Help setting up old computer as a File Server

[KrisC123]

I was given an old windows XP machine (currently running windows 7) with a monitor and keyboard, the works. Its taking up space and currently being used as a shelf for some Irish whiskey and the monitor as a makeshift headphone stand. Ive been having issues with my main computer -- Its been through the wars, having beer spilled on in (through no fault of my own.... i swear)-- so since the trouble has began, I'm afraid i will lose quite a lot of data.

 

I had a look at the computer i was given and it has a 1TB hard drive in it. 4GB of RAM and an athlon x2. 

 

So im wondering if this would work as a simple file storage system to link up to my seemingly dying PC via a crossover cable, and if so, how would i go about doing that?

[Lolucoca]

You could install FreeNas on a cheap drive and use it as a NAS for backing up your data. I'm using FreeNAS myself, Pics incoming

[GuyNamedBrad]

Seeing that you are new to this are you wanting to go the route of a NAS, or dedicated non-nas file server? Also I would recommend you check out FileZilla server its a free software that allows you to host files on a computer, there are others out there but some do cost money. Not to sure what your looking for.

[Lolucoca]

But you have to be careful not to install FreeNAS on your main drive since it will not be usable for data storage later on. Install it on a 40GB hard drive or something similar

[Guest]

Hi,

I would recommend just installing Ubuntu server.

It would require to learn the basic linux commands (worst case you could always just install a Graphical Desktop Environment) but that it how I set mine up and learned a lot about Linux

[Lolucoca]

FreeNAS is available (as the name suggests) for free, and pretty easy to install. You might hear of massive RAM usage, but that's not really the case. ZFS (The File system) uses a lot of RAM, but it has not really impacted me, I'm still saturating the full 1GBit/s And I'm just running on 3GB RAM

[KrisC123]

5 minutes ago, Lolucoca said:

You could install FreeNas on a cheap drive and use it as a NAS for backing up your data. I'm using FreeNAS myself, Pics incoming

ive heard a lot about freeNas but im not too sure how many SATA connections i have on this computer. I do have several 2.5 inch hard drives would it be stupid to use one of those in this use case?

4 minutes ago, bradmonster said:

Seeing that you are new to this are you wanting to go the route of a NAS, or dedicated non-nas file server? Also I would recommend you check out FileZilla server its a free software that allows you to host files on a computer, there are others out there but some do cost money. Not to sure what your looking for.

Im honestly not too sure. I just know that i dont want to spend an awful lot of money as ill be moving country. it will mostly be used for storing music that ill not need to access unless my computer dies. So i guess i would like it to rip CD's to and to store things on, what would you reckon would be best?

1 minute ago, guillaumedsde said:

Hi,

I would recommend just installing Ubuntu server.

It would require to learn the basic linux commands (worst case you could always just install a Graphical Desktop Environment) but that it how I set mine up and learned a lot about Linux

Ive always been interested in that sort of thing but at the moment i think i need a quick fix, but this is definitely put on a list and ill probably ask you a bit more on this in the future

[Lolucoca]

@KrisC123 Got FreeNAS running off a 2.5" HDD that's stuck to the bottom of my case with double sided tape So, it's definetely possible