Building a File Server
 

I am planning to build a personal file server for primarily home use (occasionally, over the web). It will be used as storage to facilitate large files; such as, movies and music. Unfortunately, I've never built a file server before, so I don't know where to begin.

Here are some features that I've taken into consideration.

I will be using Windows Server 2003 as the OS, unless there are better options out there?

Backing up files won't be necessary as they are just multimedia files.

The biggest issue will be connectivity because I want it to be wireless, and if possible, be capable of streaming media off the server. What is the best and most effective way to achieve this? "G" network is too slow for SMB transfer, and "N" is not fully developed yet (How long would it take to transfer a 1gb file within ur own network with "N"?), what about Power over Ethernet?

I am planning to use my old computer as a file server, and just purchase new parts where it's needed like HDs and fans; therefore, would a AMD 3800+ Dualcore with 2gb of RAM be enough processing power to serve 2 clients simultaneously? or should I just build a new one from scratch?

That's all I can think of for now. I am open to suggestions. Thanks!

For two clients, a 3800+ is more than enough... your disk i/o is going to be the bottleneck here and streaming 2 movies isnt going to stress your HDs at all.

You don't need much hardware, if you're only serving files on a home network. Your AMD dual core would be more than sufficient. I have a server in the closet that shares files, downloads torrents, and also has Apache (web server). It's running a P4 with WinXP, 1GB of ram. I don't like wireless, so all my computers are on cat5. I don't have a landline, so I converted all my phone jacks to RJ45.

Why would my disk's i/o be a bottleneck? if anything, I would think my wireless network be the culprit, as a "G" network's real-life SMB transfer speed is only 5-6Mbps, making wireless streaming rather difficult, unless there are better solutions.

The only available solution to slow wireless transfer speeds is CAT5e.

file server? just buy a NAS

How would it be wireless if im using CAT 5e cables? I've already said I don't want a wired network for streaming, preferably.

Why spend an extra $200 on an enclosure when I already have an existing case occupying space in my bedroom? I can put that additional saving towards an additional HD etc.

just get wireless N then if you do not want to go wired

Yes, I can move forward with that, but I was hoping that there would be a similar or better solution out there, as "N" has yet been finalized.

Does anyone have experience with Ethernet over Powerline? If so, How are the results compared to "N"?

becuz a nas would only take 5 minutes to setup and consumes much less power.

or just run openNAS instead of windows server 2003... its a waste of resource.

a D-LINK DNS-323 is like $120 bux only

or just put int hard drive in your desktop and share the drives....

I think you're confused as to what Power Over Ethernet does. PoE is not a wireless alternative to the 802.11n standard. PoE is simply the feature that allows a device to be powered by the same ethernet cable that it's plugged into. EG: a port on a switch can power an access point it's connected to via Cat5e.

I don't know why you're so concerned about the current Draft N technology being incompatible with the final 802.11n standard. Whenever 802.11n actually becomes a formal standard, it should be able to support older Draft N devices. Even if it didn't, should you go with the current N devices, you still have a wireless technology that meets your CURRENT wireless needs.

Draft 2.0 is pretty much the final spec already

Ethernet over Powerline is what OP is talking about.

I agree, just got with a NAS. I picked up the D-Link DNS-323 and it works fine. Why set up a whole other tower when you don't need to.

You're probably right. He said Power over Ethernet before, then Ethernet over Powerline later.

You might want to look at this thread.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1071162

and take a look at unraid for a os
http://lime-technology.com/?page_id=46

A fileserver needs next to zero processing power. Even an old PII with 256MB would probably do just fine. You're thinking it's more complicated than it really is. But yeah, the biggest bottleneck is for sure is the network. Unfortunately, wireless just isn't the way to go if you're streaming high bitrate files... just not reliable enough.

I have 6 computers throughout the house that are networked wirelessly. I would love to network them via cables for reliability but I'm too lazy to run wires through the walls. Do you have a link to a guide that shows you how to convert the phone jacks? Also, would you be able to use a router with the phone jacks? (As in a different ip address for each jack?) Or is it a system that requires the use of splitters?

Sorry about the confusion, I actually meant Ethernet over Powerline. Something like this..

http://www.netgear.com/Products/Powe...s/HDXB101.aspx

The problem with that is.... I'm planning to setup a XBOX360 in my network, so that I can stream off of the file server. With the recent firmware upgrade with the D-Link DNS-323 to have compatibility with the 360, there's been alot of XBOX360 issues in the area. I might not want to pursue that route until the issue is solved.

Once again, sorry about the confusion.

Ethernet over Powerline might solve this issue, even if wireless "N" doesn't solve that. That's why i'm inquiring if anyone has experience with that.

Anyone? something like this...

http://www.netgear.com/Products/Powe...s/HDXB101.aspx

It probably would be a solution.

Read the reviews on NewEgg... they're generally positive about powerline adapters.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...tion=powerline

I suspect even Draft N won't be able to do the job if:
1) you are watching HD
2) your distances are over 20 feet.
YMMV

As mentioned, Draft N 2.0 is the final draft for the specifications before the final roll out, Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of having "next-gen" wireless if it cannot handle HD bandwidth?

I don't really buy that.

i can stream videos (divx, h264, xvid, rmvb) perfectly off my NAS(D-Link DNS323) with my sony notebook (wireless G) , streaming videos to my macbook with wireless N doesn't work as well, but its not the network problem but the players for mac. in the windows environment it works great.

even if u got gigabit lan, you might not even be able to stream full HD 1080P content at the current technology anyways.

i've done multiple streams of video all through out my network at home with my NAS and there is absolutely no problem

my old cheap linksys NAS can still stream videos, but not nearly as well as the DNS323.

I don't know where you got that information from, but 1080p content requires no more than 50Mbps to transfer in a network, 100Mbps, which most of us have, provides us more than enough headroom to accomplish that task, let alone a Gigabit lan.

Now of course, I am speaking of real world speeds here, not speeds from what the manufacturer suggests.

Depending on how old your building is, the lines to the phone jacks may be Cat5 cables. You can check this by unscrewing the plate, and see if anything looks like a network cable, or if you see 8 wires. If they are cat5, then you'd just need to replace the phone jacks with RJ45 jacks. There should be a central location where all the jacks lead to, you'll need to install RJ45 jacks at that end, as well. Then all you'll need to do is attach the equipment.