File Server

[stfury]

Hey Guys,

as in my previous thread, im getting a new pc.
Heres the problem - on my old pc I have got a 1000Gb and 500gb HD which are IDE.

My new pc will be SataII. But i can only afford a small HD.

the old pc is just gona be running xp and is going to be used once in a blue moon by my parents for email.

I wanted to know if i could turn the old one into a file server????

How do i do this??? please help guys i would really appreciate.

thanks,
stfury

 

[ambo]

Since its running XP you can make a 'shared folder' and then access it across the network and tada... its a file server.

If your parents were not going to be using it then you would have a number of much more elegant solutions. You could install Linux on the machine and set up a very nice file server. You could even go an make it into a full blown Network Attached Storage (NAS) server using a dedicated distro like FreeNAS.

 

[theStudent]

Many solutions...

Easiest is just make it a shared drive with read/write permissions.

If you want to be fancy, then you could use FileZilla and thats rather easy to make a ftp file server.

 

[stfury]

couldnt i just dual boot?

Then i would only have to reboot when they want to use xp (on my 40gig) and the 2 other Hard drives could be used as the file server.

plus where can i get instructions on how to set up a file server?

 

[The_Techie]

Maybe even install FreeNAS

 

[ambo]

couldnt i just dual boot?

Yeah you could. I don't think FreeNAS will work well as dual boot as it is designed to take over the entire machine. But you could try Ubuntu Linux - it does dual boot in its sleep!

plus where can i get instructions on how to set up a file server?

Have a look at the Ubuntu Forums - there is tons of info there that will apply to many of the different distros.

Maybe even install FreeNAS

Isn't that what I said

 

[The_Techie]

Isn't that what I said

Whoops, didn't read your post till the end

 

[Anthro]

Well.. you can also install the following application on there:
Easy File Sharing Web Server

Easy File Sharing Web Server is an Internet file sharing program that allows you to host a secure personal web server without any additional software or services. Visitors can upload/download files easily through a Web Browser (Internet Explorer, Netscape, Opera etc.). It can help you share files with your friends or colleagues. This Web-based software lets you deliver your files to anyone who has a browser-equipped PC without special software. This makes it easy to have your colleagues or friends surf to your PC and search for, display and/or download the files to which you've given them access. Easy File Sharing Web Server also provides a Bulletin Board System (BBS). It allows remote users to post messages and files to the BBS.