID if you are building your own. The only downside to running these "simple" options is that you waste a lot of computing power on nothing. Sharing files is incredibly easy on CPU/RAM and you won't have access to it otherwise. The reason I use a Linux server is for other services (FTP, web, SSH, etc) and virtual machines. The file server itself doesn't do much, but I can use the VM's as a testing ground or for other services that would require their own box. This saves on hardware costs.

Click to expand...

What is the difference between prebuilt options and FreeNAS/unRAID? I'm assuming when you say "prebuilt" you mean a prebuilt server...

Any tutorials or useful links on prebuilt ones? Or maybe a simple tutorial to set it up within my home network?

I have no problem wasting CPU power, but less is better. Sharing files doesn't seem like it'd take much, but I'll take your word on the fact that the simpler options unnecessarily use more CPU power.

Prebuilt systems are going to have locked down hardware (HP prebuilts, for example). You drop the drives in and go. With a FreeNAS/UnRAID/whatever server, you have to setup the hardware yourself, install the OS, setup the drives and the shares. It is more work, but you gain a bit of freedom over the server.

I can't make a suggestion on where to start since you haven't decided on what you are going to use. FreeNAS/UnRAID both have very good documentation and forums, which is going to be the best place to start. I know you feel a bit unsure since this is something you haven't done, but sharing files on you own personal network isn't as difficult as you think it is. You have a lot of people backing you up here.

thideras said:

Prebuilt systems are going to have locked down hardware (HP prebuilts, for example). You drop the drives in and go. With a FreeNAS/UnRAID/whatever server, you have to setup the hardware yourself, install the OS, setup the drives and the shares. It is more work, but you gain a bit of freedom over the server.

I can't make a suggestion on where to start since you haven't decided on what you are going to use. FreeNAS/UnRAID both have very good documentation and forums, which is going to be the best place to start. I know you feel a bit unsure since this is something you haven't done, but sharing files on you own personal network isn't as difficult as you think it is. You have a lot of people backing you up here.

Click to expand...

Oh, thank you for clearing that up for me thid!

So FreeNAS/UnRAID are each their own OS in their own right? OS's specifically for file serving?

Would it be easier to setup a server within Windows or using FreeNAS/UnRAID?

Sorry for all the questions. And thank you for the patience with me being a complete noob.

FreeNAS and UnRAID are their own operating system. Pretty sure both are Linux, actually.

Difficulty is subjective, unfortunately. I can have a functional share in Linux and Windows in roughly 30 seconds. I have no way of knowing how easy it will be for you. FreeNAS and UnRAID are made to be simple. Interfaces are easy to navigate and everything is straightforward. Windows can be a bit tricky depending on what versions are present.

Questions are good, don't worry about it. I do, however, need to sleep. I'll check back in the morning.

thideras said:

FreeNAS and UnRAID are their own operating system. Pretty sure both are Linux, actually.

Difficulty is subjective, unfortunately. I can have a functional share in Linux and Windows in roughly 30 seconds. I have no way of knowing how easy it will be for you. FreeNAS and UnRAID are made to be simple. Interfaces are easy to navigate and everything is straightforward.

Questions are good, don't worry about it.

Click to expand...

I'm doing a little searching on both of FreeNAS and UnRAID's websites and I'll probably download them both, install them and try and learn them and see if I can make it click. I've used all kinds of Linux in the past and loved it, but it was a tad difficult for me. So, this is scaring me away, but I will definitely try it as both seem very legit (and too good to pass up).

Any tips on doing it in the Windows side of things? Any tutorials or articles or just anything that can lead me down this path?

What lead me down this path, is I am doing this new gaming build. I was ordering my drives (4 2TB drives) and I ended up grabbing two sets of 4 2TB drives. So now I have 8TB going into my new build, and another 8TB sitting around. I figured I might as well make use out of the drives instead of loosing 30% what I accidentally paid for them with due to restocking fees.

And another question: How would I go about doing FTP? Would that require an entirely different rig with it's own set of drives? Or can I do both, in say, Windows?

EDIT: Researching UnRAID now. It seems to be more geared toward multimedia storage. That's a plus right there
EDIT 2: Thid, you ninja'd me! I'll be back in the morning as well... heh, well, afternoon
EDIT 3: I'm eyeballing Windows Home Server. Pretty cheap, 60 bucks. That might be an easy way to get into it. I just want to know if I can share across Macs? You guys probably don't know that, as you guys are into doing real servers..

FTP is just a service on a linux machine.
Depending on what access you have to the system itself (I haven't user FreeNAS or UnRAID to know) you simply apt-get the flavour of FTP you're after and setup.

Can't tell you how to do this through either of the above suggestions though but it's normally no harder than a one-liner and a config.

I've done some more thinking about what I truly want.

I want this "server" of mine to basically act as a central hub to all of my media that I will be working with for my job (editing RAW photos and video). And it'll be nice to keep track and a backup of my impressive 220GB music collection.

I'm liking the idea of Windows Home Server (WHS) because it will constantly take backups of all of your PCs (Windows only, no Mac, obviously).
I am not 100% on WHS yet. I want to see what I can do without it first, as I'm trying to spend as little as possible. And, I just figure I'd give it a shot to see what I can do on my own.

I have a media/file server set up and it was fairly easy. It runs Win7 with TVersity for media sharing and for file sharing I use FileZilla, which also holds all of my PS3 games for easy access.

WHS 20111 is the simple solution for you it also has other added features like bckup's of your pc's etc its also pretty cheap

http://www.google.com/products/cata...=X&ei=-S17Tq3_L9PK0AH-y8GlAg&ved=0CGYQ8wIwAA#

that mobo you listed supports raid, you should consider a raid 1 or raid 5.

RedDragonXXX said:

I have a media/file server set up and it was fairly easy. It runs Win7 with TVersity for media sharing and for file sharing I use FileZilla, which also holds all of my PS3 games for easy access.

Click to expand...

I'll definitely give TVersity a look. Sounds pretty good.
As for FileZilla, I have used it before but only to upload certain things for benching team members. Another member set it up, so I have no idea how to use it. I'll Google around a bit and see what I can find out about it.

thobel said:

WHS 20111 is the simple solution for you it also has other added features like bckup's of your pc's etc its also pretty cheap

http://www.google.com/products/cata...=X&ei=-S17Tq3_L9PK0AH-y8GlAg&ved=0CGYQ8wIwAA#

Click to expand...

WHS looks very solid. I like the fact that it will backup all of my PCs (soon to be three PCs). And it allows media sharing, which will be quite useful. Also searched around a bit and found it's Mac OS X compatible.

terran2k said:

that mobo you listed supports raid, you should consider a raid 1 or raid 5.

Click to expand...

I'll definitely be raiding these drives. I was thinking about a RAID10...

If anyone has info on how to setup a simple server in Windows XP or the like, that would be great.