File Server - a starter needs help

[Noobeni]

Hello everyone,

this is my first post and I am not shure whether everything is correct, please correct me, if there is anything to improve.

 

Now I have a problem. I want to recycle my PC as a server. The specs are listed down below. Thing is I know exactly what it has to do, but not how to achieve it. This is where you guys hopefully can help me. It definitely has to be usable with MacOS, should be cheap (I started studying so money is a factor) and only to be used via WiFi. To be totally clear, I don't have access to a cable, only to a wireless connection. 

Function wise I need it to be usable as a file server and maybe as a password manager or as a virtual PC. 

 

Any help is appreciated

 

Thank you in advance

 

All the best,

Benedikt

 

 

Specs:

Ryzen 7 1700X

Nvidia GTX 1070ti

256 GB SSD

1,5 TB HDD

 

[Electronics Wizardy]

IDk if you have a os on your PC currently, but you can easily just setup a network share in windows of the hdd and you have a file server. Thats what Id do here. You can setup hyper-v if you want to run vms.

 

You could setup a nas os like unraid or truenas here also and you will get a nice web interface to manage this.

[demrxz]

So not sure exactly what your question is, but in terms of specs, you are more than set for running a file server with the CPU alone. I would personally even drop the GPU and run the system headless if you don't plan on doing transcoding (and even then your CPU can handle most tasks), selling it and recovering costs for your studies might be an option. I would flash the system with a NAS-specific OS, I recommend TrueNAS Scale, but assuming by your initial question I would suggest Unraid as it's very newbie friendly, and allows for expandability without the hassle, with easy docker deployment.

 

You can use your SSD for the cache as Unraid lacks in speed due to its design, and HDD for all your files then set up docker for your password manager, ex: self-hosted Bitwarden. In terms of your usage with a Mac, this should be no problem as you can just connect to the server via SMB and everything will look like a USB drive per se. SMB works over WiFi assuming you are on the same network.

[Bdavis]

The wifi thing might be an issue. Do you have any control over the network? If it's just a campus wifi network you probably won't be able to communicate with other devices. At least that's how I would set it up if I was the network administrator.

 

You might be better off creating your own separate network with just your server and your computers.

[Frederic Truslow]

On 11/26/2022 at 7:13 PM, Bdavis said:

If it's just a campus wifi network you probably won't be able to communicate with other devices.

Was going to ask the same thing. Hope you're enjoying university/college. How long are you going to be on campus wifi / in dorms?

[wseaton]

On 11/26/2022 at 8:13 PM, Bdavis said:

 If it's just a campus wifi network you probably won't be able to communicate with other devices. 

Or, everybody will be able to communicate with your file server