this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2023
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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

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[–] 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.

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