Use Windows Server as a file server?

[AndrewMKlasen]

Hello, I am new to server networking and just got my hands on windows server 2016;  this is for my home and I want to use it as a file server I can access at my house, I have a wireless adapter in the server due to my house not being wired with Ethernet cables. I just want to know the basics of how to setup this file server and access it from my PC in a different room.

Something advanced that I don't need but would be interesting to have is the ability to access it from my laptop when I'm on the go.

 

Thanks for the help.

[Windows7ge]

I can only really help with accessing the server at home. If you want to access it on the go I do believe there are SFTP/SSH server roles you can install but I've never played with them myself. Perhaps @leadeater has more information in that regard.

 

I also have Windows Server 2016 and have setup a SMB network share using a pool created in Storage Spaces. So, first off how many disks do you have and how do you want to RAID them? Using Windows Both hardware RAID and software RAID are equal options. Both have pros and cons.

[AndrewMKlasen]

2 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

I can only really help with accessing the server at home. If you want to access it on the go I do believe there are SFTP/SSH server roles you can install but I've never played with them myself. Perhaps @leadeater has more information in that regard.

 

I also have Windows Server 2016 and have setup a SMB network share using a pool created in Storage Spaces. So, first off how many disks do you have and how do you want to RAID them? Using Windows Both hardware RAID and software RAID are equal options. Both have pros and cons.

The Server I have has 4 300GB hard drives, they are SAS and 10K RPM (Bought a DL 360 G6 from Ebay), They are in RAID 5.

[Windows7ge]

5 minutes ago, AndrewMKlasen said:

The Server I have has 4 300GB hard drives, they are SAS and 10K RPM (Bought a DL 360 G6 from Ebay), They are in RAID 5.

So that's already setup/figured out. How much do you know about Windows Server? Are you going in with nothing or have you used it's software before? Are you familiar with Server Manager?

[AndrewMKlasen]

28 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

So that's already setup/figured out. How much do you know about Windows Server? Are you going in with nothing or have you used it's software before? Are you familiar with Server Manager?

I have little info about it; I have watch basic tutorials on YouTube but that's it.

[Windows7ge]

13 minutes ago, AndrewMKlasen said:

I have little info about it; I have watch basic tutorials on YouTube but that's it.

Server Manager -> File and Storage Services -> Shares

 

This allows you to setup a SMB network share for clients. Personally I find getting the permissions correct to be a bit of a pain but the rest of the setup is pretty strait forward.

[AndrewMKlasen]

Thanks, I'll try this and come back of I have any issues

[Protostalker]

another thing I would recommend for permissions etc to be easier is to set up a domain. Without a domain, filesharing is going to be a pain in the ass, but with the domain the server needs to be on all the time.

Just share the drive with everyone as a permission (or atleast your msft account) and youll be fine. 
Windows has built in SMB sharing.

[Jarsky]

In this setup for home you have no need to do any roles or feature installs, just treat it like Windows 10. 

For SMB shares, go into Computer Management > Shared Folders > Shares and create your share. 

Typically As far as permissions at home to the Share I give Everyone Read permission and Administrators Read/Write permission, then under Security is where I define additional users and their access such as giving them Read/Write to particular folders. 

 

e.g I have D:\Share, which I use Sharing and I give Everyone Read Access to

Then under D:\Share\Incoming, under Security I give Everyone Read/Write access.

Then under D:\Share\Backup, under Security I Give Administrators full access, Deny Everyone Read Access, but I add a user svc_Backup, which has Read/Write access. My backup on my PC is configured with this username\password so it has access to the backup folder

 

So the outcome is that everyone can read and access everything under D:\Share such as Movies, TV Shows, Documentaries, Software, etc...but they cant modify them. They can only write/modify files in D:\Share\Incoming. Then only my backup software has visibility to D:\Share\Backup. This creates a level of security that others cant accidentally delete my shared files, and protects against anything malicious such as a virus etc...on peoples machines.

 

If you do want shared access such as D:\Pictures for family to be able to save files, then you're going to need some sort of Versioning such as enabling Shadow Copies to give Previous Versions, or a backup solution.....Backup is obviously highly recommending for any important files to protect you against not just deletions, but ransomware, corruption, physical threats like fire & flood, etc.....

 

 

[Samfisher]

On 12/18/2019 at 11:08 AM, Jarsky said:

In this setup for home you have no need to do any roles or feature installs, just treat it like Windows 10. 

For SMB shares, go into Computer Management > Shared Folders > Shares and create your share. 

Typically As far as permissions at home to the Share I give Everyone Read permission and Administrators Read/Write permission, then under Security is where I define additional users and their access such as giving them Read/Write to particular folders. 

 

e.g I have D:\Share, which I use Sharing and I give Everyone Read Access to

Then under D:\Share\Incoming, under Security I give Everyone Read/Write access.

Then under D:\Share\Backup, under Security I Give Administrators full access, Deny Everyone Read Access, but I add a user svc_Backup, which has Read/Write access. My backup on my PC is configured with this username\password so it has access to the backup folder

 

So the outcome is that everyone can read and access everything under D:\Share such as Movies, TV Shows, Documentaries, Software, etc...but they cant modify them. They can only write/modify files in D:\Share\Incoming. Then only my backup software has visibility to D:\Share\Backup. This creates a level of security that others cant accidentally delete my shared files, and protects against anything malicious such as a virus etc...on peoples machines.

 

If you do want shared access such as D:\Pictures for family to be able to save files, then you're going to need some sort of Versioning such as enabling Shadow Copies to give Previous Versions, or a backup solution.....Backup is obviously highly recommending for any important files to protect you against not just deletions, but ransomware, corruption, physical threats like fire & flood, etc.....

 

 

Does this work with directly running torrents on my main machine, pointing its save dir to the network drive?

[Jarsky]

14 hours ago, Samfisher said:

Does this work with directly running torrents on my main machine, pointing its save dir to the network drive?

You probably need to mount the shared folder with a drive letter for best compatibility. 

I don't use a Windows torrent client so no idea which ones support UNC (network share) paths