Small scale home server

[HimuraGG]

Hello I am new to this forum,

 

I am a freelance IT who specializes in software development and I have no faint idea on how I should start my own home server to store files and such. This server will both act as a testing ground for my projects and as a storage for all the other computers who are connected to the network. I was wondering what parts I should buy for this to happen. Do you guys have some recommendations?

[Eastman51]

3 minutes ago, HimuraGG said:

testing ground for my projects

For what kind of projects? Since you specialize in software dev, I'd assume software, but what kind?

3 minutes ago, HimuraGG said:

storage for all the other computers who are connected to the network

Network storage can be done with practically any CPU and whatever storage config you want. There are a fair number of OS and software to handle this, examples include FreeNAS and UnRAID

[HimuraGG]

so you are suggesting for just a regular pc and not an external storage server like the ones from linus tech. I was wondering what parts or components that they have.

[SupaKomputa]

Software development, you mean web server?

Windows : IIS, Xampp

Linux : LAMP solution

Too many to explain, basically just get a pc (any pc) and install a web server in it.

 

Same goes for Network storage, you don't need fancy NAS OS to do it, just windows with networking and sharing skills.

Too many to explain, better just find a tutorial on youtube.

[Eastman51]

2 minutes ago, HimuraGG said:

so you are suggesting for just a regular pc and not an external storage server like the ones from linus tech. I was wondering what parts or components that they have.

LTT has high end (and quite expensive) enterprise grade equipment. I don't know specifics, but I would assume most, if not all, of their servers run server grade Xeons.

 

If you don't need a lot of storage, a regular PC will be perfectly capable of doing everything you need. A cheap used Dell Optiplex or a cheap brand new system should have plenty of power and upgradability for a simple server setup.

 

If you need a fair bit of storage, you can get dedicated NAS boxes that don't do much more than hold drives. Or if you have cash burning a hole in your pocket, you could try to find a deal on an ancient, used actual server. 

[Eastman51]

4 minutes ago, SupaKomputa said:

Software development, you mean web server?

Windows : IIS, Xampp

Linux : LAMP solution

Too many to explain, basically just get a pc (any pc) and install a web server in it.

 

Same goes for Network storage, you don't need fancy NAS OS to do it, just windows with networking and sharing skills.

Too many to explain, better just find a tutorial on youtube.

I would run a VM hosting OS, with a web server VM and you could setup Windows network sharing on another VM (but you may as well go big at that point with a NAS VM).

[SupaKomputa]

13 minutes ago, Eastman51 said:

I would run a VM hosting OS, with a web server VM and you could setup Windows network sharing on another VM (but you may as well go big at that point with a NAS VM).

That might be too overwhelming for an IT guy.

[TheNick]

1 hour ago, Eastman51 said:

I would run a VM hosting OS, with a web server VM and you could setup Windows network sharing on another VM (but you may as well go big at that point with a NAS VM).

 

1 hour ago, Eastman51 said:

LTT has high end (and quite expensive) enterprise grade equipment. I don't know specifics, but I would assume most, if not all, of their servers run server grade Xeons.

 

If you don't need a lot of storage, a regular PC will be perfectly capable of doing everything you need. A cheap used Dell Optiplex or a cheap brand new system should have plenty of power and upgradability for a simple server setup.

 

If you need a fair bit of storage, you can get dedicated NAS boxes that don't do much more than hold drives. Or if you have cash burning a hole in your pocket, you could try to find a deal on an ancient, used actual server. 

 

I second both of these posts from Eastman51.

 

You can also look for used/retired servers from 1-2 generations ago like the HP ML110 series. These should still be relevant enough hardware wise to be useful while still being relatively inexpensive enough to play around with.

 

The upside of the old servers is that you may find one with a built-in RAID controller and multiple drive bays which can solve both your file storage needs and allow for you to run a VM hosting OS as suggested to take care of your experimentation needs, all in one box.

 

[HimuraGG]

1 hour ago, Eastman51 said:

LTT has high end (and quite expensive) enterprise grade equipment. I don't know specifics, but I would assume most, if not all, of their servers run server grade Xeons.

 

If you don't need a lot of storage, a regular PC will be perfectly capable of doing everything you need. A cheap used Dell Optiplex or a cheap brand new system should have plenty of power and upgradability for a simple server setup.

 

If you need a fair bit of storage, you can get dedicated NAS boxes that don't do much more than hold drives. Or if you have cash burning a hole in your pocket, you could try to find a deal on an ancient, used actual server. 

I wanna know as well due to the fact that I may also apply this to my clients if they as for internal servers for their company. The company is small enough for no ITs in their building but large enough that they need a server.