Setting up a server at home?

[SIRCOOKS]

Where would i go to find out what i need and whats best to buy, as well as how to set up...holla back asap

[gadgetguy]

What do you want it to serve and to what and/or where?

[SIRCOOKS]

multimedia files, to other computers in the house

[edDV]

I highly endorse this as a learning exercise. Many go to college to learn the art and make a good living at it.

[Bodyslide]

Then just setup Shared Network Folders for everyone on the Network....

[SIRCOOKS]

but that still requires a comp to be on constantly, i would like a server just dedicated to serving files...even if its a comp...how would i start to set one up??????????

[gadgetguy]

I have a old P3 650 MHz with 512MB ram and a 120 GB hard drive running Win2000 Pro and I can play any of the videos on it on all of the hardwired computers on my network that are capable of playing the files on their own.

Edit: As suggested above, I just map drives to it and play the files directly.

[SIRCOOKS]

is there anyspecial server type software set up on their to administer the rest of the comps on the network??????

[gadgetguy]

is there anyspecial server type software set up on their to administer the rest of the comps on the network??????

No, it's not designed to administer the network. It just holds the files and allows access. If you want to do more than that then I modify my original question, What all do you want it to be able to do?

[nic2k4]

You want to stream multimedia files then look here:

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/streaming.html

[mats.hogberg]

There are HDD enclosures with network connections. Seems like a simple way to have a shared file storage.
http://www.netgear.com/Products/Storage.aspx?for=Home+Networking

/Mats

[jimmalenko]

If all you want is file storage and access, you can use any OS (Win 2000 or XP recommended though) and just share the root folder (or drive) where the files reside. The simplest set up would be to give the Everyone user Full Control. Then map a drive on each of the computers you want to access the content from using ComputerName>\<sharename>.

If you want to stream content across your own LAN, then I would look at either VLC or Windows Media Encoder.