Old PC as server

D

deepakvrao

Level E
Another newbie question.

Do I need any special software if I want to use an old PC as a server? It has xp on it already. Google shows that you can set up a network with that.

Obviously there are advantages with specialized software. What would they be?

If I set the PC to never sleep, would I need to do anything special for the HDD or other components?[DOUBLEPOST=1377444466][/DOUBLEPOST]Would Free NAS be a better option?

I presume that with Free NAS, no one will be able to use that as a local computer, while with Windows, someone can use it as a local computer AND it will serve as a server? Correct?
 
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Yes, with FreeNAS, it would become mainly a fileserver + download rig, but since it wont run Windows, 1. that's a plus for security and 2. It can be lightweight. However, you lose RDP functionality.
 
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who will want to use an old slow computer for windows local work ?
better install debian minimal on it and use it as a server , install apache/squid/vpn/x-desktop/ etc on the server and you are good to go .
keep adding applications to debian as per your requirements , when everything is covered , create an iso out of it .

OR
use the various available debian install ISO's on the net which come with preconfigured remote desktop , servers and proxies , etc

it will not even require more than 256 MB of ram to run :)
 
If you are looking for a file server to store your files and render media through network, better use NAS4Free

FreeNAS has higher hardware requirements, specially RAM when using ZFS filesystems.

NAS4Free has low hardware requirement and is good for home use. It was also more feature rich the last time FreeNAS 8 is not yet stable and FreeNAS 7.x has been discontinued and replaced by NAS4Free.
 
Rather than FreeNAS - if you can spare some $$$ get a copy of Windows 8 and turn that into a backup+streaming server. Planning to implement the same.
 
CentOS minimal will be good if you know how to setup everything, will be a learning experience and good platform.
Fedora network install (or so) is also good.
 
Yep - that is a no brainer question. You cannot use it with an ancient P3 or P4 - drivers are going to play spoilsport. But with a C2D - should work decently.[DOUBLEPOST=1379823706][/DOUBLEPOST]Also, have a look at Amahi - its a bit complicated - but i feel its good too.
 
vivek.krishnan said:
Yep - that is a no brainer question. You cannot use it with an ancient P3 or P4 - drivers are going to play spoilsport. But with a C2D - should work decently.[DOUBLEPOST=1379823706][/DOUBLEPOST]Also, have a look at Amahi - its a bit complicated - but i feel its good too.
Click to expand...
So if you read OP's requirement, he has a old PC that he wants to use. So its a no brainer to use any windows based software.

Evaluate Zentyal as well.
 
And - since it can run XP and I am pretty sure the PC in question is not going to be ancient. Anyways - it would be better if the doc could shed some light on his PC details.

On a different note - has anyone had issues with using time machine on an airport extreme?
 
^^ On Win8 you needs to use 3rd party Start menu. Even as a person who is in IT field for years, am finding W8 boaring. It is fast, stable, etc. but the interface kills the whole joy.
Shifted back to Win7 as we need to do lot of system admin type jobs, fumbling around in W8 is difficult of us. Anyway, will need to get hang of W8 in due time since we have to live with it.

Workarounds like Classic shell:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/classicshell/

Pokki, etc. are interesting.
 
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