Windows Home Server

[corb345]

I'm looking to build a Home Server.

I have 7 computers running Windows 10 Pro, 2 running Windows 10 Home, and one Mac, I would like to have these on the server.

I have an old computer that has XP professional on it, 32bit I do believe. Can I use this for the server?
Can I incorporate the Mac with the sever?

Basically, I need to know how to set it up, what do I need, whats the best software to use. Should I use Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials or Мícrоsoft Wíndоws Server 2012 R2 Standard OEM (2 CPU/2 VM) - Base License, or something else?

I would rather not use Linux but I'm not ruling out that option.

Do I need to reinstall all OS's, do they have to be a domain?

I want to do this for the experience, to learn about it and how it works.

Are there any good web links I can go to for this information?

Thank you all very much for any help, direction or advise you can give me.

 

[USAFRet]

You wish this 'server' to host and run all of these OS's, and displayed out to various thin clients?

This requires a hugely powerful and expensive system.
To start, 128GB RAM.

What are these systems used for? If more than absolute basic office type functions, stop right here.

 

[WildCard999]

3 posts lol.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3584326/build-windows-home-server.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3584324/make-windows-home-server.html

 

[USAFRet]

Here is a multiseat system, for 7 clients:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXOaCkbt4lI

Note the pricetag.

 

[rgd1101]

MERGED QUESTION
Question from corb345 : "How To Make a Windows Home Server"

I'm looking to build a Home Server.

I have 7 computers running Windows 10 Pro, 2 running Windows 10 Home, and one Mac, I would like to have these on the server.

I have an old computer that has XP professional on it, 32bit I do believe. Can I use this for the server?
Can I incorporate the Mac with the sever?

Basically, I need to know how to set it up, what do I need, whats the best software to use. Should I use Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials or Мícrоsoft Wíndоws Server 2012 R2 Standard OEM (2 CPU/2 VM) - Base License, or something else?

I would rather not use Linux but I'm not ruling out that option.

Do I need to reinstall all OS's, do they have to be a domain?

I want to do this for the experience, to learn about it and how it works.

Are there any good web links I can go to for this information?

Thank you all very much for any help, direction or advise you can give me.

 

[rgd1101]

MERGED QUESTION
Question from corb345 : "How To Build A Windows Home Server"

I'm looking to build a Home Server.

I have 7 computers running Windows 10 Pro, 2 running Windows 10 Home, and one Mac, I would like to have these on the server.

I have an old computer that has XP professional on it, 32bit I do believe. Can I use this for the server?
Can I incorporate the Mac with the sever?

Basically, I need to know how to set it up, what do I need, whats the best software to use. Should I use Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials or Мícrоsoft Wíndоws Server 2012 R2 Standard OEM (2 CPU/2 VM) - Base License, or something else?

I would rather not use Linux but I'm not ruling out that option.

Do I need to reinstall all OS's, do they have to be a domain?

I want to do this for the experience, to learn about it and how it works.

Are there any good web links I can go to for this information?

Thank you all very much for any help, direction or advise you can give me.

 

[USAFRet]

MERGED QUESTION
Question from corb345 : "How To Build A Windows Home Server"

I'm looking to build a Home Server.

I have 7 computers running Windows 10 Pro, 2 running Windows 10 Home, and one Mac, I would like to have these on the server.

I have an old computer that has XP professional on it, 32bit I do believe. Can I use this for the server?
Can I incorporate the Mac with the sever?

Basically, I need to know how to set it up, what do I need, whats the best software to use. Should I use Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials or Мícrоsoft Wíndоws Server 2012 R2 Standard OEM (2 CPU/2 VM) - Base License, or something else?

I would rather not use Linux but I'm not ruling out that option.

Do I need to reinstall all OS's, do they have to be a domain?

I want to do this for the experience, to learn about it and how it works.

Are there any good web links I can go to for this information?

Thank you all very much for any help, direction or advise you can give me.

 

[corb345]

Just to use as a basic office, small business server.
The systems are just used for basic stuff. some Microsoft office, movies, web, nothing fancy.

I'm not sure I understand your question about, "displayed out to various thin clients"?

Thank you for your time.

 

[USAFRet]

Just to use as a basic office, small business server.
The systems are just used for basic stuff. some Microsoft office, movies, web, nothing fancy.

I'm not sure I understand your question about, "displayed out to various thin clients"?

Thank you for your time.

You have 10 systems.
What, exactly, are these systems used for?

By 'thin client', this means that all the brain lives in the 'server', and then a small box to connect to that and connect the mouse/kbd/monitor to.

For instance, Citrix makes a line of these.
https://www.citrix.com/blogs/2016/09/20/who-doesnt-love-pie/

The little boxes start at $300 each. So that's $3k, before you even start on the actual server hardware.


Now...if you're just talking about a central file server, that can be done with just about any PC.
The client systems just connect to that, and see it as just another drive letter.

 

[Dugimodo]

What is it you want the server to do ? That's the important question. If it's just a basic file server then there are lots of options, from just using windows file sharing to building a NAS, or building a full on file server. Or you could just buy a NAS.

I had a play with Open-E DSS and got it working ok as a shared network drive on an old C2D with 2Gb of RAM so that's an option, or FreeNAS or NAS4free, or Ubuntu server. Windows server is another option, but it really depends what your goals are.

 

[corb345]

Just to use as a basic office, small business server.
The systems are just used for basic stuff. some Microsoft office, movies, web, nothing fancy.

I'm not sure I understand your question about, "displayed out to various thin clients"?

Thank you for your time.

You have 10 systems.
What, exactly, are these systems used for?

By 'thin client', this means that all the brain lives in the 'server', and then a small box to connect to that and connect the mouse/kbd/monitor to.

For instance, Citrix makes a line of these.
https://www.citrix.com/blogs/2016/09/20/who-doesnt-love-pie/

The little boxes start at $300 each. So that's $3k, before you even start on the actual server hardware.


Now...if you're just talking about a central file server, that can be done with just about any PC.
The client systems just connect to that, and see it as just another drive letter.

One system my wife uses for work, my daughter uses one for school, the others are just computers in the house used for movies, Microsoft Office, web surfing.

Yes a central file server is what Im asking about.

How could I go about setting that up, and what software do I need ect...

Thank you so much for the time your taking to help me.

 

[corb345]

What is it you want the server to do ? That's the important question. If it's just a basic file server then there are lots of options, from just using windows file sharing to building a NAS, or building a full on file server. Or you could just buy a NAS.

I had a play with Open-E DSS and got it working ok as a shared network drive on an old C2D with 2Gb of RAM so that's an option, or FreeNAS or NAS4free, or Ubuntu server. Windows server is another option, but it really depends what your goals are.

I would like to be able to get files off the server. Would like to be able to pull a movie off it to watch on another computer.

Really the goal is to get experience building a server and understanding how it works. Just a simple home server.
Can I run programs from it, like Microsoft Office, or like a video editing program?

Thank you for taking the time to help me.

 

[USAFRet]

OK!
Just a central file server. That makes things considerably easier.

Any current PC, Win 10 Home or Pro, 8GB RAM and sufficient drive space will work just fine. It does NOT have to be a WindowsServer OS.
Or, any of the prebuilt NAS boxes.

Up until early this year, I used a low power Windows PC for this. In looking to rebuild it, I started to investigate the various actual NAS (Network Attached Storage) boxes.

And that is what I settled on.
Qnap, Synology, a few others...all make very good solutions for this.


With either a Windows or Linux PC, or a NAS box...all you really need do is share a couple of folders, and then on the PC's, connect to and map a drive letter to that shared folder.

For instance...the folder containing all my Movies is the "M drive" on my systems.
A folder for stuff to be shared among all systems is the "S drive" letter.


This is the Qnap NAS I have:
https://www.qnap.com/en-us/product/ts-453a

A purpose built PC, that serves as a common file shared space, and can also play movies directly out to the TV if I choose.

 

[Dugimodo]

This has come up between USAFRet and me before, I also use a QNAP NAS but a cheaper one. However I also started collecting hardware to build my own.
I played with some of the free software but in the end I wimped out and just used windows file sharing because for now at least the sole purpose of that machine is to back up my NAS and it was easier to do with windows and one of QNAPs apps.

What I can tell you is any server or NAS you build yourself that's using a server OS will require some learning, but it sounds like that's what you want. Open-e DSS is free for home use but limits the total share size, however you can do a survey and take a photo of your server and they'll expand it past 8TB which is enough for many. It's a good choice for old hardware but I found it quite daunting at first. It took me a few days to get a network share going but it is pretty cool, you run the OS off a cheap USB flash drive and just use your drives for storage.

Much more popular are NAS4Free and FreeNAS, one of which is a fork off the other. Latest versions are getting quite resource hungry and need a lot of RAM though (particularly FreeNAS) so I avoided them. The advantage is there are a lot of guides online telling you how to build a NAS using one of these.

Using ordinary old windows you just enable file and printer sharing, right click a folder and choose share... it's just about that easy. Depends whether you use homegroups or the older windows networking with workgroups as to how it's set up but the main thing is to make sure all the machines are in the same homegroup or workgroup.

And just to be clear, the difference between a file server and a NAS (network attached storage) is really not significant, for home use they might as well be the same thing. Most pre - built NAS devices for example can run a lot of software and do a lot more than just file sharing.

Pre built NAS
Small
Low power use
Easy to set up

Home built file server or NAS
Cheaper
More powerful
Larger (physically)
Can be fun if you like that sort of thing
Uses more power
harder to set up
More easily expandable

 

[Dugimodo]

Here's some reading to point you in the right general direction
https://www.howtogeek.com/190835/how-to-turn-an-old-pc-into-a-home-file-server/
https://codingsec.net/2016/04/create-nas-old-pc-need-one/
https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2014/02/turn-an-old-pc-into-a-nas-vpn-media-streamer-and-more-with-amahi/

 

[USAFRet]

Oh, absolutely.
Either path works for this usage...a prebuilt NAS box, or a regular PC.

When I got this NAS, I was right at the point of buying parts to replace the previous 5 year old house server.
Further investigation, the feature set led me to the Qnap.

 

[Wolfshadw]

I want to do this for the experience, to learn about it and how it works.

I think more than anything else, this is the main point. The OP just wants to set up a server/domain/file server just for the experience and know how.

I did this back in my Microsoft TechNet days using Windows Server 2008 and three "client" systems: The Gamer, The HTPC, and the All-Purpose. I had some fun setting up SQL and Web servers using Hyper-V.

-Wolf sends

 

[corb345]

This has come up between USAFRet and me before, I also use a QNAP NAS but a cheaper one. However I also started collecting hardware to build my own.
I played with some of the free software but in the end I wimped out and just used windows file sharing because for now at least the sole purpose of that machine is to back up my NAS and it was easier to do with windows and one of QNAPs apps.

What I can tell you is any server or NAS you build yourself that's using a server OS will require some learning, but it sounds like that's what you want. Open-e DSS is free for home use but limits the total share size, however you can do a survey and take a photo of your server and they'll expand it past 8TB which is enough for many. It's a good choice for old hardware but I found it quite daunting at first. It took me a few days to get a network share going but it is pretty cool, you run the OS off a cheap USB flash drive and just use your drives for storage.

Much more popular are NAS4Free and FreeNAS, one of which is a fork off the other. Latest versions are getting quite resource hungry and need a lot of RAM though (particularly FreeNAS) so I avoided them. The advantage is there are a lot of guides online telling you how to build a NAS using one of these.

Using ordinary old windows you just enable file and printer sharing, right click a folder and choose share... it's just about that easy. Depends whether you use homegroups or the older windows networking with workgroups as to how it's set up but the main thing is to make sure all the machines are in the same homegroup or workgroup.

And just to be clear, the difference between a file server and a NAS (network attached storage) is really not significant, for home use they might as well be the same thing. Most pre - built NAS devices for example can run a lot of software and do a lot more than just file sharing.

Pre built NAS
Small
Low power use
Easy to set up

Home built file server or NAS
Cheaper
More powerful
Larger (physically)
Can be fun if you like that sort of thing
Uses more power
harder to set up
More easily expandable

Thank you. You have provided me with some very valuable information.
If I would have received a notification that you had replied to my post I would have had to decide who had the better answer. But I had already picked before I knew you answered.
Thank you very much for taking the time and helping me find what I was looking for. It is greatly appreciated.

 

[corb345]

Here's some reading to point you in the right general direction
https://www.howtogeek.com/190835/how-to-turn-an-old-pc-into-a-home-file-server/
https://codingsec.net/2016/04/create-nas-old-pc-need-one/
https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2014/02/turn-an-old-pc-into-a-nas-vpn-media-streamer-and-more-with-amahi/

Thank you.

 

[corb345]

I want to do this for the experience, to learn about it and how it works.

I think more than anything else, this is the main point. The OP just wants to set up a server/domain/file server just for the experience and know how.

I did this back in my Microsoft TechNet days using Windows Server 2008 and three "client" systems: The Gamer, The HTPC, and the All-Purpose. I had some fun setting up SQL and Web servers using Hyper-V.

-Wolf sends

Yes you are correct.

 

[corb345]

OK!
Just a central file server. That makes things considerably easier.

Any current PC, Win 10 Home or Pro, 8GB RAM and sufficient drive space will work just fine. It does NOT have to be a WindowsServer OS.
Or, any of the prebuilt NAS boxes.

Up until early this year, I used a low power Windows PC for this. In looking to rebuild it, I started to investigate the various actual NAS (Network Attached Storage) boxes.

And that is what I settled on.
Qnap, Synology, a few others...all make very good solutions for this.


With either a Windows or Linux PC, or a NAS box...all you really need do is share a couple of folders, and then on the PC's, connect to and map a drive letter to that shared folder.

For instance...the folder containing all my Movies is the "M drive" on my systems.
A folder for stuff to be shared among all systems is the "S drive" letter.


This is the Qnap NAS I have:
https://www.qnap.com/en-us/product/ts-453a

A purpose built PC, that serves as a common file shared space, and can also play movies directly out to the TV if I choose.

Thank you for your time and help. I appreciate you walking through this with me and for your guidance.
you have helped me, thank you.