By JOE GRANESE
Jan. 31, 2007

Put that old computer to work as a file server

The concept of service is in our thoughts today in the aftermath of a fileserver episode suffered by a longtime friend of the world-renowned Granese Institute of Technology.

Even smaller offices can benefit from a networking setup, and our friend was just such a case. Her industry-specific software has resided happily on a Windows 2000 server of our design for more than five years, operating happily without as much as a blink.

That ended late last month when the server began to show signs of instability. She would return to the office in the morning to find the system locked. Sometimes it would take three restarts to get things going smoothly again. Operations would be fine for a while; then another lockup would occur.

An agent for the institute examined the system and found a damaged video card. Things worked smoothly for a while after it was replaced, but trouble was right around the corner. A few weeks later the symptoms returned. By that time the damage had spread, and we noticed a row of popped capacitors on the motherboard.

Sometimes a blown motherboard is little more than an inconvenience. Other times it is bad news. This case fell into the latter category. Repeated attempts to replace the motherboard were unsuccessful. It had served so well for so long that replacements were simply not available on the open market. A look through eBay and online parts houses was equally fruitless.

Two options, both with drawbacks

This led our friend to an unpleasant decision. There were two choices for correcting the failure. One, the acquisition of a brand new server could be accomplished quickly without much downtime at her location. An efficient choice, but one with a rather large price tag.

That path would allow the new server to be set up independently while the old workhorse continued to operate. When the time came, the existing data could be easily transferred to the new box. Additionally, it would be constructed with the latest improvements, including a new network operating system, faster drives and more powerful processing.

The other solution was less expensive. It involved simply refitting the old server with a new motherboard, processor, and memory. I say simply only because swapping the hardware is an easy task. The configuration aspects are distinctly more challenging.

One must remove and preserve the stored data while refitting the existing case with the new components. Then the operating system must be reinstalled to accommodate the new equipment. Finally, the data is replaced and the system reintroduced to its original position in the network.

That’s all well and good, but the downside is severe. The network cannot operate for the duration of the operation, which can take several days. The dollar cost is significantly less, but the productivity hit could be devastating.

As of press time, we haven’t decided which path to take. That adventure is likely to be revealed in a future episode of The Wire. For now, I’d like to continue by taking a look at the home computer situation at your house. You will see the tie-in shortly.

Create a home file server

For the sake of discussion, let’s say that you got a new computer for the winter holidays. That could bring your in-home total to three systems – say, your new box, Junior’s laptop, and Mom’s home office system. Sadly, your old computer, like most replaced systems, is probably somewhere in a closet gathering dust. It was shiny and new just a couple years ago, and you cannot bring yourself to throw it away.

That’s good! What you have in that closet is a perfect home server. A couple of quick clicks and you can share files and peripherals with everyone in the household. The impact on productivity can be astonishing, as experienced by another institute regular who just had one installed in his home.

While the old box may be too tired to compute, it can still serve files like a champ. All it took was a cheap Ethernet cable and a little housekeeping, and our friend’s network was in grand form. The 40GB hard drive in his new media server was small by today’s standards, but had room for just about all of his family’s media collection.

Server adds storage, sharing, security

Junior created a folder and copied his legally digitized MP3s to the server. That task served two purposes. It freed room on his hard drive for him to make more MP3s, and it gave the whole family access to the files, just like they were playing his original CDs on their own stereo.

Once clamoring for a new hard drive, Junior was now in possession of an extra 20GB of space. It’s like an instant overhaul, and far cheaper than adding a hard drive. At the same time, files can be created for other members of the family.

Students can store their homework files on the server, where it is easy for adults to check their work before it is turned in at school. A file server offers a perfect place for the storage of documents of family interest, genealogy research and scanned family photos.

Best of all, by storing these highly important documents in one place, it makes the entire data system easy to back up in one fell swoop. Instead of searching four hard drives for data, the home IT person can instead simply drag four folders to a backup program and archive the data to tape, DVD or external device.

Do not be frightened away by the concept of a file server. While the name conjures up images of high-end office equipment in ultra-techie environments, the reality is significantly less complicated. A file server is simply a computer that serves files. It can serve your homemade collection of ABBA MP3s in the living room as easily as critically important legal documents at the office. It lives to serve.

Those of you who employ more than one operating system in your household need not be deprived of the pleasures of network storage. Contemporary OS X versions from Apple and Linux boxes are very much at home on a Windows-based network. Shared storage can bring the security of regular backups to a number of users across the system, allow everyone to use installed printers, and continue to share one broadband Internet account, reducing the effective cost per user of high-speed access.

If you would like to explore this possibility further, there are a few handy resources available on the World Wide Web. Microsoft offers a guide to home networking on their site, at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/setup/default.mspx. You can get the basics at the entertaining How Stuff Works website, http://computer.howstuffworks.com/home-network.htm. For more information, just Google “set up home network” and take your pick.

Read those guides carefully before you plug anything into your router. Once you get your new network set up, take a minute to share your experience with me. I am always anxious to hear from readers who undertake the projects we discuss in The Wire. As usual, reach me by e-mail..