How to Build a Home Server

So, you've played around on the internet, visited chat rooms and forums, downloaded and played music, watched videos, played games, had voice chats over the computer, and maybe even built a website or two. Now, you are wondering how it is possible to do all this under your own control and provide it to others.

Building a server at home is actually quite easy. This systematic process will help you understand, in clear terms, what a server is, and how to make one. The scope of this article assumes you understand what to do after installation and setup of a server (i.e. Setting up web pages, files, etc).

Before we get into the details, it would be beneficial to understand what a server is. The simplest way to describe a server is nothing more than a computer that you rarely access. You will not sit at it chatting online, playing games, or browsing the web, unless you want to, of course. However, a server is primarily a machine that stores your files and is accessed from other computers. With the right software, any computer can be a server.

As I write this, I have server software on my computer that I can run and stop whenever I choose. I do not use this computer as a server but, when you do a lot of web design, having server software on your computer is a great help. Other uses for having a personal server is for home networking, file and print sharing, and easing the load on individual computers in your network.

So, with that in mind, you should understand that the cheapest way for you to build your own server is to look around your home and see if you've got an old computer, or spare parts. Whatever you may have will save you money in completing this project. This scope of this guide does not go into detail about which sound card, graphics, card, memory, or hard drives to use. When you are working on a budge, the average computer will work just fine. Upgrading later may be necessary, assuming your server receives a lot of traffic from users connecting from outside your network.

In the next step, we need to examine, and understand, two types of bus cabling so that you can decide what fits your need.

IDE or SCSI

To put it simply, these cables go from your hard drives to the motherboard. SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) is faster and more reliable in such areas as data loss. In a typical server, SCSI is the cables that are used. They are, however, more expensive. IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) cables are the type that you find in your every day computer. While they do not provide the same speed and reliability as SCSI cables, IDE technology has made much improvement. Some would even argue that IDE cable technology is beginning to rival that of SCSI.

The major considerations between these types of cables are monetary and purpose. Financially, this guide is geared towards individuals that wish to save money building their own server. In that respect, we are going to assume the use of IDE cables. However, when building a server machine, the purpose of that server needs to be taken into consideration.

If you plan to have high volume traffic with many internet user connections, it would be wise to consider the cost of SCSI cabling. The one major difference between IDE and SCSI cabling is that, with IDE, you are only able to chain two hard drives. Look in any computer you have and the max capacity for hard drives is two. However, with SCSI, you are able to chain eight drives together.

IDE cabling will be sufficient for home networking, file and print sharing, and limited gaming environment. So, given that you can find these cables in every computer you have sitting around the house, their use in building a server is promising.

Server Operating System

Assuming that you have found a computer, or have decided to use one currently running in your home, the first thing you need to do is decide on your operating system.

Well, if a server is nothing more than a dedicated computer, what is wrong with just using Windows XP? That is a good question. To be honest, you can use XP as your operating system. The reasons advising against it pertain to what XP does on a computer. Most computer users just turn on their machine and start doing whatever they like. It might be chatting, listening to music, or writing documents. Whatever the purpose is, computer users do not think of the fact that all the necessary functions are provided by XP. If you are writing documents, you have Word. If you are listening to music, you have Windows Media Player. If you are chatting, you have MSN Messenger.

These programs and other processes are built into Windows XP. They run in the background when you turn on your computer. A server machine needs none of these things, and using a machine with XP as a server will create a drag on system resources. Therefore, even though you can use XP as the operating system, I would only advise doing so if you cannot afford a decent operating system, such as Windows Server. Prices for 2003 and 2008 versions start at $999.00.

There are other choices for Operating Systems, as well. There is Linux and FreeBSD. The benefit to using either of these Operating Systems is that they are open source. That equals free software. The drawback to using open source software, such as Linux, is that users that are familiar with Windows Products may have to work a bit with the new systems in order to understand them. For now, this guide will assume you are choosing to use Windows as your operating system.

Setting Up Your Server Machine

Once you have grabbed an old computer and made sure that it is as close to a modern computer as you can afford, it is time to set up your operating system. In this process, it is good to have the installation files on a CD. Those familiar with Windows Installation will understand that the process begins in a pre-GUI state. This means there is no desktop for you to click on and choose options with your mouse. You will not be able to access downloaded files before the install is complete.

So, it is advised that if you are going to download an installation package, such as Linux or FreeBSD, you burn those install files to a disk first, then use that disk on your server machine.

Again, since this guide assumes you are installing a Windows Server, the installation should be familiar and details of the installation are not necessary. As with any Windows Operating system, installing a Server is an automatic process, requiring minimal input from the user.

Once the install is complete and you have modified the settings according to user preference, it is time to install Server Software.

Installation and Setup of Server Software

Well, installing the server was easy, right? It is just like installing Windows on any computer. The next step is choosing server software for your machine.

What is the difference, you ask? Every computer needs an operating system. This is what we use to access files on the computer. Before GUI and fancy screens with icons, there was DOS. With DOS everything was written out by hand. Accessing files meant entering drive paths into a prompt and typing action commands. Now, we just point and click.

However, now that you have an operating system installed, that does nothing for you as far as providing your files over a network is concerned. You need software that will allow others to access your computer. This is Server Software. If your purpose for building a server is merely to store files on a central computer that all computers within your network can access, then your job is complete. However, if you have loftier goals, such as offering files and building websites for access beyond your network, then you will need good server software.

You can look around for different software and decide. Windows Home Server is such software. It costs $180.00. The more preferable alternative is the myriad of open source software that can be downloaded, and used, with ease. One suggested server software is AppServe.

AppServ is safe, reliable, and very easy to use. It comes with PHP support, MySQL, and PHPMyAdmin. Installing this software is quick and easy.

Tips and Warnings

When users outside the network access a server, security is always an issue. Changing the name of your Administrator account is preferable. Since all computers come with Administrator as the default name, hackers commonly look for it. Go to your Control Panel, Administrative Tools, and Local Policy. Then choose to rename the administrator account.

When you have set up your web server (Server Software), go into the www folder and change index.php to another name (such as index2.php). What this does is keep access to your script files secure and allows your website index page to load when your site/server is accessed.

Final Thoughts

Building a server is now complete. If this guide seemed to general, the truth is it is not. Building a server is that easy. As you sit reading this guide, you are on a computer that is halfway to being a server. In fact, think of this: When you chat with someone on Yahoo or MSN and you share files and voice chat, your computer becomes a server at that point in time. The server software is Yahoo or MSN messenger.

The way the software is built, you can only do what those messengers allow you to do, but it is a server nonetheless. With the knowledge provided here, you would only need a single step to turn your computer into a web server. That is, installing the Server Software. You already have an operating system.

Understand that it is not advised to use your active computer as a server, but there are some cases where it may be acceptable. If you stream live radio shows to friends as a hobby, for example. There was a period of a few years where I hosted a game server for Ultima Online and users from across the country connected to my computer to play on my server. So, it is possible to do just that, if you are on a tight budget. It is just advisable that when you are able, separate your server from your active computer.