File sharing home office on a shoestring

ROS123

I have 3 xp machines 2 vista machines, I would like to be able to have a fileshare both from the poinf of view of sharing / collaborating on files and also as a backup solution. AS the title say I done have much money to throw at this. I am looking at about a gig of data to begin with.

Tomtata

This would work - http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=482385

assuming the PC's are networked?

ROS123

Tomtata, thanks for that, they are networked in the sense that 4 of them are connected to the back of the Eircom router, with the LAcie that would be down to 3. I could get a cheap and cheerful switch I suppose. I am both interested and horrified by the internet access option. Would I be sharing my data with LaCie? This is not something that I ws looking for, but now that it is there I can think of ways I could use it, if it was secure.

Tomtata

You data would only be accessible from your internal devices i.e. anything connected to the LAN ports on your Eircom box - It won't be accessible from the Net.

JDxtra

If you had an old PC lying around, you could install FreeNAS.

JDxtra

Or, you could buy a wireless router with USB storage. Two birds one stone and all that...

NetGear and LinkSys both make them.

Viper_JB

You could look into using microsofts sync toy for a free solution, sync the same folder on all pc's in your network...result in like 5 local copies, and if you're very paranoid you could also sync like a 2 gb usb pen on one of the computers then take it away to make sure you maintain a remote copy of the data.

zekiel

looking at what your saying, its about a gig of data. Check out dropbox.com the app supports lan sync and also backs up your files online, a 2gb free account is available.. I use it on all my machines for my day to day work and it works a treat.

ROS123

Thanks guys for all the options, looked at most of them, going with nas attached storage box. Internet hosted service not appropriate as the guy is sharing satellite broadband (out in the sticks) which is sometimes unreliable.

justsomebloke

k, just a quick question, you say the computers are networked together in terms of 4 of them are plugged into the back of the eircom router. If this is the case would be setting up a small network and sharing a folder on one of the machines to the others not be the cheapest options especially if you are only going for a GB of space initally

BostonB

Joe the Santa wrote: »

k, just a quick question, you say the computers are networked together in terms of 4 of them are plugged into the back of the eircom router. If this is the case would be setting up a small network and sharing a folder on one of the machines to the others not be the cheapest options especially if you are only going for a GB of space initally

Thats what I'd do, and hang a backup off that machine.

SouperComputer

Joe the Santa wrote: »

k, just a quick question, you say the computers are networked together in terms of 4 of them are plugged into the back of the eircom router. If this is the case would be setting up a small network and sharing a folder on one of the machines to the others not be the cheapest options especially if you are only going for a GB of space initally

Having an everyday workstation used on an ongoing basis as a server bothers me, no matter what size the network is. We all know the #1 cause of problems is user-related, so why introduce this onto your server? User gets spyware/malware on the workstation and you have to go clean the mess.

Get your mits on an older PC, 50yoyos would do it to be honest. Hook it up with new mirrored drives (Ideally different batch #'s) and a good backup solution, something that takes snapshots and allows point-in-time restores. OS can be whatever you want, XP, Vista, 7, Linux (Openfiler is great, as is clarkconnect). The box you get might even have a windows COA on it. Stick nod32 antivirus on there for good measure. Dont forget the UPS too

BostonB

Another problem is scope creep. You'll start off with a few shared drives, then a database, then the email server. Then some applications. Its all moving towards a dedicated server.