this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2023
29 points (93.9% liked)

Linux

48216 readers
713 users here now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

Rules

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

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

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] qaatloz@feddit.nl 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

Take also power consumption in consideration. I myself have run a homeserver based on an older amd processor and recently updated to a low power device. The old server had a standby powerusage of about 60-70 watt. The new one has a standby usage closer to 2,5 - 5 watts while having a lot more performance. Depending where you are on the world and the powercosts the powersavings you have offset the costs of new hardware within 1,5-2 years if the server runs 24/7.

When and if you need a homeserver realy depends on your specific needs. For me: I do not want to use cloud services as primary storage for my personal and family photos. I want to run homeautomation based on homeassistant and a password manager on my own server.
For you it might be different. Consider that network storage from a fileserver has typically a lower performance so using it for games and gamefiles might not work.

Also the type of fileserver to deploy (windows shares/samba vs nfs) depends on what os you run on your laptop. Typically i would assume you use windows and would a linux server running samba be most logical choice. Or a more preconfigured os like openmediavault which helps a lot with a more intuitive gui.

However if file sharing is the only usecase maybe a nas like a synology, qnap or asustor might be a easier system to setup. This also tackles the powerconsumption issue.

load more comments (1 replies)