How Would I Go About Setting Up This PC To Be A Server?

[DrunkAssassin]

Hi guys I would like to make a server PC that my friends and I can game on and have fun. 

Now I have to options I could do either: (1) Reuse my old Mac Mini ( mid 2011 with i5 16GB of RAM 500GB HDD) or (2) Build one from scratch for around tops $500.

 

Now for the Mac Mini, I am already running it as a wireless access point and would like to keep it that way if possible while having it host the servers now here is a few questions that I need to be answered so I can set it up:

1) How can I set up the Server  without using himachi but also without giving away my actual IP address?
2) I'm assuming I will need windows or Linux, how/where can I find the materials to install either OS's using a USB drive? ( No CD drive)

3)Is there any other recommended software I should install to make the server experience better?

 

Now if I were to build one from scratch what components should I use and the same as above.

I already have copies of windows except they are all on CD's.

 

PS: didn't know where to put this topic so I put it in general discussion to be on the safe side.

 

Cheers

 

[Flyguygamer]

Wrong sub forum. Networking would be a more appropriate location.

[ANUPLUCIFERGAMER]

2:You can get a bootable USB for windows, or download Ubuntu on pendrive and boot through it.

[T.Vengeance]

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/6398-howto-create-your-own-linux-home-server-using-debian/

God I'm stupid and tired. You were asking for a build. My bad.

[wng_kingsley7]

erm pretty sure that there was no such thing as a core i5 on the LGA 2011 platform only i7's from what I understand....

[DrunkAssassin]

erm pretty sure that there was no such thing as a core i5 on the LGA 2011 platform only i7's from what I understand....

I'm talking about the year the mac came out not the socket hence the "mid 2011"

[aidenrelkoff]

 

1) How can I set up the Server  without using himachi but also without giving away my actual IP address?

 

You cant, screw himachi, it sucks, is confusing and will ALWAYS be more laggy then using the DIRECT ip address. If its for u and your friends just give them ur ip, they are not gonna DDOS you, unless they are those kind of ppl. 

 

Accually use a website like "no-ip.org" to give you a ip that u can call what ever you want, like i called my server "aidenscraft.zapto.org" it just gave my numeric ip a alpha-numeric ip.

[Tyrone Chicken]

Hi guys I would like to make a server PC that my friends and I can game on and have fun. 

Now I have to options I could do either: (1) Reuse my old Mac Mini ( mid 2011 with i5 16GB of RAM 500GB HDD) or (2) Build one from scratch for around tops $500.

If it's just you and your friends trying to play Minecraft or something, then you don't need to build a proper server. You need to give out more information.

 

If you want to host some public gameservers from your house, it's a fairly bad idea due to both reliability and speed of your network, so I'd just rent a cheap VPS/Dedicated server depending on your needs. Unless you're running loads of machines, co-location in a datacenter doesn't make a lot of sense due to the fact that co-location costs are fairly high for a 1u slot and parts get outdated very quickly, so your machine will be incredibly by the time it pays itself off.

 

1) How can I set up the Server  without using himachi but also without giving away my actual IP address?

You can route yourself through some sort of proxy, but I don't see why you would. If someone wants to attack you, then a free/cheap reverse proxy isn't going to mitigate an attack for you and things like CNServers, BlackLotus or Staminus all will run you hundreds per month. If they are truly your friends, then you shouldn't need to worry about it.

 

2) I'm assuming I will need windows or Linux, how/where can I find the materials to install either OS's using a USB drive? ( No CD drive)

You're not giving out enough info on what you want to do with your server. Some things are OS specific.

 

 

3)Is there any other recommended software I should install to make the server experience better?

Once again, you're not giving out anywhere near enough info on what you actually want to do with your machine.