Do you have a file server at home?

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
As much as I love to mock people who run a Unix-based OS as their primary machine, I'll be the first to admit that it does have its place in the home - chained up in the proverbial basement and never seen or heard.
- M4H

QFT. And ROTFLMAO at the link

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim
ok the thought crossed my mind before but I couldn't answer the question "what would be the point? "
somebody with a fileserver tell me what the point is?

Well mine isn't really a "fileserver" fileserver - just a dumbed down regular 'puter with a lot of drive shares
Why a separate system?
1) To isolate it. You shouldn't be dicking around with a fileserver other than occasionally loading on new files. No warez surfing, no torrenting, no remote desktop, nada. Locked down as tight as possible so nothing will end up kafoobling with the files.

2) Doesn't cost that much. If I didn't need the mobo to support LBA48, I could've (and did at one time) gone with a P3 based setup. You don't need a quad-core Core 2 with 4GB RAM to stream a couple of DiVX/DVD ISOs/MP3s to a couple of home users. A dinky old Slot 1 P3-450 w/192MB is enough (my older pre-Stacker setup).

One interesting FYI : You can slap two Promise IDE controllers into a system and it'll automagically pair up (when it enumerates the IDE devices, they'll appear as HDD0, HDD1 ... HDD7). DOES NOT work with > 2 controllers (learned that the hard way :| )

 

[Aikouka]

Yes, I have a Media/File Server running Windows Media Center Edition 2005.

It also serves as my torrent downloader, Ventrilo server, game server, etc.

EDIT: I agree with WhoBeDaPlaya. Isolating the tasks that file servers do is probably the best reason. I wanted to avoid the fun of having people download off my FTP while I'm playing a game, but didn't want to set up some crazy time restriction to avoid it. Also, the PC is separate and hooked up to my HDTV as that acts as its primary display.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim
ok the thought crossed my mind before but I couldn't answer the question "what would be the point? "

somebody with a fileserver tell me what the point is?

Addressed several times in this thread already.

- M4H

none of the ones proposed were deemed mission critical for my computing needs. oh well. maybe i'll be nerdy enough one day to justify one.

Like anything else, it depends on your needs and wants. Not everyone requires one. I find that having a central file server has made life much easier. I have a laptop and rather than having a ton of external hard drives to hook up when I get home, I just have to join the wireless network and I can backup my files and access archived files. I use it as a network file backup device to store old projects, make daily and week backups, transfer files between computers in the house easily, and so on. I also make ISOs of all the software I buy and archive them on the server for safe-keeping. Additionally, I store disk images of all of my computers and my client's computers, plus VMs. Say my wife's parent's computer gets a virus and croaks, and they lose their backup discs...I can simply burn them a copy of their disk image and restore their computer in under 30 minutes.

I also use it with my Xboxes for multimedia. I have a modded Xbox on every TV in the house. The file server holds the multimedia and streams it to the Xboxes. Photos, music, movies...all are stored on the file server and can be played back on any Xbox or computer in the house. Instant access to all of my multimedia and my wife can still watch a movie or listen to music even if I take my laptop to work - plus my laptop's drive is free to store stuff other than large multimedia files. I don't have to keep any CDs or DVDs in my living room, it's spotless because they're all on the server and the discs are tucked away in a cabinet.

But, that's not for everybody. Most people just use DVD players for movies, a stereo or iPod for music, and have a USB thumb drive or backup hard drive to store their files on. It's also not always about practicality...this is Anandtech and we are geeks after all

 

[child of wonder]

Originally posted by: AnthroAndStargate
If this was already asked in this thread I apologize - if not - why do you guys run file servers? Do you actually access random files that much for personal use? I am just curious. Why not just use externals?

My entire house is wired with Cat 6. Every room in the house has two jacks, including the kitchen and garage. Everything is wired through a Gb switch. As of now, I have about 325GB of recorded TV shows alone and I watch them on my 3 different computers via the file server.

I also rip all my CDs and store them on the file server for remote listening and even run Gnump3d so I can stream my music collection and listen to it from anywhere on the internet (password protected, of course).

It's just so nice to have a centralized location for all my files that I can quickly access from any computer in the house.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: WhoBeDaPlaya

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim
ok the thought crossed my mind before but I couldn't answer the question "what would be the point? "
somebody with a fileserver tell me what the point is?

Well mine isn't really a "fileserver" fileserver - just a dumbed down regular 'puter with a lot of drive shares
Why a separate system?
1) To isolate it. You shouldn't be dicking around with a fileserver other than occasionally loading on new files. No warez surfing, no torrenting, no remote desktop, nada. Locked down as tight as possible so nothing will end up kafoobling with the files.

2) Doesn't cost that much. If I didn't need the mobo to support LBA48, I could've (and did at one time) gone with a P3 based setup. You don't need a quad-core Core 2 with 4GB RAM to stream a couple of DiVX/DVD ISOs/MP3s to a couple of home users. A dinky old Slot 1 P3-450 w/192MB is enough (my older pre-Stacker setup).

One interesting FYI : You can slap two Promise IDE controllers into a system and it'll automagically pair up (when it enumerates the IDE devices, they'll appear as HDD0, HDD1 ... HDD7). DOES NOT work with > 2 controllers (learned that the hard way :| )

Yeah exactly...my first file server also ran a web server and I dinked around with FTP, email, and so on. You can even setup a separate box just for downloading torrents if you're into that. Like you said, even cheapo computers work...anything from about 200mhz on up works fine with Linux. Just slap on FreeNAS and a big hard drive and voila, insta-NAS I also ran a game server for counter-strike and a whole bunch of other goodies when I was learning Linux, it's neat stuff!

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: child of wonder
My entire house is wired with Cat 6. Every room in the house has two jacks, including the kitchen and garage. Everything is wired through a Gb switch. As of now, I have about 325GB of recorded TV shows alone and I watch them on my 3 different computers via the file server.

I have quite a few rooms with CAT5 plugs (previous owner put them in) but since wireless... no need for unsightly cables when I'm out in the living room surfing / gaming on the laptop... why haven't you gone wireless ?

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: child of wonder
My entire house is wired with Cat 6. Every room in the house has two jacks, including the kitchen and garage. Everything is wired through a Gb switch. As of now, I have about 325GB of recorded TV shows alone and I watch them on my 3 different computers via the file server.

I have quite a few rooms with CAT5 plugs (previous owner put them in) but since wireless... no need for unsightly cables when I'm out in the living room surfing / gaming on the laptop... why haven't you gone wireless ?

He might not have a laptop, plus file transfer speeds stink on wireless I'm actually going back to wires...I'm keeping wireless for when I move around the house with my laptop, but when it's on the desk it will be plugged in.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim
ok the thought crossed my mind before but I couldn't answer the question "what would be the point? "

somebody with a fileserver tell me what the point is?

Addressed several times in this thread already.

- M4H

none of the ones proposed were deemed mission critical for my computing needs. oh well. maybe i'll be nerdy enough one day to justify one.

Like anything else, it depends on your needs and wants. Not everyone requires one. I find that having a central file server has made life much easier. I have a laptop and rather than having a ton of external hard drives to hook up when I get home, I just have to join the wireless network and I can backup my files and access archived files. I use it as a network file backup device to store old projects, make daily and week backups, transfer files between computers in the house easily, and so on. I also make ISOs of all the software I buy and archive them on the server for safe-keeping. Additionally, I store disk images of all of my computers and my client's computers, plus VMs. Say my wife's parent's computer gets a virus and croaks, and they lose their backup discs...I can simply burn them a copy of their disk image and restore their computer in under 30 minutes.

I also use it with my Xboxes for multimedia. I have a modded Xbox on every TV in the house. The file server holds the multimedia and streams it to the Xboxes. Photos, music, movies...all are stored on the file server and can be played back on any Xbox or computer in the house. Instant access to all of my multimedia and my wife can still watch a movie or listen to music even if I take my laptop to work - plus my laptop's drive is free to store stuff other than large multimedia files. I don't have to keep any CDs or DVDs in my living room, it's spotless because they're all on the server and the discs are tucked away in a cabinet.

But, that's not for everybody. Most people just use DVD players for movies, a stereo or iPod for music, and have a USB thumb drive or backup hard drive to store their files on. It's also not always about practicality...this is Anandtech and we are geeks after all

wow.....you mean business. I'm a n00b apparently.

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: rh71
I have quite a few rooms with CAT5 plugs (previous owner put them in) but since wireless... no need for unsightly cables when I'm out in the living room surfing / gaming on the laptop... why haven't you gone wireless ?

Definitely agree with Kaido, when it comes to file transfer speeds and worrying about interference from other devices, file transfer speeds are so much nicer on wired rather than wireless. For me, the difference is about 1mb/s on wireless to 10mb/s on wired and when transferring a 500mb WoW patch to another PC, 500 seconds or 50 seconds... you choose .

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Aikouka

Originally posted by: rh71
I have quite a few rooms with CAT5 plugs (previous owner put them in) but since wireless... no need for unsightly cables when I'm out in the living room surfing / gaming on the laptop... why haven't you gone wireless ?

Definitely agree with Kaido, when it comes to file transfer speeds and worrying about interference from other devices, file transfer speeds are so much nicer on wired rather than wireless. For me, the difference is about 1mb/s on wireless to 10mb/s on wired and when transferring a 500mb WoW patch to another PC, 500 seconds or 50 seconds... you choose .

That and most routers I've used tend to choke on huge files, so it's either a wired transfer or memory stick/USB hard drive if I want to transfer, say, a 4 gig file from one computer to another Gimme my dang Gigabit Wireless already!

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: rh71
... why haven't you gone wireless ?

Try doing more than one thing at once over the wireless and let me know how that works.

- M4H

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: Kaido
But, that's not for everybody. Most people just use DVD players for movies, a stereo or iPod for music, and have a USB thumb drive or backup hard drive to store their files on. It's also not always about practicality...this is Anandtech and we are geeks after all

wow.....you mean business. I'm a n00b apparently.

See bolded line.

- M4H

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: Kaido
That and most routers I've used tend to choke on huge files, so it's either a wired transfer or memory stick/USB hard drive if I want to transfer, say, a 4 gig file from one computer to another Gimme my dang Gigabit Wireless already!

I've had more problems with wireless devices dying than routers minding the huge files. Although, I think it's partly my fault for buying a Netgear wireless NIC .

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: Kaido

Like anything else, it depends on your needs and wants. Not everyone requires one. I find that having a central file server has made life much easier. I have a laptop and rather than having a ton of external hard drives to hook up when I get home, I just have to join the wireless network and I can backup my files and access archived files. I use it as a network file backup device to store old projects, make daily and week backups, transfer files between computers in the house easily, and so on. I also make ISOs of all the software I buy and archive them on the server for safe-keeping. Additionally, I store disk images of all of my computers and my client's computers, plus VMs. Say my wife's parent's computer gets a virus and croaks, and they lose their backup discs...I can simply burn them a copy of their disk image and restore their computer in under 30 minutes.

I also use it with my Xboxes for multimedia. I have a modded Xbox on every TV in the house. The file server holds the multimedia and streams it to the Xboxes. Photos, music, movies...all are stored on the file server and can be played back on any Xbox or computer in the house. Instant access to all of my multimedia and my wife can still watch a movie or listen to music even if I take my laptop to work - plus my laptop's drive is free to store stuff other than large multimedia files. I don't have to keep any CDs or DVDs in my living room, it's spotless because they're all on the server and the discs are tucked away in a cabinet.

But, that's not for everybody. Most people just use DVD players for movies, a stereo or iPod for music, and have a USB thumb drive or backup hard drive to store their files on. It's also not always about practicality...this is Anandtech and we are geeks after all

wow.....you mean business. I'm a n00b apparently.

Nah, you're just not familiar with it. Now you are

The easiest way to start out is to get an older, cheap computer, put a larger hard drive in it (320gb for $95 on Newegg!), and install either Windows or Linux. Windows 2000 works great as a simple file server and you can disable Internet access on it so that it's only accessible on the LAN. You don't even need a monitor; just run VNC for remote access from any of your other PCs. Another option is FreeNAS, and easy and free Unix-based file server operating system. Either way it only requires a few hours to set up, easy to do after work one day.

From there add it to your network; if you don't have a network grab a router and some cables or wireless cards (if you don't mind the performance hit). Monoprice.com has awesome deals on CAT5/CAT5E/CAT6 cables (100' cable for under $15) if you want to buy some pre-made cable. If you're running Windows as a file server, just setup up a shared file on the desktop and then create folders within there for whatever you want to do with it - store movies, organize your MP3 collection, file backup folders, etc. It's really pretty simple.

Just take a moment to assess what you would want a file server to do. I wanted a hassle-free way to organized, store, and backup my multimedia and computer files. I have a backup program where I just click the button on my PC and it automagically backups up my files to the server. Whenever I buy a new DVD movie or music CD, I rip it on my computer and then copy it over to the server under the Movie or Music folder, then chuck the disc in my storage cabinet. Easy as pie. Once you get everything setup and organized and do backups of everything you have initially, it's really easy to maintain the system. Just about zero effort. I'll post more details on what software and hardware I use if you're interested.

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: Aikouka

Originally posted by: rh71
I have quite a few rooms with CAT5 plugs (previous owner put them in) but since wireless... no need for unsightly cables when I'm out in the living room surfing / gaming on the laptop... why haven't you gone wireless ?

Definitely agree with Kaido, when it comes to file transfer speeds and worrying about interference from other devices, file transfer speeds are so much nicer on wired rather than wireless. For me, the difference is about 1mb/s on wireless to 10mb/s on wired and when transferring a 500mb WoW patch to another PC, 500 seconds or 50 seconds... you choose .

That and most routers I've used tend to choke on huge files, so it's either a wired transfer or memory stick/USB hard drive if I want to transfer, say, a 4 gig file from one computer to another Gimme my dang Gigabit Wireless already!

Well don't forget I'm coming from wired also... I know what the difference is like but how often are you actually transferring 1GB+ files for speeds to matter or be a bother ? Even so, I can always plug it back in when needing to do that.

I've often streamed a 4GB video file (when I record stuff with my PVR and watch it later upstairs) with no problems... and all with my crappy ISP-provided router.

I can understand having to go out and buy a wireless NIC for your desktop if you've already got built-in ethernet... but having to wire your whole house is more of a bother than that.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Aikouka

Originally posted by: Kaido
That and most routers I've used tend to choke on huge files, so it's either a wired transfer or memory stick/USB hard drive if I want to transfer, say, a 4 gig file from one computer to another Gimme my dang Gigabit Wireless already!

I've had more problems with wireless devices dying than routers minding the huge files. Although, I think it's partly my fault for buying a Netgear wireless NIC .

Ugh, Netgear. I went through a couple of their wifi routers before I decided "never again" I've heard that their newer stuff isn't all that bad though. If you want a good deal on a Linksys setup (router, 2 PCI cards, 1 USB adapter), PM me lol. I'm back on wired

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: Aikouka

Originally posted by: rh71
I have quite a few rooms with CAT5 plugs (previous owner put them in) but since wireless... no need for unsightly cables when I'm out in the living room surfing / gaming on the laptop... why haven't you gone wireless ?

Definitely agree with Kaido, when it comes to file transfer speeds and worrying about interference from other devices, file transfer speeds are so much nicer on wired rather than wireless. For me, the difference is about 1mb/s on wireless to 10mb/s on wired and when transferring a 500mb WoW patch to another PC, 500 seconds or 50 seconds... you choose .

That and most routers I've used tend to choke on huge files, so it's either a wired transfer or memory stick/USB hard drive if I want to transfer, say, a 4 gig file from one computer to another Gimme my dang Gigabit Wireless already!

Well don't forget I'm coming from wired also... I know what the difference is like but how often are you actually transferring 1GB+ files for speeds to matter or be a bother ? Even so, I can always plug it back in when needing to do that.

I've often streamed a 4GB video file (when I record stuff with my PVR and watch it later upstairs) with no problems... and all with my crappy ISP-provided router.

I can understand having to go out and buy a wireless NIC for your desktop if you've already got ethernet... but having to wire your whole house is more of a bother than that.

Well personally I buy new DVD movies, convert them to Xvid (1.4gb), then transfer to my file server all the time. I need to test that out on my hacked Buffalo router, actually...

But you're right, it won't matter for most people. But if you have a file server, why not use it for the good stuff?

Edit: Also, the place I'm currently at has foiled-lined insulation, the wireless reception is terrible

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: Kaido
Ugh, Netgear. I went through a couple of their wifi routers before I decided "never again" I've heard that their newer stuff isn't all that bad though. If you want a good deal on a Linksys setup (router, 2 PCI cards, 1 USB adapter), PM me lol. I'm back on wired

I've had worse luck with any Linksys product. My current WRT-54GX2 router is a piece of garbage that dies if it receives too many connections (about 200 is the limit, i.e. torrenting kills it). Previous linksys routers that I've used used to simply die at random and would only work again when power cycled.

Originally posted by: rh71
I've often streamed a 4GB video file (when I record stuff with my PVR and watch it later upstairs) with no problems... and all with my crappy ISP-provided router.

Streaming doesn't require nearly as much bandwidth as actually transferring the file at a nice optimal speed. For example, I can download a 170mb anime episode in about 8 minutes (around 320-350k/s), and that's easily under a wi-fi's bandwidth. The episode is about 3x as long as that, so you're definitely within the confines of speed where you can stream at .

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Aikouka

Originally posted by: Kaido
Ugh, Netgear. I went through a couple of their wifi routers before I decided "never again" I've heard that their newer stuff isn't all that bad though. If you want a good deal on a Linksys setup (router, 2 PCI cards, 1 USB adapter), PM me lol. I'm back on wired

I've had worse luck with any Linksys product. My current WRT-54GX2 router is a piece of garbage that dies if it receives too many connections (about 200 is the limit, i.e. torrenting kills it). Previous linksys routers that I've used used to simply die at random and would only work again when power cycled.

Well I don't quite know if home routers were meant to accept 200+ connections I don't have experience with that particular model; I've only used the WRT54G/WRT54GS models and I've had extremely good luck with them.

 

[child of wonder]

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: child of wonder
My entire house is wired with Cat 6. Every room in the house has two jacks, including the kitchen and garage. Everything is wired through a Gb switch. As of now, I have about 325GB of recorded TV shows alone and I watch them on my 3 different computers via the file server.

I have quite a few rooms with CAT5 plugs (previous owner put them in) but since wireless... no need for unsightly cables when I'm out in the living room surfing / gaming on the laptop... why haven't you gone wireless ?

I also have a wireless AP in my home, too. I went with wired as well for three reasons:

1. Cat 6 is capable of 10Gb. Eventually I'll be streaming HD content over the network to a PC in each bedroom to watch TV and Media. Wireless cannot do that.

2. Wireless is not reliable. In my area I can detect 7 other wireless networks in the 2.4GHz range. Unless I switch to 802.11a, I have to worry about interference from those other networks (luckily no one is within 6 channels of me yet), not to mention interference from other devices.

3. The house was built brand new for us so installing cable was a breeze.

Wireless has its usefulness, like when we sit outside on the deck or want to roam around in the house with the laptop untethered. But when you need some serious network horsepower, wired FTW.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Originally posted by: Kaido
Well I don't quite know if home routers were meant to accept 200+ connections I don't have experience with that particular model; I've only used the WRT54G/WRT54GS models and I've had extremely good luck with them.

WRT54GL user here. So far so good with DD-WRT v23.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: WhoBeDaPlaya

Originally posted by: Kaido
Well I don't quite know if home routers were meant to accept 200+ connections I don't have experience with that particular model; I've only used the WRT54G/WRT54GS models and I've had extremely good luck with them.

WRT54GL user here. So far so good with DD-WRT v23.

Nice, I've been having a blast with my Buffalo & DD-WRT, love it!

 

[aldamon]

Originally posted by: KaidoWell I don't quite know if home routers were meant to accept 200+ connections

My Zyxel X-550 can support a NAT table of up to 16,000 max sessions.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Originally posted by: aldamon
My Zyxel X-550 can support a NAT table of up to 16,000 max sessions.

:Q Skeet skeet skeet... aah frack, I'm a hardcore geek and I'm going to die a virgin