Converting a Desktop to NAS

I

IJo07

New Member
I'm doing a community service project at a local nature center, and it involves installing network storage into their computer network. I'm not sure of the details yet, but they have told me that they have an "old" desktop computer that I could use to convert to a network storage device. Their computer network consists of around 4 or 5 computers, and is a peer-to-peer network. If I had to guess I would say the desktop I would be converting is running Win 98 or ME. Does anyone know a way to convert a desktop into a network storage device? :confused: I would greatly appreciate any help.
 
yeah, make it a server. an easy way to do this is to install 2k on it, share the drive, make sure the domain login is setup or workgroup is the same, and your off and running. its no different than making shares on your own computer.

even better, install tight vnc server on it, http://tightvnc.com/ and remove the mouse, kboard, and monitor and you can just vnc to the machine when u need to do something to it, of course, that would be after boot tho. so all u would need to have connected is power and ethernet!
 
celsdogg said:
yeah, make it a server. an easy way to do this is to install 2k on it, share the drive, make sure the domain login is setup or workgroup is the same, and your off and running. its no different than making shares on your own computer.

even better, install tight vnc server on it, http://tightvnc.com/ and remove the mouse, kboard, and monitor and you can just vnc to the machine when u need to do something to it, of course, that would be after boot tho. so all u would need to have connected is power and ethernet!
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Thanks, I'll try this. Do you need to have Windows 2K installed on the computer, or will this work with other Windows OS's (98, ME, XP Home)?
 
xp would be even better, not sure if home will do it as easily tho. 98 or ME im going to say no, because in the long term, you would prolly end up rebooting it alot and having to re-establish the shares. also, they are just not as robust as the NT5 core which 2k and xp are based on.
 
Or you could snatch a free copy of Suse, Fedora, or Ubuntu and set it up using Samba. That would also give you the ability to run NFS for NAS as well.

Setting up Samba would be relatively painless.
 
New Specs, New Questions

Hi, sorry for the long delay, I had to get my project approved first. I finally got the specifications of the network situation and computers at the center.

The network is composed of one DSL connection (1 Mb/Sec Bandwidth) connected to one router with five host computers (directly connected). The router has WLAN capabilities. The center's director had no idea what kind of cables or router he was using, evidently he had contracted a computer company to install it. I'm guessing they're your standard Cat5e cables. The host computers are relatively outdated- they're P III 500 MHz machines with 256 MB's of RAM and 6 GB Hard disks running Windows 98 SE.

The system I will be converting into a server also has these specifications. Obviously, I will need to upgrade the hard drive. I'm thinking two 80 GB Hard Disks (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822135106?) should probably do the trick. Is 7200 RPM good for access speed? The data will be lots of small files (power point presentations, documents, membership access information). If I am to use the limited RAID on one hard drive and a backup on the other hard drive, will I need to buy a specialized hardware controller?

Should any other components of the server computer be upgraded too (Ram, OS)? I'm trying to compile a list of all needed equipment and its costs so I can see how much fund raising I'll need for the project.

Also, would it be possible to password-proect the folders on the server?

Thanks for your help.
 
The link you posted was to a SATA drive, PIII's dont have SATA, so you'll need an IDE drive. And i would upgrade to either 384mb or 512mb of ram.
 
The link you posted was to a SATA drive, PIII's dont have SATA, so you'll need an IDE drive.
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not if he gets a pci controller :)

And i would upgrade to either 384mb or 512mb of ram.
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XP will run on 256mb, it wont be the best experience in the world, but for a file sever it will be fine.

If I am to use the limited RAID on one hard drive and a backup on the other hard drive, will I need to buy a specialized hardware controller?
Click to expand...
You will need to buy a pci raid controller something like
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815124023
 
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