I need to get my old desktop setup as a file server to store files.
My Specs
Pentium 4 HT 2.6GHZ
1.75 GB of DDR ram.
Geforce 2
Several drives for storage.
My Goal
Have the drives in RAID.
Access them from my macbook, laptop, and phone. Maybe a TV but not required.
No internet access on the machine. Have to download them elsewhere.
Thanks ahead of time and if it is in the wrong section feel free to move it.
You won't be able to do much on those specs. What are the goals of this file server? Just to be able to host files? Are you against installing Linux on the machine? The only OS you'll be able to get on that is XP or below.
Anything goes. Mostly for backup. the 160gb HDD in my laptop is starting to get kinda of tight.
Alright, with a system that old, does it happen to have SATA ports, and does it support RAID?
What type of motherboard are you using?
Which socket type is the CPU?
Sorry for all the questions, just trying to get an idea of what we're working with.
Nope its fine. Ask away.
2 sata ports. cant seem to get them to work. and no hardware raid.
Dell dimension 4600
Socket 478.
EDIT: Another note you won't be able to stream movies (doubtful about music streaming) with this hardware. CPU can't play back 720p video much less send it over the network.
Alright you'll need a SATA PCI card that supports RAID, if it exists.
Not sure which country you're in but I found these on Amazon. Going to run you about 30 USD.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100007607%20600022728
ok is software raid an option?
You could but I wouldn't suggest it. If it fails, it's toast, and with the age of the current hardware it's a not of question of will it fail but when.
I take it you're on a very tight budget?
Also, since those two SATA ports aren't working, not a good sign for the motherboard.
it does support 720p video just not 1080p and yes on a budget. saving the rest of my money for a gigabit card for it.
pretty sure i need to replace the battery on the board. motherboard is rock solid. only issue is the sata.
Check the BIOS, they might be disabled, I seem to recall that happening on a Dell I worked on. As for the OS I'd suggest a slim version of whatever distro you're comfortable with. Even better if you know the terminal well enough. Less RAM usage.
A bit of a RAM upgrade won't hurt either. What country are you in? I might be able to send you some DDR sticks I have. Don't have a use for them anyways.
not disabled. went through everything with a fine tooth comb. Kansas USA.
Alright yeah I can send you some sticks, odd how the SATA ports won't work. I'm looking online now to see if it's a oddly named setting or something.
Could you take a picture of the BIOS with say your phone? Maybe it's a chipset instruction that needs to be enabled.
maybe, i will post a picture later if i can. How much ram?
I have multiple 1GB sticks, from what I've seen you can install 4x1GB sticks on that machine for a total of 4GBs but you'll only use around 3.5GBs due to the 32 bit limitation of that CPU.
alright. ill pm you with details.
If its whole purpose is to be a file server OpenMediaVault may be a good option. Debian based and shouldn't require too much as far as resources are concerned.
yep worked great thank you. got all of my spare drives setup in a RAID 0 for now until i get some equipment to mount extra drives.
I suggest installing Arch on the machine. It's quite simple to get it running headless. You can use Samba to share the drives over the network and you can use Plex Media Server to share over uPnP.