Own file server

The hardware is usually designed using special purpose processors, RAM, motherboards, hard drives, power supply units and cabinets so the server is able to be powered on 24x7. So they have to be rugged and efficiently cooled too. The main component of a server is the storage space, but using a single spacious hard drive will not serve the purpose.

The drives should also be highly efficient in terms of speed, should have a large volume, and last but not the least, they should be secure enough to keep your data safe.

Hence, they are usually configured in RAID, where multiple hard drives are deployed to ensure speed and safety during data transfers. RAID 5, 10 and 01 are combinations, which uses both striping and mirroring to form fast and safe storage. You can also use multiple hard drives to form a RAID 5, 10 or 01 volume.

Note: To create a RAID volume, the hard drives must be of the same type, speed and capacity, otherwise the one with the lesser of these features will bring down the efficiency of the entire group.

A file server is usually untouched, except for maintenance such as application installation, user configuration or fixing breakdowns.

You can build your own server and leave it behind a desk, in a loft or hidden inside a cabinet, but the place it's set up in should be spacious, well ventilated and easily accessible for maintenance.

The monitor, keyboard and mouse can be disconnected until required. Any old desktop computer. A Pentium 4 or higher is preferable. Two or more similar SATA hard drives. An operating system. A server edition is highly recommended if there are many users accessing it. Open and clean the old computer thoroughly and ensure a dust-free interior for efficient cooling. Install the two or more hard drives in the respective bays and connect the necessary cables data and power.

Confirm that all cables are neatly tied and tucked away from the cooling fans and ducts to ensure proper air circulation. Once done, your hardware is ready to become a server. Now is the time to install the operating system, but before this, you will need to configure the hard drives in RAID. Here again, configure the hard drives in RAID and save the settings. Procedure Begin installing the operating system.

The setup will then detect the storage space and you can continue installing the operating system as usual. Your file server is now finally ready to be configured. Once the OS is installed, make sure you have installed all the drivers and created all the users and their profiles as per the requirement of your network. Click OK and main interface will appear. There are a few more steps to get a directory setup in FileZilla, but our friends over at HowToGeek have written a great article that walks you through the rest of the process for setting up FileZilla.

The last product I want to mention is FreeNAS , which is just an awesome open source program for creating your own network-attached storage device. The only difference FreeNAS and the other two programs I mentioned above is that the former is actually a full operating system of its own.

If you want to use FreeNAS, you will have to dedicate an entire machine for its use! Also, it does have certain system requirements that might prevent you from using it on your particular PC. They also talk about how to setup dynamic DNS so you can access your the server from outside the local network.

The third option is optional as you can just lookup your external IP address and give that to the person who needs to access the server. Hopefully, this will get you well on your way to setting up a file sharing server from home. Founder of Online Tech Tips and managing editor. He began blogging in and quit his job in to blog full-time. He has over 15 years of industry experience in IT and holds several technical certifications.

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Starting From. Alternate: Raspberry Pi 3. You might also like:. Best web hosts. This is how to create your own server at home for web hosting. How to host a website in Apache server in Windows. Installing WAMP stack. Enabling public access for the website. Setting a domain name. How to make your own web hosting server Linux. Installing LAMP stack. Enter the following command in the terminal: sudo apt install apache2 mysql-server php libapache2-mod-php7. Testing PHP.

This should open the PHP file. Testing MySQL. Enter: sudo service mysql status This should return running status. You can restart the service by entering: sudo service mysql restart Also ensure that the system and MySQL bind addresses are the same.

Installing phpMyAdmin. DNS configuration. Apache server configuration. Create a new folder for the website and change domain name by entering: sudo mkdir websitetest.

Enter the following commands to create weblogs, files and backups folders: sudo mkdir -p websitetest. How to create a web server: key takeaways. Learning how to create your own server at home for web hosting is not as complex as commonly thought. Get the necessary hardware.

Feel free to recycle old parts. If you are researching on how to create a web server for purely educational purposes, even decades old hardware will do. Raspberry Pi is a really good option for most cases. You can stack servers for additional power. Understanding how to make your own web hosting server on Linux and Windows is not that different.

It follows the same steps, albeit with small differences. Remember: you will be compromising on a lot of features that come with paid hosting. If your server gets popular, consider migrating to paid hosting services. However, you can go a long way with your own servers as well, as long as you maintain them properly. How do I set up a home server? Setting up a home server is fairly simple.

As long as you have the hardware, a stable internet connection and know the procedure, you can set it up and maintain it yourself. Before you set it up, check the rules of your ISP regarding your own server and follow the guidelines carefully.

How much does it cost to build a server at home? The cost of building a server at home depends on the local price of components and whether you are reusing hardware.

Do servers use a lot of electricity?