Thinking of building a home server

UncleJoseph · Post by **UncleJoseph** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 12:36 am

Since I have an old computer or two lying around collecting dust, I thought it'd be neat to use one for a server. In this month's issue of MaximumPC, they detail how to set one up using FreeNAS instead of Windows Home Server. Since I try to boycott everything Microsoft, and I don't like paying for software, and I want a cross-OS compatible server system, I thought I'd give FreeNAS a try. It supposedly works well on older hardware too.

This will be a good project while I'm home on surgery leave for a week or two. More on this to come!

DV8 · Post by **DV8** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 9:23 am

I have had a few servers in the past, but I really couldn't justify the amount of electricity they were using so I discontinued them. I have to admit that they had both been gaming PCs before they were transformed to servers, so they didn't have the best usage to begin with. You have these really nice barebone boxes that you can buy now that are geared for minimal power usage and noise, they could do quite nicely as a server.

Is this just for storage? (I'm assuming so since you're using FreeNAS.) If so, wouldn't a network disk not suite you better while at the same time using not nearly as much power?

UncleJoseph · Post by **UncleJoseph** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 11:42 am

DV8 wrote:Is this just for storage? (I'm assuming so since you're using FreeNAS.) If so, wouldn't a network disk not suite you better while at the same time using not nearly as much power?

Maybe, but I have the older machine lying around, and it'll give me something to experiment with. Besides, I do want the "off-site" storage capabilities for back up.

3278 · Post by **3278** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 2:33 pm

Yeah, in practical terms, this is a non-starter: it'll use more electricity, take up more space, generate more heat and noise, require more maintenance, and serve no particular practical use whatsoever that couldn't be better achieved in some other way, except that it's a great, great way to get your hands dirty and learn some new stuff. [You gotta get rid of Maximum PC, though. A magazine is an awful substitute for a good tech site, and Maximum PC ain't much of a magazine. I say this as a dedicated former reader.] You should absolutely try getting a home server running, and then maybe turn the old machines into web servers, or a cluster doing SETI@HOME. [Or, if they're faster than a dual processor Pentium 3, donate them to a good home!] Yeah, it's not justifiable from a useability perspective - if you need a web server, you should get a web host! - but it's how we all learned this shit.

Kai · Post by **Kai** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 5:03 pm

Yeah, once I had four computers running in here to do everything....three have been replaced and obsoleted by the PS3, a large external firewire drive, and a smarter router. The pace and capability of technology and all, but if you have the extra, go nuts, learn filesystem storage, learn Apache web server, never know what might be useful later.

3278 · Post by **3278** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 3:16 pm

Paul's new machine leaves us with the wreckage of his old machine, which means I think I'm going to turn it into a home server. I was just going to slap XP on it and have all Paul's machines map it as a network drive, but maybe I'll try FreeNAS and do the same thing.

UncleJoseph · Post by **UncleJoseph** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 5:42 pm

I got a WD MyBook for Christmas, so I'm not building the server now. I can simply back everything up to that.