Now.if you're just talking about a central file server, that can be done with just about any PC. So that's $3k, before you even start on the actual server hardware. What, exactly, are these systems used for?īy 'thin client', this means that all the brain lives in the 'server', and then a small box to connect to that and connect the mouse/kbd/monitor to.įor instance, Citrix makes a line of these. I'm not sure I understand your question about, "displayed out to various thin clients"? some Microsoft office, movies, web, nothing fancy. The systems are just used for basic stuff. Just to use as a basic office, small business server. With either a Windows or Linux PC, or a NAS box.all you really need do is share a couple of folders, and then on the PC's, connect to and map a drive letter to that shared folder.įor instance.the folder containing all my Movies is the "M drive" on my systems.Ī folder for stuff to be shared among all systems is the "S drive" letter.Ī purpose built PC, that serves as a common file shared space, and can also play movies directly out to the TV if I choose. Qnap, Synology, a few others.all make very good solutions for this. In looking to rebuild it, I started to investigate the various actual NAS (Network Attached Storage) boxes.
Up until early this year, I used a low power Windows PC for this. It does NOT have to be a WindowsServer OS. That makes things considerably easier.Īny current PC, Win 10 Home or Pro, 8GB RAM and sufficient drive space will work just fine.