Help on Creating a Server From a Desktop

Zerker6 · 01-02-2009, 08:42 AM

Hello All,

I am new to the forum and pretty new to the whole IT section. I work for a small business (my father and I) and right now we are starting to expand, maybe one or two more employees, and a server is our first step to doing that so that when we get more employees we wont have to use our thumb drive method of transferring data between computers. So my question is what is the best way to go about creating one of our desktops into a central hub for all documents and such. It is a new computer with Windows Vista on it, 300gb HD, Core2 Duo with 3gb mem i believe and that's all i can remember off hand as it's not in front of me at the moment.

We are an Engineering firm and most of the things stored will be documents, pdf's and AutoCAD/Microstation dwg's. We have a computer set up just for drafting and the program will not be shared on the server at the moment but still want the computer to communicate with the network correctly.

The main constraint is money of course as we are a small business and want something that can last us for awhile. If anyone can at least point me into a direction to look that would be great as I have no ideas as to what is needed and how it should be done.

**wmorri** · 01-07-2009, 10:02 AM

Welcome to TSF!!

Hi,

I would recommend that you take a look at Windows Home Server. Without getting to technical on you, this is basically an OS that acts as a file server. A file server is different from a web server in that it only holds files, such as the ones that you have listed. It doesn't hold web pages or act as a webserver. It can hold all of your files and allow computer that has the software installed on it to connect to the server and then add or retrieve files from it. Since you are a small company it might be just the thing for you.

The website that I linked for you show a homeserver that is its own standalone computer. since you already have computer you can just get the Operating system and then install it on the computer. So don't get to worried that you need to get another computer.

Since I am primarily a Linux guy myself. I will get a hold of some of the windows folks and have them take a look at this post and see if they have any better ideas.

Cheers!

Chevy · 01-07-2009, 06:26 PM

If all you are looking for is central storage, then maybe NAS is the way to go.

Check out NewEgg ...

Zerker6 · 01-13-2009, 01:55 PM

Thanks for the information guys:

I have been looking around on new egg, and checking out the home server. The main thing i really need is the server software correct? I.e. Windows server 2003 or later seems like my best option. And does anyone know the constraints on that if we have a Mac machine on the network

. The Mac runs parallels so if need be it can run windows when needing to access the server.

The home server is looking like a viable option because it seems simple enough and easily manipulated to ones needs. After reading most of the install guide for it it seems fairly straight forward that I need the server software of '03 or later. Have you talked to any of your windows budds and seen what they have said about windows home server?

With the NAS i was doing some research into that and it seems like a good option but since i already have the whole desktop set up and such wouldn't a DAS work better seeing as I already have an office network set up with shared devices on it, just throwing that out there. I know no mater what I will need to do more research into this topic but just looking for a guiding hand when it comes to setting up this network.

Again thank you guys for giving me a start into what i need to look for. Any other information will be greatly appreciated, thanks.

01-02-2009, 08:42 AM	#1 (permalink)
Zerker6 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 3 OS: WinVista SP1	Help on Creating a Server From a Desktop Hello All, I am new to the forum and pretty new to the whole IT section. I work for a small business (my father and I) and right now we are starting to expand, maybe one or two more employees, and a server is our first step to doing that so that when we get more employees we wont have to use our thumb drive method of transferring data between computers. So my question is what is the best way to go about creating one of our desktops into a central hub for all documents and such. It is a new computer with Windows Vista on it, 300gb HD, Core2 Duo with 3gb mem i believe and that's all i can remember off hand as it's not in front of me at the moment. We are an Engineering firm and most of the things stored will be documents, pdf's and AutoCAD/Microstation dwg's. We have a computer set up just for drafting and the program will not be shared on the server at the moment but still want the computer to communicate with the network correctly. The main constraint is money of course as we are a small business and want something that can last us for awhile. If anyone can at least point me into a direction to look that would be great as I have no ideas as to what is needed and how it should be done. Last edited by Inactive; 01-03-2009 at 05:23 PM. Reason: removing url

01-07-2009, 10:02 AM	#2 (permalink)
wmorri Moderator/Fedora Amb. Join Date: May 2008 Location: /pm/etc Posts: 2,711 OS: Window 7/Fedora 10 My System	Re: Help on Creating a Server From a Desktop Welcome to TSF!! Hi, I would recommend that you take a look at Windows Home Server. Without getting to technical on you, this is basically an OS that acts as a file server. A file server is different from a web server in that it only holds files, such as the ones that you have listed. It doesn't hold web pages or act as a webserver. It can hold all of your files and allow computer that has the software installed on it to connect to the server and then add or retrieve files from it. Since you are a small company it might be just the thing for you. The website that I linked for you show a homeserver that is its own standalone computer. since you already have computer you can just get the Operating system and then install it on the computer. So don't get to worried that you need to get another computer. Since I am primarily a Linux guy myself. I will get a hold of some of the windows folks and have them take a look at this post and see if they have any better ideas. Cheers! __________________ Linux Forever! Last edited by wmorri; 01-07-2009 at 10:04 AM.

01-07-2009, 06:26 PM	#3 (permalink)
Chevy Semi-Retired Manager, Microsoft Support Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Notlob Posts: 5,452 OS: Vista Ultimate My System	Re: Help on Creating a Server From a Desktop If all you are looking for is central storage, then maybe NAS is the way to go. Check out NewEgg ... __________________ “Last night I lay in bed looking up at the stars in the sky and I thought to myself, where the heck is the ceiling. ” - Unknown

01-13-2009, 01:55 PM	#4 (permalink)
Zerker6 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 3 OS: WinVista SP1	Re: Help on Creating a Server From a Desktop Thanks for the information guys: I have been looking around on new egg, and checking out the home server. The main thing i really need is the server software correct? I.e. Windows server 2003 or later seems like my best option. And does anyone know the constraints on that if we have a Mac machine on the network . The Mac runs parallels so if need be it can run windows when needing to access the server. The home server is looking like a viable option because it seems simple enough and easily manipulated to ones needs. After reading most of the install guide for it it seems fairly straight forward that I need the server software of '03 or later. Have you talked to any of your windows budds and seen what they have said about windows home server? With the NAS i was doing some research into that and it seems like a good option but since i already have the whole desktop set up and such wouldn't a DAS work better seeing as I already have an office network set up with shared devices on it, just throwing that out there. I know no mater what I will need to do more research into this topic but just looking for a guiding hand when it comes to setting up this network. Again thank you guys for giving me a start into what i need to look for. Any other information will be greatly appreciated, thanks.