server with windows clients

[LukeSavenije]

once again, hello everyone here on the forum

 

I'm planning on building my own backup server with an old computer and some parts.

I do have a lacie with a atom and 4 gigs for that, but it just isn't working fast enough for me.

the specs I'm probebly going to use are:

core 2 dual e7500

6-8 gigs of ram

4x 1tb Samsung ecogreen 5400 rpm

An old pentinum 4 pc case (if it all fits at least)

maybe a weak gpu like the gt 210 or just intergrated graphics

hp mobo

 

But I don't know that much about servers. I don't want to pay for a os exept for windows 10/8.1/7 or something like that, becouse I can get those.

But what about linux os's? which one would be a good option for my needs?

It will be used to back up some windows pc's and laptops (and phones if possible) on a weekly or monthly basis.

also, what kind of raid would you suggest for it? I don't want to spend anything on a controller, so just the intergrated one will do the writing

[RAM555789]

Are you saying you want to run virtual machines of windows or just for purely backing up data? If your looking to run virtual machines of windows your going to need to get VM software, and pay for a VM license (and a lot more RAM), but if this is data backup then you just need to setup your server like a NAS, and your going to want more HDD space.

[LukeSavenije]

Just now, RAM555789 said:

Are you saying you want to run virtual machines of windows or just for purely backing up data? If your looking to run virtual machines of windows your going to need to get VM software, and pay for a VM license (and a lot more RAM), but if this is data backup then you just need to setup your server like a NAS, and your going to want more HDD space.

it's just to back up everything. do you have any suggestions for the os?

[RAM555789]

Just now, LukeSavenije said:

it's just to back up everything. do you have any suggestions for the os?

I'm not to familiar with Linux so I may be wrong on this but I believe you can create a NAS with something like Ubuntu servers and use it to back up your data.

[FloRolf]

I'd go for freenas and make the 4 HDDs in a raidz2 which would mean you'd have 2tb available but 2 drives could fail without data loss iirc

[NelizMastr]

Yeah FreeNAS makes a lot of sense here. It'll handle the RAID for you and all you need to do is create a share and map it on your clients, then run a backup tool that dumps the data on a schedule to the share. 

[LukeSavenije]

13 minutes ago, NelizMastr said:

Yeah FreeNAS makes a lot of sense here. It'll handle the RAID for you and all you need to do is create a share and map it on your clients, then run a backup tool that dumps the data on a schedule to the share. 

Any free backup utility you recommend?

[NelizMastr]

9 minutes ago, LukeSavenije said:

Any free backup utility you recommend?

You could even use Windows' built-in File History (Bestandsgeschiedenis) to back-up to a network volume. It's the most seamless way to back-up as it just copies files when the PC isn't accessing them.

[LukeSavenije]

Just now, NelizMastr said:

You could even use Windows' built-in File History (Bestandsgeschiedenis) to back-up to a network volume. It's the most seamless way to back-up as it just copies files when the PC isn't accessing them.

Would that work if I use 7 clients at a time? Don't care that much about writing speed, just about that it keeps being stable

[NelizMastr]

3 minutes ago, LukeSavenije said:

Would that work if I use 7 clients at a time? Don't care that much about writing speed, just about that it keeps being stable

Shouldn't be a problem. File History is made to back-up your personal folders, which usually don't contain tons of large files.