Build me a server!!

[ArkiStan]

Hey guys,
My company will be hiring some interns soon and we need a very basic server. Most of our work is collaborative so while we will do our actual work on our laptops, we need a central location where all the master files are located so we can access them and update them simultaneously. As it will mostly be a sharing/storage solution, performance is not an issue at all. We're hoping to have a couple TB of storage.

What would be the cheapest specs for such a rig? Rough quotes would also be appreciated.

Thanks!!

[Jeffbx]

Ok, if cost is important but speed isn't, I'd recommend a cheap NAS rather than a server:

$300 for 2TB raw storage (http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.aspx?EDC=1270134)

Do you have something to back up the data? If not, maybe think about turning on RAID1 & getting 2 of these, if you really need 2TB.

Or, grab 4TB raw & turn on RAID for 2TB usable (http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.aspx?EDC=1623683)

Hope that helps!

[ArkiStan]

Those sound like very attractive options. However, while computing power is not that important, it would be nice to have an extra terminal available for minor administrative tasks if we needed it. So we're gonna try to go with an actual rig for now. how much would I need to spend to build a basic system (will use windows XP) with networking capabilities and a 1-2 TB HDD?

[Jeffbx]

I'd recommend that you start here:

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=bedwa1k&c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&kc=segtopic~dell-deals-servers

$350 for a basic server
Processor & RAM are fine
No OS with the box - add your own or +$800 for Server 2008
As shipped it comes with 2x250GB HD
Buy your own 2x1TB drives to replace those (Dell makes up for the crazy cheap server by way overcharging for the peripherals)

[ArkiStan]

that looks like a great start. just curious. is there anyway we can just use our copy of XP for this machine, or is it essential to have the server 2008 OS?

thanks so much

[attgig]

I'm assuming you're running some versioning control with this? is windows necessary? why not use linux and samba?

if you're going with ONLY file sharing via network i think xp will do. But, if you're a company with some sort of relationship with microsoft, I think it would be wise to have a real license for it.

whether you need server08 or not is really dependent on how many users you're going to have and in what manner these files are going to be shared/collaborated with.

[Jeffbx]

:stupid:

What attgig said.

If you have more than 10 people sharing it, you'll need a server OS. Less than 10 & XP Pro is fine. In either case, Linux would work fine, too.

[Airencracken]

I'm going to raise a third hand for linux here. Samba 4 is nearing release and it's a lot better than previous implementations as well.

[ArkiStan]

there will be 5-6 people using the network, max. and we have no association with MS.

hmmm. always wanted to try out linux. maybe this will be our chance. for a small group like us that will need the server for only basic file sharing purposes, what are the advantages of linux, oother than the obvious fact that it is free?

[Airencracken]

there will be 5-6 people using the network, max. and we have no association with MS.

hmmm. always wanted to try out linux. maybe this will be our chance. for a small group like us that will need the server for only basic file sharing purposes, what are the advantages of linux, oother than the obvious fact that it is free?

Scalability, better TCP/IP stack (faster in many cases), works on a variety of hardware. You could probably put it on an old computer with a big HDD and not have to spend too much money.

Great community to help with setting stuff up. Lots of choices.

There are many advantages.

[rajatQ2]

hmm great suggestions guys, but he sounds like kind of a nub and not at all familiar with linux. Aside from Ubuntu's easy installers, i've never seen something that a windows intermediate user could just jump into. and even that ubuntu server, setting up samba was hard... and i know my way around linux well

[Jeffbx]

Yeah, that's a good point - has anyone in your group set up file sharing on UNIX before?

[ArkiStan]

Yeah, that's a good point - has anyone in your group set up file sharing on UNIX before?
nope. none of us have had any experience. while it's something i'd like to try eventually, i have a feeling we'll just have go with win XP for now. haha.

[Airencracken]

Yeah, that's a good point - has anyone in your group set up file sharing on UNIX before?

Can't learn without trying it. I really don't think it's that hard to set up.

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/downloadmirrors#bt

9.04 was just released today. ;)

[Jeffbx]

That's the IT manager in me -

"Don't test in production"

[a-10tankkiller]

Not sure if this is exactly what you are looking for in a NAS for filesharing, but here's a link I found for setting it up with Linux.
http://www.linux.com/feature/53511