Build a Home Server for a Windows XP Home Network
Published: May 20, 2002
By Jerry Honeycutt, Windows XP Expert Zone Community Columnist
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We've built a variety of desktop computers to run Windows XP. You learned how to build an inexpensive computer in A Basic Box Can Rock, which runs Windows XP as well as most store-bought computers. You also learned how to support Windows XP in the Kitchen, and all about Recycling an Older Computer to make it run Windows XP like it was new. I even gave you a recipe for a Supercharged Family Computer that beats them all. All I've cooked up for you so far are desktop PCs, but Windows XP works well with a server on a network.
This is the first of two columns in which I describe how to build a server for your network. This column is still about Windows XP, even though there is no Windows XP Server operating system. The next version of the Windows Server product is Windows Server 2003, now in beta. In the example that I'm building here, Windows XP Professional functions as the client in a network that is hosted by a computer running Windows 2000 Server. This week, I'll describe the benefits you get from building and installing your own server. The next column explains how to pick and assemble the hardware components for the server and how to configure Windows XP on the client computers.
Manage Your Network with a Server
You need to know some basic information about server computers in order decide if building one for your network is the right thing to do.
 | Adding a server to your network helps you better manage your Windows XP-based resources to reach your business goals. |  | |
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Why do businesses use servers? The primary purpose is to authenticate users and computers. Rather than logging on to a desktop computer, users actually log on to the server computer, which grants access to resources all over the network. Businesses use these servers as a central place to manage users, computers, settings, and applications. The secondary purpose is to provide access to resources. Resource servers make files, printers, or even the Internet available to users and computers on the network. In short, they move these resources from the various desktop computers to a centralized server that everybody can access.
You don't need a business-level server in your home office. But if you have a network with more than a couple of computers on it, consider the benefits of adding a computer running Windows 2000 Server. Adding a server to your network helps you better manage your Windows XP-based resources to reach your business goals. You can store all of your files on the server, for example, and then access them from any computer in the house or back them up easier. You can set up your server as an Internet gateway using proxy server software, improving your Internet experience by making it faster and more secure. Other business-level features are just as useful in a home office as they are in any enterprise:
| • | Roaming user profiles—Use to log on to any computer in your home office, and your settings follow you. |
| • | Folder redirection—Moves your documents from the local My Documents folder to a network location that's easy to back up. |
| • | Group Policy—Allows you to configure settings that apply to any combination of users and computers on your network. You can set security settings, customize Internet Explorer, or even restrict what software your kids can run on your office PC. |
Besides all that, having a server at home is just plain cool. You'll learn a lot about Windows XP and Windows 2000 Server, and you'll impress your friends. The best analogy I have is cars: People soup up their own cars for the same reasons that I'm suggesting you build your own network server. You can certainly go without or buy a server, but you won't have as much fun, learn as much, or be as proud of the results.
Choose a Server Set Up
How complicated you make your server depends on what you want to accomplish. Here are a couple of options for you:
| • | You can use a desktop computer as a server. That means that you dedicate one computer as a server, install Windows XP Professional on it, and tweak it to whatever purpose you have in mind. If your thing is an Internet gateway, use Internet Connection Sharing and Internet Connection Firewall. As a resource server, Windows XP works great for file and printer sharing. What you don't get is authentication or any of the traditional server features that I described earlier, but that's not a huge loss if all you're after is a central place to store your files. |
| • | You can install Windows 2000 Server on a computer, even an inexpensive computer, such as the $500 job I described in A Basic Box Can Rock, and use many of its business features in your home office. You get all the file and printer sharing features of Windows XP and a whole lot more. This is the option to choose if you have the money to buy Windows 2000 Server, and you want to learn more about Windows XP on a business network or take advantage of its business features. Although the hardware isn't expensive, the Windows 2000 Server license might set you back a bit and the learning curve is steeper. See How to Buy Windows 2000 for information about choosing the right version of the server software, pricing and licensing, and purchasing the product. |
However, your hardware doesn't have to be expensive. My Internet firewall is a computer that I built for about $500 and then installed Windows 2000 Server and Internet Security and Acceleration Server. In the section below I describe the authentication and resource server that I use in my home office. It illustrates the ends to which I'll go to play with great toys.
One Geek's Server
In my home office, I want the best server I can afford, because I rely on it as the focal point of my network. That and I love expensive toys. I'm a geek.
I built the server myself a few years ago from the best components I could find. The case is a server case from SuperMicro. It has dual-redundant hot-swappable power supplies, several case fans, and eleven drive bays. The case is partitioned with the mainboard on one side and storage devices on the other side. It's extreme but, it looks good sitting there as you can see in Figure 1.
Figure 1
Inside the case is a P2B-DS ASUS dual-processor mainboard with a few Pentium II processors and 1 GB of memory. I've installed four drives on the mainboard's built-in SCSI bus, as well as a small gaggle of CD-ROMs and a burner. To back up the server, I installed a 20-GB tape drive that serves my backup routine well but requires a bit of tape swapping.
Microsoft hasn't released Windows Server 2003 yet, so I'm still using Windows 2000 Server in my office. I've configured it as a domain controller, which authenticates accounts and allows me to control settings through Group Policy. I take advantage of features such as folder redirection, roaming user profiles, and Remote Installation Service to make my life as a small-business person easier.
I don't have need of different authentication and resources servers, so the one box does it all for me. The server provides DHCP, DNS, and other services for the network. I use it for version control, storing documents, and installing applications, such as Microsoft Office XP, through Active Directory. I also store disk images of different Microsoft operating systems on it so that I can install any version of Windows in a few minutes using Symantec Ghost.
This represents the extreme to which you can take a home office server, and one that I don't recommend for you unless you have a good reason to blow that kind of money. The hardware alone took a $5,000 chunk out of my bank account, and you might also have to pay for client access licenses. (See Pricing and Licensing for details.) You also must know a little something about servers and directory services or want to know more about them in order to get the whole thing to work. Active Directory is the directory service included in the Windows 2000 Server architecture.
Choose Your Server Hardware
To continue this project, I'll help you pick the components you need to build your server and walk you through configuring the client Windows XP-based computers in my next column.
The most important hardware bits are disk storage and memory, because you're probably going to store a lot of files on the server that you'll want served up quickly. A fast connection to your network is also important.
A screaming processor and all the extras aren't necessary for a home office server, though, and that's part of the reason that you're going to be able to build for relatively little money compared to a good desktop computer. You don't even need a monitor for it.
By the time you're finished with this project, you'll have a server that'll make your home office more productive. It'll provide a focal point for all of your computing activities, make it possible to share resources, and teach you a lot in the process.
Expert Zone Columnist Jerry Honeycutt is a writer, speaker, and technologist who has written over 25 books, including Microsoft Windows XP Registry Guide (Microsoft Press, 2002). He frequently writes about customizing and deploying Windows XP.
