Custom Home Server

My Primary Desktop PC…

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This computer is the core of the entire setup. This PC has many of the same specs as my Custom Home Server but with Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit edition as my OS. So I know what you must be thinking, that I must have problem after problem with this setup but that is not the case. I have had no real big problems at all. The only problem I have had is it required me to upgrade my sound card to one that was compatible with Vista. So I got the Creative Sound Audigy SE and the only problem that I have is the mic or input port does not work correctly due to the drivers not being complete or buggy. I know that there are a lot of other news, blog posts, forums and many other resources on the internet that have only had problem after problem when trying to use Vista; not to mention trying to use the 64-bit edition. But the fact that I have had virtually no problems at all with Vista 64-bit edition makes me wonder if people were trying to run this operating system on an older or under powered computer that really should not even be trying to do the job or there is always user error that occurs.

Let’s recap on the specifications of this system. Internally this PC has a Intel 3.6GHz Pentium 4 HT processor / 4GB of Kingston DDR2 RAM / 500 GB Western Digital HD / ATI X600 Video Card with 256 MB of DDR2 RAM all in a nice passively cooled case.

Here is the list of all the peripherals that I have attached to my primary desktop PC:

I am running a 17″ Samsung SyncMaster 720N & 22″ SyncMaster 2220WM as my dual monitors.

View Sonic 2.1 speakers

Logitech Quick Cam Orbit AF

Nexstar – GX external IDE 160GB Hard drive enclosure for all of my iTunes media

Thermaltake Max 4 external SATA 320 GB Hard drive enclosure for backups

Galaxy Metal Gear external 5.25″ DVD Re-writable drive

Microsoft Comfort Desktop 4000

Now that I have reviewed all of the technology that I am currently using I will be posting reviews and interesting technology that I stumble across.

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Custom Home Server…

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I decided that I would tell you about my custom home server next. At this time it is a basic server nothing to advanced but I am learning as I go. Currently the server is running Windows XP Pro with an Intel 3.6 GHz processor, 2 GB of DDR2 RAM, & a 500 GB Western Digital HD. These specs are definitely over the top for a server but it is the software that makes this computer a server. I am constantly searching and trying out new software that I think I would like to use that would give me more functionality at home as well as anywhere I might have an internet connection.

If you go to my Wakoopa profile you will see that I use iTunes for all of my music & podcasts. So to accompany that I use a program called Firefly Media Server that allows me to access my iTunes content from any internet connected computer. I used Filezilla for a short period of time in collaboration with Dynamic DNS to create an FTP Server for file downloading & uploading. Filezilla also allowed me to host my own internet content such as web sites. I stopped using Filezilla in search of possibly finding a different program but I am still searching. I do use a program called Hamachi that allows me to securely remote desktop into any of the computers on my home network. I can also view each of my Hamachi networked computers through the “browse” feature which shows my folders on that machine in windows explorer on the local computer. Two other programs that I use to open up my computer & make my network more mobile are FolderShare & SoonR. FolderShare allows me to sync any files between any PC that I am running the software on over the internet. For instance I use this to keep all of my documents & IE favorites synced between my notebook, server, & desktop. SoonR is a program designed to connect mobile phones to your PC content wirelessly.

At this time I am not using anything more than the Steam application to view PC games & download them. So far I have only used the “demo” feature to try out the various games but the idea of not having to go far for a game & just download instead is an idea that will definitely stick. I occasionally look at http://www.gamesforwindows.com/ but they don’t update the games on this webpage and most of the time the games that they do show don’t have the demo file attached to them which would be nice since most of the new games coming out have demos that you can play to see if you like the game before you buy it.

For my security needs I use Windows Defender & AVG Anti-Virus; the free edition.

In conclusion, I feel that having an extra PC that I am able to use to run monitoring software or a dedicated access point for all my PC’s to get data & gather all of my downloads in one location is the way to go if you have the hardware.

Here is a screen shot of my current Custom Home Server desktop.

Custom Home Server Desktop

Feel free to leave a comment or share your story about your Home Server setup. Also email me at the link on the bottom of this web page if you have any questions or suggestions for my next review.

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