Home Server

[bassfisher6522]

I'm in the process of planning out a build for a home server and I have some questions on hardware. Do I really need a server mobo and server CPU? Can I use a regular mobo and CPU and install server 2008? What is the difference between a server case and regular desktop case? What are the big differences in using the server side hardware vs regular hardware, mainly the mobo and CPU? I just want to set up a small home server that has 3 desktops (2 more to be added later) and 2 laptops (2 more to be added later) then add a printer on the server side of it (to eliminate 4 printers). I really don't need to do this but rather as a challenge for me and how cost effective this would be for a true server setup vs a media type home server such as HP's media home server vs a NAS setup. I know the cost of a sever is at least double vs a regular desktop because of what the server is designed to do. Has anybody else on here set one up and can share their in/outs of it with me.

 

[osholt]

I'm in the process of planning out a build for a home server and I have some questions on hardware. Do I really need a server mobo and server CPU? Can I use a regular mobo and CPU and install server 2008? What is the difference between a server case and regular desktop case? What are the big differences in using the server side hardware vs regular hardware, mainly the mobo and CPU? I just want to set up a small home server that has 3 desktops (2 more to be added later) and 2 laptops (2 more to be added later) then add a printer on the server side of it (to eliminate 4 printers). I really don't need to do this but rather as a challenge for me and how cost effective this would be for a true server setup vs a media type home server such as HP's media home server vs a NAS setup. I know the cost of a sever is at least double vs a regular desktop because of what the server is designed to do. Has anybody else on here set one up and can share their in/outs of it with me.

Are you planning to use active directory?

I am currently running a 2.4GHz Pentium 4 machine (originally ran XP) with Windows Home Server Vail.

WHS doesn't support active directory so I can't say if that claims any benefits from Server Hardware (I'm guessing it does), but for general Printer Serving and serving Media standard hardware is more than adequate.

One advantage of WHS is that it has a built in backup utility which backs up all your PCs automatically onto the server meaning manual backups and trapcing around with HDDs will become a thing of the past.

Standard Hardware is fine for what I use it for (which does include a nice little web server which allows me to access my media from anywhere in the world as well as remote desktop and PC backups and Printer Serving).

Oli

 

[kodi]

A home server doesn't need to be something special it just needs to be a reasonable computer standard computer,what you are taking about in your post is a business server where there are a lot of client attached to it.
If you have a old computer at home that is 64 bit download the free trial of Vail (it's the home version of 2008 server) and give it a try,if not try Windows home server (32bit ) I believe you can purchase it in the states for $69.
Just a word of warning Windows home server 32 bit won't back up SOME but not all 64bit computers.