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NAS(Network-attached storage) server question?

I wanted to setup small home server that manages data files like video, music, documents, etc so that I can access to file in my house and anywhere in the internet. I asked similar question in some forum. They said something about NAS server. can I setup NAS server on one of my old computer by installing NAS program? or do I have to buy one of those dedicated server controller that cost a grand? I want informations.

Public Comments

1. For home server, you can definitely use your old computer by tuning its OS for this purpose, assuming that your hardware can handle your needs. Microsoft had Windows 2000 Storage Edition specifically for that purpose - I'm sure that evolved into something in their newer OSes. Also, open source NAS-oriented distributions of Linux and FreeBSD are available, including FreeNAS, NASLite and Openfiler. They are easy to configure via a Web-based Interface and run on low-end conventional computers. They can run from a LiveCD, bootable USB flash drive, or from one of the mounted hard drives. They run Samba, NFS daemon, and FTP daemons which are freely available for those operating systems. If you're ready to spend some $$, you can get something like Terastation from Buffalo Tech for about $700.