I am very keen to build a file server with a load of really old pcs i ahve lying around my questions are: 1) what networkgin kit will i need to make this wirelessly avaiable to my friends 2) how can i stop certain people accessing the server 3) is it posible to build a server interface for users that works sort of like messenger you know user and pasword in a small window to acess the server peter
1) if your going to use many old pcs, you will want to cluster them, there are many ways to do this so *shrug* -- for it you will need 1 NIC per PC 1 Switch with X+1 ports where X is the number of PCs and the spare links out to the rest of your LAN 1 Wireless Access point to plug into the switch (using the spare port) 2) Well its easier to have a whitelist than a blacklist, so setup iptables/hardware firewall rules to only allow certain IPs in, and make it over VPN 3) use a VPN?
For a fileserver you need next to nothing hardware wise... So it depends on how old the pc's are... Check out FreeNAS. If there are a lot of people hammering the server at the same time, then some beefier NIC will be needed... Gigabit becomes a must really quick... CPU and RAM isn't that much needed 750MHz CPU will do 95% of the time in a home environment Acessing from where? LAN or Internet? And how do you mean acces? Accessing the files served or accessing the administrative interface? With FreeNAS (and other servers that work via samba shares), the interface is on the client side. *nix user just mount the share, Windows users add the share as a network drive to their pc. So it just turns up in Windows Explorer. I'd surely check out FreeNAS if I were you... the FAQ will answer lots of questions for you...
thankyou for the responses and in answer to questions erm acess via LAN and i have 3 old computers that i am going to canibalise into one for the server. i have a few questons 1) what is NIC 2) what is a VPN peter
It stands for Network Interface Card, it's short for network card. This stands for virtual private network, it is a way to make secure connections between pc's... If you don't know what you are doing, it is a hell to set up. If all acces is via LAN, don't go this way... And what (hardware wise) will you end up with after you've canabalised the 3 PC's?
I dont really know i jsut saw 3 pcs in a storge room but i think they are pentium mainly 1 possibly amd whith AGP8x. All acess will be wireless and prob via lan and con somone explain the client logo on and how to set it all up for me
The AGP interface is useless... You won't be gameing on the server right? Anything that produces an image is fine. Now, for the network. I strongly suggest against using wireless on a server... Wired is much safer, faster (even 100MBit) and easier to set up. I'm a bit worried by your explaination on the 3 PC's... Pentium Motherboard + AMD Duron or the likes don't match... Are you going to use FreeNAS? Then the "client logon" as you call it is easy... On *nix (samba has to be installed): as root: Code: mount -t smbfs //<name_of_server>/<name_of_share> /<mountpoint> On Windows; Start -> Run -> Code: \\<name_of_server>\<name_of_share> But I'd first think what you actually want and need, because that isn't really clear to me at the moment... And what 'software' you are going to use... Hard to explain a setup procedure if you don't know what you are setting up
well the point is i have no idea what to use and i have 3 diff pc's and i will use hdds form all with mobo and cpu form one and i will use the server for mainly files but if i upgrade my pc i will put in my hardware and make it into a gaming server
Awww... Big nono! Don't mix fileserver and gaming server... Nothing worse then gameing on a server which is being accessed for data retrieval... I have the feeling you have absolutely no idea what you want to do... Making up your mind (and going step by step) helps us to help you
kk i will be making a file server to share stuff with loads of people the reson i need wireless is i go to a boarding school so will want numerous people to acess it and wired is justnot viable
Ok, so you want to 'broadcast' so the other students can access the files. Wireless isn't impossible, it's just a bit more complicated... I have some more questions for you, but I'll take them one at a time... Is there allready a network at your boarding school that you are joining with this server? Is that network wired or wireless?
Ok... Why not ask the network admin that you can set up a server? If it's for school work I don't think he'd decline your request... For OS, I would go for a Linux Distribution like Debian. Free, secure, runs on next-to-nothing hardware...
can you get the specs of the computers that would probly help us. And for the wireless part i would just use wired nics for the computers and have them input into a wireless router.
