Server Computer = Home PC ?? (1 Viewer)

mugen_rsx

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Working in my current SME company, lots of data need to be save, so I made them a data base using MS Access with my limited knowledge. However, now having more and more data, I think we need a server computer.

Looking at dell computer, look up in the server selection, seem pretty expensive, and not so great. Then I think is this really I need?!?!

Look again into Personal Computer section, price is a lot cheaper, with reasonable good performance. 2.8GHz Core-dual CPU, 2GB DDR-2 RAM, 160GB HD, and the price cheaper than the lowest end of server they have. The lowest end model of server is just a 2.6GHz celeron, 256 DDR Ram, 80GB HD.

Is it ok (in terms of performance) to use a PC as a server? This is what I am using now, and I am not sure is it good enough or not?!?!
 

Vassago

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How large is your company? It's perfectly reasonable to use a PC as a server, as I do it at home depending on how much people will actually be using the system. Most large companies need servers because they have many people accessing the computers at the same time and need RAID capabilities and better cooling.
 

Sergeant

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This is something I've been pondering on.
Vassago, would you care to give a few pointers on using a home PC as a server?
Is it necessary to run Windows Server OS?
Would it be possible to set up a PC with WinXP Pro as a pseudo-server?
I'm thinking...chock it full of hard drives, connect the printer to it, connect it directly to the wireless router. Then it would be a print server, file server, etc...but it wouldn't be a true 'domain', right?
 

Vassago

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Sergeant. This is exactly what I have done. My server serves as a file and print server. Eventually, I plan on adding a hot swappable hard drive rack to it so I can change out the hard drives on the fly without powering off the system. I don't have a domain set up as I don't really need one at home, so not sure of the process on running a domain in an xp only environment.
 

justchillin

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Hi There

By connecting several computers (running winxp etc) you are using whats known as a peer to peer network. To create a Domain you require a dedicated file server runing a server os (windows 2000, 2003 server etc)

The purpose of using a dedicated server with server os is when security is an issue, ther are greater facilities available with server os operating systems.

Please feel free to contact me if you need any advice setting one up
 

Atomic Shrimp

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I used a quite modestly-specified desktop PC for mail and file server in my last job. I installed SME Server on it - it's a free, all-in-one lightweight Linux distribution with a browser-based administration suite - it's really very simple to set up and administer - I can't recommend it highly enough.

A couple of things sometimes overlooked by those building their own server:

Backups. Not doing this bit properly can be very detrimental to a small company, if things go wrong - and it can be a career-ending mistake for the administrator who didn't carte enough about the company's data security.

Physical security and safety of the server. Just because it used to be a desktop PC, it shouldn't be treated as one. It will probably be powered up 24/7 - so it needs to be placed in a suitable location where it won't overheat, or be exposed to too much dust, etc. You probably will need an uninterruptable power supply (at least so it can be shut down gracefully in a power outage, and it should be probably kept somewhere with reasonably restricted access.
 

nharrison

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Following what Mike Gurman said, if you are capable of building a PC, it would make things more ideal.

This way you can be sure to get a well-cooled case with as many fans and custom heatsinks as you like. Additionally, you can actually purchase a server case, with 8-12 hard drive bays, with quick release setups. And, if your company deems it necessary, you can pick up a motherboard with RAID compatibility.

I would recommend surfing more hardware-oriented forums, and there are literally thousands of experts out there that would be more than happy to help you outline your build.
 

The_Doc_Man

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Commercially available desktop machines work fine as servers as long as no domain issues are necessary. You can do a workgroup in order to engage the beginnings of network security without starting up true servers. However, beware of Windows having more than one flavor of each level of O/S. For example, WinXP Home is not the best choice for the server machine, but WinXP Professional might be enough.

Having a Dual-Core machine in the 2.8 GHz range with a good, fast hard drive (7200 rpm minimum) and a good chunk of memory (2 Gb) is probably OK. If this is Vista, though, I'd be skeptical because of Vista's know clunkiness.

As far as CPU power, I would never hesitate to buy a copy of Win 2k3 server or some other server product for a dual-core, 2.8 GHz, 2GB of RAM system. It would run great. Be flat-out sure that you have a way to take backups on a regular basis.

For example, there is something available from several computer wholesale "clubs" and discount retail stores that gives you a Terabyte of disk on a removable USB connection. Set up a backup schedule that uses the Tb disk as your destination. Have two of them. One for this backup. One for the next backup. Then leap-frog them. You can also do this on writeable DVD if your dataset is small enough. Otherwise, there are some decent tape drivers using LTO drives.

Be aware that trying to build a "server" on the cheap will tempt you to take short cuts that will cut you very short if something goes wrong. I don't want to give you the wrong impression, because saving money is always a good idea. But if you leave off something that would make your "server" more stable and reliable, have you really saved yourself anything at all?
 

Atomic Shrimp

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For example, there is something available from several computer wholesale "clubs" and discount retail stores that gives you a Terabyte of disk on a removable USB connection. Set up a backup schedule that uses the Tb disk as your destination. Have two of them. One for this backup. One for the next backup. Then leap-frog them. You can also do this on writeable DVD if your dataset is small enough. Otherwise, there are some decent tape drivers using LTO drives.
I heartily agree with the 'leap-frog' backups as a minimum policy. If your data matters at all, never be in the situation that you're overwriting your last verified backup with your current unverified one (if it all goes belly up, you have nothing to fall back on).
Personally, I'd be a bit wary of backing up onto optical media, because they're not really very durable.

Also, and if you can, it's best to keep at least one recent backup in a different physical location to the server - so that in the case of fire, flood, etc, there is still something to recover.

Be aware that trying to build a "server" on the cheap will tempt you to take short cuts that will cut you very short if something goes wrong. I don't want to give you the wrong impression, because saving money is always a good idea. But if you leave off something that would make your "server" more stable and reliable, have you really saved yourself anything at all?
Again, agreed. IMO, the best potential for saving money is on the OS. If you install Linux (bearing in mind that it is just different from Windows to administer in most respects, and this could be a burden), you save on the server licence and the client access licences.
 

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