I have my father’s old work PC (one of those Fujitsu Siemens models) from yesteryears. It features:
- OS: Ubuntu 23.04
- CPU: Intel Core i7-4770 (I forgot the clock speed in GHz).
- RAM: 8 GB DDR3 1600MHz (Single Channel).
- Storage: 128 GB SSD (installed in 2020) & 1 TB HDD (also installed in 2020).
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 620 (or was it GTX?).
I am considering using it as a file server since my laptop only has a 256 GB SSD, and I need more space to store my files on the old PC. But the question is, do I need a home server? When is a home server necessary?
Any sources or information on how to set up a file server with a PC would be greatly appreciated.
Vocabulary and Grammatical Errors were improved and fixed by ChatGPT because English is my 2nd Language
I’d just use a low-wattage and inexpensive Raspbery Pi to set up a home network. But, if you have the spare computer and don’t really stress about energy usage, go for it. It’s kind of fun and not too difficult. Install linux. Install Samba. Voilà!
What’s Samba? Even searching the internet, the definition is confusing. Maybe, it’s because I am a newbie, and I shouldn’t set up a home file server.
Don’t let lack of knowledge ever be the reason to stop trying something in homelabs! Honestly for a beginner resource ChatGPT is where I’d go for these kinds of questions. It does a great job explaining what all the terms mean and you can drill down into topics as needed such as permissions and different terminal commands you’ll need
Anyways, this link has a decent description of samba:
https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/install-and-configure-samba#1-overview
So as long as a computer is on the network it could access files stored on this hard drive. It is super useful as a first homelab project
It’s what I use for my home server and it’s great. You can even use VLC to stream music and stuff via samba.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samba_(software) I just searched for the “samba computer” and this was the first link.
See if you can find some introductory videos that are suitable for you on YouVideo or elsewhere that are suitable for you to work out if you are ready to set up your first home server.
If you just need some storage you could just get a “cheap” USB storage spinning rust external hard drive and move the data that you don’t need day to day onto the drive. At a later date you get a Raspberry Pi or second hand small PC and use the PC as a server with the same drive attached.