# What's the purpose of having a server?



## smoothjk

I always see people saying, "I think I'll use this old rig for a server" or something like that. I'm really curious what a server does exactly, and why people would need to have one in their home.

Please enlighten me.


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## shadowstrewn

When you have over 1TB of media it's nice to be able to access it from anywhere and control content trafic. I also use my server for forwarding my media to my PS3 with a DLNA configuration.

and also...

BECAUSE IT'S COOL!!!


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## RSXHiTMAN

to server a printer, serve files, serve whatever service you would want on your network


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## maddux

lets see....you can

centralize your storage, use it as a media center, remote access point, email server, heavy torrent seeding, security monitoring for home...jeez so many things

I can't list them all lol.


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## reezin14

I've mine for the sharing of media,files,storage without eating up my hdd space and it keeps back ups of 2 pc's on the network.They are pretty easy to setup and it's a way to make use of old hardware that you have laying around.


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## DuckieHo

A server is just a computer dedicated to a specific task(s).

I currently a WHS server that handles backups, remote access, stream music, media storage/sharing. I am using another PC to build server that will be my router.


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## Gunderman456

Also in relation to gaming, the server would allow family and friends access to a centralized hub to game, even when the owner is not home and has his gaming computer off. It eliminates a lot of phone calls to try to determine who will run a server and who is playing etc...


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## EmerilLIVE

Wow, your question really is to general. In the wonderful world of computers, networks, and the internet their are in general two types of systems, servers and clients. Servers provide services of which the clients are the consumers. The services that the servers provide is only limited by the imagination of the programmer, nearly anything is possible. In fact most servers are also clients to some other server(s), and even your computer can be a server, even if you don't know it. If you share a printer, file, an internet connection, your iTunes library with other computers on your network then your computer is a server. Common uses among the Overclock.net population would be a file server, game server, web server, backup server, ftp server, e-mail server, ventrillo/teamspeak server, or any combination of those and many more.


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## HouseJhereg

Damn its a wonderful world we live in. How many computers do you have in your house and how much do you game. A home server should be a pretty cheap endevour mainly because you dont need high end parts. its mainly a computer with a crapload of storage and 2 nic's.

Oh yeah and if its going to be a real server FTP/backup/files ETC. look into Ubuntu server. Its free and fairly easy to use.


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## smoothjk

It's such a foreign concept to me, but it seems really cool that you can use your old rig instead of it becoming completely obsolete. I'll look into it some more.


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## DuckieHo

Quote:


Originally Posted by *smoothjk* 
It's such a foreign concept to me, but it seems really cool that you can use your old rig instead of it becoming completely obsolete. I'll look into it some more.

"obsolete" is relative.... It depends on requirement's needs.


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## Bonz(TM)

There's so much you can do with old rigs. While it may not be really efficient depending on the task that needs done, it's a great way to centralize network services.

For example. I have 4 old Dell Optiplex GX150's. They are those real thin Dell's that school library's usually have. They have 256MB of RAM, about 20GB of HDD space and a PIII 1GHz.

I use 1 for my firewall. I have Endian installed on it. A hardware firewall is a great addition to the network, provided you have the time you configure it how you want, and the extra hardware laying around.

I use another for all my network services. Domain Controller, DNS Server, DHCP Server, Terminal Server, and a few other things. Some people may say "Why do you need these services? Won't a standard home router do?" Well... the answer is Yes! Yes a standard home router would do these tasks wonderfully. But if I have the hardware laying around, why not put it to use? Not to mention, I can assign IP reservations. Which basically means, I will always pull the same IP without having to statically assign it. This is helpful since I take my computer all over the place and don't to statically set my IP everytime I get home. (Port forwarding reasons)

Now since these machines are not real powerful, I cannot use the others for a game server or anything that requires power. Also since they are limited on HDD space, I really can't have a file server or media server.

Lately I've loaded one of them up with Christmas music and have been streaming it to my computer, and through my surround sound. It also streams the music through my ventrilo server.

The last one I strictly use for Remote Access. Whenever I need to access some stuff from work or school, my one computer is always free of all resources, so it runs quick.

In the near future, my sig rig will become my main File Server, Media server, and probably Game server.


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## john55576

I kinda have two servers. One client pc host the printer and stores files on a Raid 1, while another host the internet gateway and monitors traffic.


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## RSXHiTMAN

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Bonzâ„¢* 
There's so much you can do with old rigs. While it may not be really efficient depending on the task that needs done, it's a great way to centralize network services.

For example. I have 4 old Dell Optiplex GX150's. They are those real thin Dell's that school library's usually have. They have 256MB of RAM, about 20GB of HDD space and a PIII 1GHz.

I use 1 for my firewall. I have Endian installed on it. A hardware firewall is a great addition to the network, provided you have the time you configure it how you want, and the extra hardware laying around.

I use another for all my network services. Domain Controller, DNS Server, DHCP Server, Terminal Server, and a few other things. Some people may say "Why do you need these services? Won't a standard home router do?" Well... the answer is Yes! Yes a standard home router would do these tasks wonderfully. But if I have the hardware laying around, why not put it to use? Not to mention, I can assign IP reservations. Which basically means, I will always pull the same IP without having to statically assign it. This is helpful since I take my computer all over the place and don't to statically set my IP everytime I get home. (Port forwarding reasons)

Now since these machines are not real powerful, I cannot use the others for a game server or anything that requires power. Also since they are limited on HDD space, I really can't have a file server or media server.

Lately I've loaded one of them up with Christmas music and have been streaming it to my computer, and through my surround sound. It also streams the music through my ventrilo server.

The last one I strictly use for Remote Access. Whenever I need to access some stuff from work or school, my one computer is always free of all resources, so it runs quick.

In the near future, my sig rig will become my main File Server, Media server, and probably Game server.

a router uses like 7-9 watts, your computers use like 40 or 50


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## Bonz(TM)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *RSXHiTMAN* 
a router uses like 7-9 watts, your computers use like 40 or 50

Like I also said, it may not be efficient depending on your needs.

A router cannot be my domain controller. Nor is it as extensive when it comes to network services. Yes, it will fill the average user's needs, but not the user who is looking to use servers in place of a router's network services.

I was simply answering the OP.


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## TDN1979

I am actually getting ready to setup an old computer as a server. I have a Linksys media server with two bays for sata HDD's but it's limited and I'm now selling it. I will have to give Ubuntu a shot as I have it on one of my computers and trying to learn it as we speek (or type







).

Edit: and to the OP, read the quote in my sig. That will let you know why so many have servers, lol.


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## [email protected]

I got two servers set up, one as a main fileserver doing torrents, media sharing to the PS3, FTP for friends and TV Recording (also good as there's less clutter in the main rig) and another which is doing Exchange, WSUS, DNS and RAID1 which has all my PC's My Documents linked to it, photo backup etc (I have a external which I back all this up about once a week or two)


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## dhrandy

Here is my setup.


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## MXjunk127

Also can make good rendering machines.

I have 5 servers in the house and 2 in a Data center. Servers rule!


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