[Herefordshire] Newbie Question: File Server

[Mark Broadbent]

Ben Stephens wrote:
> I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice about setting up a
> fairly basic fileserver for a network with about 2 windows pcs on it.
> What hardware/software.

You could run it on a 486 but a Pentium (or equivalent) would be
suitable.  Software wise, Linux obviously ;) with a copy of samba
running so that the windows pc can interact with it through file shares.

> Would backing up to a USB hard disk be a good idea?

Backing up is always a good idea, where you do it is your preference.
Hard drives are good short term backups but I'd personally backup to CD-Rs.

> I was thinking about maybe a dell value server (they've got a discount
> on at the mo) or building something myself but i'm not really sure
> what I need / what works best with linux.

Dells do work with Linux quite well so you should be fine there.  But
fileserving on the scale of 2 PCs doesn't require anything special best
to go simple and well supported.

> Or possibly something a little more exotic like a mac mini or a
> mini-itx system but it would probably be best to steer clear of
> something like that if it's likely to get complicated.

Mini-ITX is a good choice as these are just standard PCs, Mac mini - not
sure, I've no experience with installing Linux on a Mac.

> I'm not really sure what a file server is supposed to do either,
> except keep a backup, which we could maybe do with a usb hard disk
> anyway.

Technically a file-server just provides storage space for networked
users, backing up the file server is the same as your other PCs.

Thanks
Mark