What is the point of having a Home Network Server?

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keng23

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Have a Home LAN.

Have been looking at setting up a Home Network Server, but I cannot find any reason for doing so.
All Computers are always on. Can slap an extra Hard Drive on any existing machine for sharing or storage.

Any comments from those of you who have such a setup?
 
True. My "server" is mainly used for multimedia streaming and storage, it sits on a shelf in the garage. It runs gbpvr for my MediaMVP pvr, has a dual tuner card, runs Twonkymedia for audio streaming to a Netgear MP101 and Serviio for streaming HD content to my Samsung TV.
 
Our server runs Linux and controls the pick-up and distribution of EMail.

It has redundancy built in and critical files are backed up on it.
 
servers are generally put in place for the reliable availability of mission critical data.
if your home data falls into that category then go for it.
:-)

I've got other hobbies that keep me busy.
(for me) tinkering on a home server sounds too much like work.
 
bubbatentoe said:
servers are generally put in place for the reliable availability of mission critical data.
if your home data falls into that category then go for it.
:-)

I've got other hobbies that keep me busy.
(for me) tinkering on a home server sounds too much like work.
Click to expand...

You would die of boredom if you relied on our server to keep you occupied. Switch it on, forget it's there.

One thing that we do use ours for is to store scans. If someone scans something it is sent to the server and can then be picked up at any other computer

I must admit that I am considering getting a HP proliant to upgrade ours which is in a full tower case, and has a 386 Motherboard.
It is a bit big, and out of date, but still reliable.

I think it also depends on how many computers are on your network, when ours was set up there were six, now we are down to 3 or 4.
 
I've recently realised the importance of a server in my home environment - thus requiring me to purchase an additional HP N36L.

My father's hard drive crashed some time ago which made me remove my HP MS as a multimedia machine and turn it into a Small Business Server 2011 Machine. I know it's slightly overkill but we now all have our machines domained with roaming profiles and home folders on all of our PCs. I found this necessary because we all use laptops which I certify as a "high-risk" for the information stored on them. This way the information is secure on both the laptops and the server itself, eliminating the need to do weekly backups.

My 2nd HP MS will of course cover the multimedia scenario once again :)
 
Yep I have one really only for multimedia/storage and streaming.
The benefits are:
you can have raid on the server for redundancy
you don't access the drives alot so better chance of the drives not failing.
If you are working on a computer getting your drives accessed tends to slow the computer down.
More space for drives and nothing else installed but OS software and maybe some apps.
It is an extra expense though TBH better to make that server into a media PC and put XBMC on it and share it on the network
that way you kill two birds with one stone and XBMC is awesome....
 
I use my server to transfer data, games, movies, software and a whole lot more. I also stream stuff like moves, etc from my main computer that i download all the games and movies from the internet. This is linked to my laptop using the routers wifi and is linked to all the tv's in my house.
 
How do you guys link your server to your PC?

I had a media server a while ago and linked via wireless (4MB/sec) - and it was alright. But now that I've got a camera taking RAW and having directories with hundreds of photos, it's too slow.

I moved my photo's to my local machine and kept the movies/music at the media server - but I actually hate the fact that some media is here and some there.

Is it possible to get real world wireless speeds of 20MB/sec+ considering 4 metres and 2 walls?
Or should I lay cable (mission!)?
 
even after you lay the cable you will then learn that you have upgrade to a gigabit lan.
But you wont regret it.
 
I haven't got the router/ADSL modem as yet - so when I buy that, it'll be gigabit.

Does 10/100 and gigabit use different cabling?
How fast are those adapters that plug into the power plugs?
 
Last edited:
A nice reason therefore is this:
My new pc has a lot of expensive hardware etc, which all comes with mtbf...... as does all hardware. It's going to last longer if I don't run it 24/7. I'd rather let my old Core2Duo run 24/7 than my new pc.

Furthermore, normal reasons apply. Centralised data location, backups, centralised printing/mail/etc.
 
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