Building a new PC for other PCs to read/write to

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ifix4u

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#157582 5-Dec-2014 12:55

Hello, I am not sure where to place this, sorry in advance if I have the wrong area of the forum

I am building a new PC that will be accessed by about 5-10 other client PCs for reading/writing

Research:
I have read many articles about this an cannot come to a conclusion on what to use, as I am a beginner

in this field.
Many articles seem to over complicate the system/hardware for what my needs are

Security:
Security is not a big issue for me as all my PCs will have the same amount of access to files on the PC

Type of Reading/Writing:
MSWord, Access, Excel - simple programs which do not take a lot of space and can manage their own
Microsoft SQL Server Management is a requirement on this PC
Management to this PC can be done via Remote

Hardware:
1TB Hard Drive - More than enough storage for small MS office files
SSD - Windows 7 will be installed here, not sure if the SSD is even needed
8GB Ram - There will not be many applications/programs running in the background so this I think is already overkill
Processor - Not sure at this stage, probably going for whatever is cheap
Motherboard - Same as above
Graphics Card - Not sure if I need one, might just get a cheap one for basic things
Power Supply - Needs to be reliable and power efficient, as this PC will likely be on 24/7

What are you opinions on this setup?
Is it bad or wrong to use this PC like any other client PC?

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#1189299 5-Dec-2014 13:03

I'm not clear what you're trying to achieve. Do you just want this PC to host the files and other PCs read\write files? If so you would probably be better off looking at a NAS...

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shk292

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#1189303 5-Dec-2014 13:06

It sounds like you want a NAS. Why not just buy a NAS?

xpd

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#1189318 5-Dec-2014 13:08

As he said... if just pure file storage with nothing else, a 2+ bay NAS would be good option.
I was looking at a QNAP TS-453 Pro with 4x 1TB drives for under $2000 I think.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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ifix4u

19 posts

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#1189319 5-Dec-2014 13:09

I forgot to mention one of our software requirements is Microsoft SQL Server Management

Not sure if NAS will work

sidefx

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#1189323 5-Dec-2014 13:18

ifix4u: I forgot to mention one of our software requirements is Microsoft SQL Server Management

Do you want to run SQL Server on this PC, or manage it from this PC?

"I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there." | Octopus Energy | Sharesies
- Richard Feynman

ifix4u

19 posts

Geek

#1189325 5-Dec-2014 13:21

sidefx:
ifix4u: I forgot to mention one of our software requirements is Microsoft SQL Server Management

Do you want to run SQL Server on this PC, or manage it from this PC?

Manage and run it from this PC, I will install some Remote Access software so if there are any issues I can manager it from anywhere

I guess what I really would like to know is, am I on the correct way of doing it?

timmmay

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#1189382 5-Dec-2014 14:44

What kind of load are you talking about? What database size is it? What kind of SQL requests will hit it? Multiple clients constantly requesting files and hitting the database? Just an occasional use file server with the odd database hit?

More information is required to give you any real useful guidance.

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ifix4u

19 posts

Geek

#1189396 5-Dec-2014 15:07

timmmay: What kind of load are you talking about? What database size is it? What kind of SQL requests will hit it? Multiple clients constantly requesting files and hitting the database? Just an occasional use file server with the odd database hit?

More information is required to give you any real useful guidance.

SQL Requests: 1-3 clients, not heavy use, only about 5-10mins every hour
Access database: size is 13mb, 1 client
Everything else is probably under 500kb, with a few being 1mb+

I am currently looking at

http://www.pbtech.co.nz/index.php?z=p&p=WKSPB1458
http://www.pbtech.co.nz/index.php?z=p&p=WKSPB1470A

ECC Ram is not crucial for my needs

timmmay

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#1189401 5-Dec-2014 15:20

Your needs are so modest either of those machines will do. That database is so small it will be completely in memory, you could probably run 1000 clients so long as you had appropriate indexes.

Check out the licensing situation, you may need a windows server version if you have many clients access it. I don't know much about that area.

ifix4u

19 posts

Geek

#1189404 5-Dec-2014 15:23

timmmay: Your needs are so modest either of those machines will do. That database is so small it will be completely in memory, you could probably run 1000 clients so long as you had appropriate indexes.

Check out the licensing situation, you may need a windows server version if you have many clients access it. I don't know much about that area.

This was exactly what I was thinking!

Thank you so much for your opinion ^^ greatly appreciated, these links I am looking at are overkill

JWR

821 posts

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#1189410 5-Dec-2014 15:37

It is still unclear to me if you are running Microsoft SQL Server 2008 or not.

If you are, then you must run a Microsoft operating system on your server. Windows 7 would suffice.

Microsoft SQL server 2008 would be a very high end solution so few users!

If Microsoft Access is the only database you are running, then you could share that from a NAS or any other system that supports Microsoft file sharing.

I would say that anything from an Intel core i3 upwards would be more than powerful enough to handle the load.

Btw, don't buy a separate graphics card. Just get a CPU that has a built in Graphics Processor.

mmlakeman

106 posts

Master Geek

#1189416 5-Dec-2014 15:51

Sounds like HP Micro Server territory (http://www8.hp.com/nz/en/products/proliant-servers/product-detail.html?oid=6280789)

You can get it with Windows Server as part of the bundle (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/products/windows-server-2012-r2-essentials/) Up to 25 users / 50 devices.

For a small database you can use SQL Express which is free. (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/products/sql-server-editions/sql-server-express.aspx)

Sideface

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#1189438 5-Dec-2014 16:00

JWR:
... Microsoft SQL server 2008 would be a very high end solution so few users! ...

Overkill!
You probably need a simple NAS rather than a server.

Sideface

nzkc

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#1189520 5-Dec-2014 17:19

Re the SQL component...

For that size and usage of database I would seriously consider SQL Azure. Let someone else manage your backups et al.

The file stuff you could keep local. If you want to build it yourself there are a few open source solutions. FreeNas and OpenFiler spring to mind.

DravidDavid

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#1189717 6-Dec-2014 00:47

nzkc:

The file stuff you could keep local. If you want to build it yourself there are a few open source solutions. FreeNas and OpenFiler spring to mind.

FreeNAS is great. I would not recommend it to anyone on a budget that wants to keep their files however. You need a proper ECC compatible processor, ECC memory and of course, the board to sit it all with moderate Linux experience before it can be deployed in any small business or enterprise capacity.

Believe me when I say...Budget hardware does NOT play nice with FreeNAS. It will run, but it will grenade itself eventually.

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