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Am left with a Spare PC . So , I thought of converting it to a Server kind of thing.

I read about NAS Serer for simple file storage. But it is just a file server. I also play games like counter strike and other online games. So, I would like to use the same server for those purpose., so that a game server will running all the time so that me and my friends can join any time.

Is running NAS server a best option or, is there any better arrangement possible so that my spare system can act better than a simple file server

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If you the FAQ you will understand why this question will be closed. – John Gardeniers Oct 3 '12 at 9:18
This question is impossible to answer because it's down to you what you want to do with it. You could buy a NAS server or install something like FreeNas but they don't tend to run game server as well. – tombull89 Oct 3 '12 at 9:22
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@john Gardeniers .. If you the FAQ.. huh... What do you mean??? – madhairsilence Oct 3 '12 at 9:31
That should have said "if you read the FAQ". Sorry. – John Gardeniers Oct 3 '12 at 9:42

closed as off topic by Chris McKeown, dyasny, John Gardeniers, Bart De Vos, EightBitTony Oct 3 '12 at 10:02

Questions on Server Fault are expected to relate to professional server, networking, or related infrastructure administration within the scope defined in the FAQ. Consider editing the question or leaving comments for improvement if you believe the question can be reworded to fit within the scope. Read more about closed questions here.

2 Answers

up vote 0 down vote
  1. Install Windows
  2. Configure Windows
  3. Configure file server on Windows

  4. Install game-server of choice (CS or whatever)

    and go.

I don't see the difficulty or the problem in what you are attempting to do. In the end it'll "just" be a Windows machine running a specific game client that is set to host a server (or a dedicated server-client).

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Did I say problem. Am asking a professional solution. In that case, i just use the system as a file server by typing //ip address/<drive?. I dont need to have a NAS Server – madhairsilence Oct 3 '12 at 9:14
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-1 for implying Windows is the only way to do this when it is far from the best choice for the job. – John Gardeniers Oct 3 '12 at 9:17
there is no real professional solution for home use. Either your going to run into lisencing issues (Windows Server license if your going to be running windows clients for the game servers) or you are going to run into problems in either config or maintenance if you go the *NIX route. there fore, in your case, the "only" acceptable solution is "just" using a windows XP / 7 as server OS and use the standard file sharing method for any file sharing needs, and use the server clients made available by the game manufacturer as a means of hosting a game server itsself. – Entity_Razer Oct 3 '12 at 9:17
You seem to imply that there will be less configuration and maintenance issues with windows. That's pretty funny. – EEAA Oct 3 '12 at 12:26
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@HopelessN00b, Windows is best suited for playing games on but not for hosting game servers. – John Gardeniers Oct 3 '12 at 22:21
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up vote 0 down vote

It really depends on the specs of your spare machine and what you want to do with it. Modern gaming requirements demand a faster PC with a decent graphics card. If your spare pc is up to the job and that is what you want then go with @Entity_Razer's advice. Just add a couple of hard drives to store your media if you want it to double up as a fileserver.

If the box is only capable enough to store and serve media, docs and so on then its probably best to install NAS software (freeNAS or whatever), hook it up to your network and stick it out of sight somewhere. One (or more) Gigabit ethernet network cards if not already present would boost performance. Depending on the machine you may want to look at installing a linux variant which will run with smaller resource footprint but may require more under-the-hood configuration than say Windows Home Server which is another, simpler option.

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