Tech: Turn That Old Computer into a File Server

If you just upgraded to a new computer or have a spare computer lying around then I suggest you turn that old computer into a file server. For home purposes a file server doesn't need to be particularly fast so that old computer if it's within a couple generation will do just fine. You need to fresh install a copy of Windows XP or if your really technically savvy or don't have a spare licence copy of windows around you can install Linux or FreeBSD. Just remember to install and configure Samba file sharing. Just remember to install the Operating system on it's own hard disk and use separate hard disks and shares for accessing those hard drives across a network.

If you have a bit of money to spare and want a lot of storage space then I'm going to suggest that you purchase and setup a RAID 5 array. This is just a special interface card and a bunch of identical hard drives hooked up to that card. A RAID 5 array combines the total storage space of all the hard drives into one virtual hard disk minus the capacity of one drive. That one drive serves the special purpose of fault tolerance. You see the more hard disks you have the more likely are you to suffer a hard disk crash; they do happen and usually a major loss. But with a RAID 5 array if you lose a single hard disk the array continues to work and when you install a new replacement hard disk, all the data is automatically recovered. If your paranoid you can even maintain install an additional hot spare for immediate data regeneration. In other words if you use 250GB sized disk you need at least three drives and those three drives result in 500GB of storage that looks like a single drive. Many controller cards now support the ability to dynamical add additional hard disks to expand the array. This along with a partition utility like Partition Magic, allow you purchase and install more hard disk space as you need it, up to the maximum number of drives that the controller supports. Just remember to install extra fans in the case as too many hard drives may overheat the computer and all the hard disks need to be the same size and preferably the same make and model.

What I did was install FreeBSD 6.0 on my spare box, then I purchased a Highpoint Rocketraid 2220 SATA RAID controller. This is a software RAID card and currently sells for around $300 dollars. While hardly the fastest controller out there it is possibly the best combination of features and price out there for a simple file server. The card supports 8 hard drives but should you want an even larger array this card allows you to install a second card and connect a wire between them to drive a 16 drive array should you want to expand that much. I then purchased 3 Western Digital WD2500SD 250GB drives and recently upgraded to a 4th. These currently go for around $100 a piece and no doubt prices will continue to fall. I currently have 750GB of storage available and can expand all the way up to 3750GB which is 15x250GB. One of the things I have done with all that space is install a Virtual CD program and made images of all my CDROM's and music CD's so I never need to hunt for discs anymore which is particularly useful if your a techie like me that messes up his computer often enough and need to reinstall everything regularly. I also sync data files and back them up to the server automatically. I also am planning after I purchase my next computer system to put a couple TV cards into my current system and turn it into my own Tivo which will be able to save directly to the file server.