Can a computer be a server too?

[Jerry1]

I think this can be done but, I wanted to confirm with someone who knows, so I turn to the expert panel that exists here.

DW likes her pictures and she likes her laptop. However, she has such a volume of pictures, I want her to use a desktop in her office with large data drives and a raid set up for protection. She’s on board with this, but she does like working on her laptop in the living room. So, my question is, can I get a desktop with large data drives and then allow DW to access her pictures (full read, write, edit) from the laptop. I assume this would be pretty straight forward and that I could just somehow set up the laptop to view the desktop as a network drive over our WiFi.

Am I on track? Does it take specific hardware or software? Or, would this all be part of Windows functionality?

Thanks.

 

[Freedom56]

You can go the route of using a PC as a server by sharing your drives and keep that PC powered on, but there are alternatives:

1- Many routers also let you connect a drive to it (Via USB 3.0 interface) and allow you to share files with any computer or device on the network.

2- You can also just buy a network attached server with a gigabit Ethernet interface and connected it to your network.

 

[target2019]

Your router may have this capability. Removable media would be plugged into a USB connection on the router, and you would share the media via folders (shares) to other devices on the local network.

 

[Jerry1]

You can go the route of using a PC as a server by sharing your drives and keep that PC powered on, but there are alternatives:

Thanks, didn’t think of that. Is there a big difference in leaving a computer on all the time versus a server? Thinking things like power usage and wear and tear (if there is any) would be about the same.

 

[Sunset]

Thanks, didn’t think of that. Is there a big difference in leaving a computer on all the time versus a server? Thinking things like power usage and wear and tear (if there is any) would be about the same.

No big difference in this case.
A server is really just a special computer, so any computer can be a server.

 

[mountainsoft]

DW likes her pictures and she likes her laptop. However, she has such a volume of pictures, I want her to use a desktop in her office with large data drives and a raid set up for protection. She’s on board with this, but she does like working on her laptop in the living room. So, my question is, can I get a desktop with large data drives and then allow DW to access her pictures (full read, write, edit) from the laptop. I assume this would be pretty straight forward and that I could just somehow set up the laptop to view the desktop as a network drive over our WiFi.

We keep all of our important data on my primary desktop computer. That allows me to back it up regularly and have multiple backups. We access the data on my primary computer from my laptop over my home network.

You can easily share specific folders or an entire hard drive in Windows. You can also select which permissions each user (or everybody) can have (read, write, etc.).

Unfortunately, it has been a while since I set this all up, and there are minor differences between Windows 7 and Windows 10 for instance. As long as both computers are connected on your home network (wired or wifi), you won't need anything else. You'll just need to do a little research to set it up. Sorry I don't have any specific instructions at the moment.

 

[NW-Bound]

You can go the route of using a PC as a server by sharing your drives and keep that PC powered on, but there are alternatives:

1- Many routers also let you connect a drive to it (Via USB 3.0 interface) and allow you to share files with any computer or device on the network.

2- You can also just buy a network attached server with a gigabit Ethernet interface and connected it to your network.

For file sharing, option 1) above works well, if your router supports it via a USB port. A 1-GB SSD inside a portable USB enclosure will let you store many photos, MP3 files, and movies, to share across multiple PCs on the home network. Very inexpensive, and does not use much power, and can be left on 24/7.

Option 2) with a NAS (network-attached server) costs a bit more, and probably provides faster throughput for multiple users, but may be overkill for typical home use. It also uses more power.

I have both above options in my home network.

In addition, I also have 2 dedicated PCs running Windows Server software to be pure servers. They are power mongers (burning 200W each), so I only turn them on when I need them.

 

[Lawrencewendall]

I have a desktop that I re-purposed as my media server. I stuck in 6Tb of storage and it holds all my movies/pictures/songs. I use Plex (free) to access the movies through ruku and explorer to access the pics and songs across 4 different machines in the house. Works for me.

 

[Jerry1]

The option of putting a drive on my router is a good one, but it won’t solve my protection issue. I want a RAID set up for that. Also, a SSD drive would get expensive because she already has one of those and she’s getting close to filling up a 1T drive. I need protection and the ability to back up to a portable drive on a regular basis. So I’m thinking use the desktop as a server just to solve the problem of her liking to work sometimes on her laptop somewhere other than her office. The NAS would be cool, but I think a bit overkill plus, I’d like a desktop in her office because a newer unit will have better video and power than her laptop which is getting a bit old. Additionally, she’s been working with pictures so far, but videos are coming next. You’d think she’s the family librarian/historian, but who am I to criticize her hobby. I just don’t want her to lose her work. That would hurt just to watch her go through.

 

[dixonge]

Also check out Mylio. Original photos/videos all on desktop, backed up to additional hard drive *and* to the cloud somewhere. Mylio can share all photos and videos to her laptop, but just a reduced size, even a thumbnail. As she needs to work on them, she can download them a folder at a time. This has been working well for us. All of our devices can see all photos/videos, even though only our Mac Mini actually holds the originals.

 

[Jerry1]

Also check out Mylio.

Thanks, I will.

 

[mountainsoft]

Unless I'm missing something, I don't see the point of setting up server software on a computer just to share files with a laptop. File sharing is built in to Windows (and I assume on Macs too). There are tons of how-to's online for setting this up, here are a few:

https://lifehacker.com/how-to-share-a-folder-over-your-network-5808814

https://pureinfotech.com/setup-network-file-sharing-windows-10/

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4092694/windows-10-file-sharing-over-a-network

The only time you might need to set up a home server is if you want to access files when you are away from home (outside the range of your home network). For example, I setup an Emby media server so my mom can watch my videos at her place in another town.

 

[BigNick]

Unless I'm missing something, I don't see the point of setting up server software on a computer just to share files with a laptop. File sharing is built in to Windows (and I assume on Macs too).

The main issue is that on Windows (at least), you can only have so many connections to the file sharing software before Microsoft wants $ from you.

 

[mountainsoft]

The main issue is that on Windows (at least), you can only have so many connections to the file sharing software before Microsoft wants $ from you.

I thought the OP only needed one connection, to access the desktop from his wife's laptop. I do that from my laptop all the time without any issues.

 

[Jerry1]

I thought the OP only needed one connection, to access the desktop from his wife's laptop. I do that from my laptop all the time without any issues.

Correct, only one. I was wondering if I could access it from my iPad just for viewing, but that's not essential.