Home Servers?

[illegalprelude]

Hey you guys, let me tell you a little about my setup and then dig into the question.

I currently have a
PowerMac G5
Custom PC (3.4HT P4)
Vaio Laptop
Vaio Desktop (slightly older, P4 2.4) (this computer as of now is down, I think the hard drive is damidged on it so im gonna have to put a new HDD and Windows on it)

Now, as of right now, I have the G5 and Custom PC Sharring Files. I then have my Vaio Laptop and Parents HP Desktop (not listed above) on a network.

I also 2 days ago got the 80 Hour TiVo for the world cup
I also bought the wireless for that and so its talking with my Vaio Laptop and now I can send files back and forth between those two.

This got me to thinking of, Sense I have my Vaio Desktop, I can get it up and running and I already bumped it to about 500GB inside before the main hdd with the OS on it took a dump. Once its up and running, I dont have a real use for it and ive always thought of using it as a Server to hook up to the home tv setup to send files and such.

So now is the perfect time to turn this sucker into a Server so I can just store all my files off my TiVo on it so I can have more free space on my TiVo and just keep all the things I like saved to watch again.

I know this is more of a PC question but does anybody know how to setup this computer as a server or know any good sites with reads on them? I searched on Google and Tomshardware and found nothing. So any pointers would be much appreciated

 

[illegalprelude]

buzump?

 

[jaydub]

My big PC here at home basically serves as a ...well... server. I'm just running Windows XP on it, no need for anything much more robust. Currently I have four shared drives on the network, which are used often my me on my MacBook Pro, my wife on her Dell, and my xbox which I have modded to be a home theater PC. Just setting up the simple shares was plenty, and I can literally stream movies over my network if I want to watch something on any of my devices.

I also have a replayTV, but the quality of my cable in the area is so poor that it's not worth trying to archive anything. Perhaps if I get Dish or DirectTV it'll be worth it.

Do some searching on simple Samba (SMB) shares, it's really pretty straightforward.

 

[saabmp3]

buzump?

Patience, it's only been a little over 2 hours. If you just want a disk server, share a folder and voila, it's a server.

Maybe you should do a little more research into what kind of "server" you want.

Ben

 

[eva01]

I assume you mean a network server and not a website server?

 

[Felldownthewell]

Patience, it's only been a little over 2 hours.
Ben

It looks like its been closer to 26...

 

[illegalprelude]

My big PC here at home basically serves as a ...well... server. I'm just running Windows XP on it, no need for anything much more robust. Currently I have four shared drives on the network, which are used often my me on my MacBook Pro, my wife on her Dell, and my xbox which I have modded to be a home theater PC. Just setting up the simple shares was plenty, and I can literally stream movies over my network if I want to watch something on any of my devices.

I also have a replayTV, but the quality of my cable in the area is so poor that it's not worth trying to archive anything. Perhaps if I get Dish or DirectTV it'll be worth it.

Do some searching on simple Samba (SMB) shares, it's really pretty straightforward.

thats indeed what I might have to do. I mean, I guess once I fix the computer up, i can just share it like all the other computers and drag and drop files in and out of it like you said.

Patience, it's only been a little over 2 hours. If you just want a disk server, share a folder and voila, it's a server.

Maybe you should do a little more research into what kind of "server" you want.

Ben

Glad you had nothing better to post then then the fact that you cannot read time correctly.

I assume you mean a network server and not a website server?

exactly. Just something to store my files on.

It looks like its been closer to 26...

thanks for noticing

 

[Coolnat2004]

Sounds like a simple folder share will do the trick for you. If you have WinXP Pro, you can install IIS and then you also have (optionally) a webserver and an FTP server for free.. if you like that sort of thing.

I have a whitebox PC in my basement that sits there just to take FTP downloads of database backups from my websites It works pretty well.

 

[illegalprelude]

Sounds like a simple folder share will do the trick for you. If you have WinXP Pro, you can install IIS and then you also have (optionally) a webserver and an FTP server for free.. if you like that sort of thing.

I have a whitebox PC in my basement that sits there just to take FTP downloads of database backups from my websites It works pretty well.

Ok, heres a question. Im using a Netgear G router (54mps) to have all my systems linked together.

My PC is upstairs. My TiVo and laptop are downstairs (both wireless). Well I transfered alot of the World Cup games on my laptop. But of course, laptop has limited space and I just hadent setup my upstairs PC yet for the network. Now I have all my computers talking to each other.

Im now transfering files between my Laptop and PC across my network and its taking forever? PC is brand spanking built with the highest specs around. Laptop is just about a year old with high grades in it too. SO I dont think its my specs at all. Any idea where im going wrong?

Also, on my PC, I actually do have XPpro.

 

[eva01]

wireless transfer can take a while. I have that setup with my laptop and powermac and they are almost all the time within 10 feet of each other and it still takes a long while

it is not going to go at anywhere near 54mps i believe

 

[illegalprelude]

yea cause as of right now, I have about 35GB of vids being transfered

Is upgrading the home network (the router) even worth it or save the $100?