Home Server project

S

suiathon

New Member
I need some advice. In the near future I will be switching over to mobile devices. Because of their small storage capacities I figured a home server, accessible at a distance, is the next logical step.

Server software: FreeNAS (or if you have a better suggestion with my current needs)
Structure:
  • Gaming center (Steam and emulators)
  • Media center (XBMC?)
  • Program database (program access through vpn or virtual machine)
  • General file storage (movies, music, work, etc.)

My goal is to have a setup that I can use at home for work, teaching, and entertainment. I also want to give individuals limited access to files and programs for learning material. My main computer is currently a laptop however, I am thinking of switching over to a surface pro with dual screen.

Hardware goals: I prefer a cheaper, low power setup. As for space, I'm thinking 2TB of actual storage, so 4-6TB for drives?

Thoughts? Thank you!
 
You could go down the route of building a small file server, or what you could look into is something like a Synology NAS drive. All the new NAS drives from Synology can run their DSM 5.1 OS which acts like a server OS and can be used to turn your NAS into a file server and a video streaming server and give users certain privileges to folders etc. There are also mobile apps available so you can browse into the NAS. Have a look at DSM and see what you think: https://www.synology.com/en-us/dsm/5.1

You could get something like a DS214se enclosure and a couple of 2TB disks for around about the same cost (or less) than a PC server and it's smaller, quieter (mine is almost silent!) and consumes much less power. :)

It should do everything you want but I'm not sure about the Steam stuff.

I really like my DS214se - I have 2x2TB disks in and a 1TB external USB disk that the data on the 2TB disks is automatically copied to each night.
 
Last edited:
Busy few weeks - sorry about the delay in reply. That sounds like an interesting solution. Do you know if there are any free VPN capabilities that I could use with it - sort of like Dropbox?
 
suiathon said:
Busy few weeks - sorry about the delay in reply. That sounds like an interesting solution. Do you know if there are any free VPN capabilities that I could use with it - sort of like Dropbox?
Click to expand...

Dropbox is not a VPN...

But yes, you can use a NAS as a VPN server.
 
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