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Home networking
- Thread starter mshawnl
- Start date
Speed Daemon
Android Expert
Lots of people think of a server as some kind of machine chugging away somewhere. But in the IT field, "server" really means a process that can be running just about anywhere, that provides a service.
So you can turn practically any working computer into a server simply by adding the software. You can do this to any computer that you keep running all the time. And because you will want it on all the time, a laptop is usually less than optimal for the job. You can do it, but since laptops are meant to be taken with you, everyone else is out of luck if you need to take your laptop somewhere else.
Taking an old PC and repurposing it into a dedicated server machine is a great way of recycling. OTOH older computers can use a lot of power, so if someone in the house is hounding you about the electric bill, a NAS appliance is a good low-power alternative. The downside is that you have to pay for all the new hardware.
If you have a bunch of Windows computers, it might be as simple as making sure that every computer is in the same workgroup, and setting up a share on a machine that has plenty of storage, and is on 24x7.
So you can turn practically any working computer into a server simply by adding the software. You can do this to any computer that you keep running all the time. And because you will want it on all the time, a laptop is usually less than optimal for the job. You can do it, but since laptops are meant to be taken with you, everyone else is out of luck if you need to take your laptop somewhere else.
Taking an old PC and repurposing it into a dedicated server machine is a great way of recycling. OTOH older computers can use a lot of power, so if someone in the house is hounding you about the electric bill, a NAS appliance is a good low-power alternative. The downside is that you have to pay for all the new hardware.
If you have a bunch of Windows computers, it might be as simple as making sure that every computer is in the same workgroup, and setting up a share on a machine that has plenty of storage, and is on 24x7.