Help with a small server setup

[sjk]

Hello all

I'm a little stuck at the moment, we need some sort of system where we can access files and programs from 2 different machines.

I assume it is a server we need for this? If so do we buy one or for our low usage is it better to use a service provider?

Not sure what the costs are, and thank you in advance

 

[ryedale]

A NAS (network attached storage) device like this works perfectly for us (8 machines in office)

http://www.ebuyer.com/751741-synolo...39&pkw=&pmt=&gclid=CImanP-Z4tMCFYKc7QodcCkDbQ

As quick as having the files on your own computer

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Agree just make sure you use a raid nas setup with ssd drives for best speed then connect to a switch so each machine is connected by Ethernet to the switch and the Nas drive is also connected to the switch

 

[Ankur@Ganitsoft]

Hi There!

I would recommend that you choose a Cloud services i.e. either AWS (Amazon web services) or Azure.
AWS Offers - Free tier technology which comes with 1 GB RAM and 30 GB storage till one year with no cost. You can access data from anywhere as it is always on a public IP platform
Azure Offers - 4 GB RAM + 126 GB Storage free to a certain limit - approx 150 GBP

 

[KM-Tiger]

I would recommend that you choose a Cloud services

How can you recommend cloud without knowing the quality and speed of the OP's internet connection?

 

[Ankur@Ganitsoft]

The OP has asked for recommendations i.e. whether to buy a server or use a service provider. I have simply mentioned my recommendation. The OP here knows about his options which shows in his question which further proves he must have thought about the speed/quality of internet, otherwise, he would have mentioned that he wants additional advice. Hope this suffices your apprehension.

Now coming to the tech part - AWS/Azure are safe and secure services which give the login credential after proper authentication from CC payments

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Main trouble with Cloud services are that without internet connection they are useless, where as on the rare occasions the internet is down you can still work with a NAS drive and on many you can hot swap disks to take a copy home as backup

In my opinion Cloud is better as a backup service and NAS drives for daily use in a office

 

[arnydnxluk]

Given the low number of users, something like Google Drive or Dropbox may be suitable. Super easy to set up and available away from the office too.

As noted this relies on a working internet connection but in return you have other benefits such as being completely managed, low cost, mobile app access, etc.

Edit: Sorry, I completely missed the program requirement! In this case, yes, you would need a local server. However I would reconsider if this is really necessary for two machines. Locally installed programs and simple file sharing via Dropbox may be the easiest and best overall solution.

 

[EmC007]

I think it would helpful to understand the local programme requirements as this will likely determine the most appropriate method.

 

[webhostuk]

Yes it would be good if you could share what sort of coding are you willing to do, in some cases even two VPS can do the job for you.

 

[Alan]

If so do we buy one or for our low usage is it better to use a service provider?

Not sure what the costs are, and thank you in advance

If your internet is good, then a cloud replication service would probably be the cheapest option. Essentially a folder on each machine is 'synchronized' via the cloud.

The mainstream options are Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive and DropBox - as you have two users Dropbox for business would be the most expensive as it starts at £10 per user minimum 3 ( £30) per month. I don't know much about MicroSoft products. Google Drive would be starting from £3.30 per user / month ( i.e. £6.60 ). being a Google Cloud Partner, if you have Google questions drop me a PM

- edit -

Just re-read your post and your requirement is to access programs as well as data files - the above works well with data files, but programs are best loaded locally or on a local fileserver.

 

[EmC007]

Remote Desktop?

 

[visuallyconnected]

The easiest way could be to just install Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive and use the storage options included. If your business is growing from more than one person to multiple employees, sometimes it's worth looking at investing in an Office365 or Google hosted service

 

[Nico Albrecht]

Get a NAS and setup ftp access to it. I'd not recommend uploading any business data to a cloud service + they cost more over time. Get a local computer shop to set up a NAS for you or a young hungry it service provider. Raid 1 would be fine but once you grow make the first NAS a secondary backup and get one with raid 5 or 6. If you are after a cheap solution with remote access and have a spare computer use an old PC with Windows 7 Professional or higher and 3 new hard drives. Small SSD for operating system ( 64GB ) and 2 bigger hard drives. Set the 2 bigger hard drives to software raid 1 in Windows so you have a mirror in case one drive fails. Once done allow remote access and install filezilla ftp server. All that can be done under £200 if you have an old computer ( dual core, 4GB of ram works fine for up to 10 users) Once you grow you can look into buying better hardware. That server/computer won't protect you from fire theft or water damage and I'd install BackBlaze on it to remotely backup data offsite. Backblaze offers private encryption keys and unlimited backups for £4 a month. They do not support Windows Servers OS but have workarounds.

Basic discounted WD NAS drives can be found here: https://www.wdc.com/en-gb/products/wd-recertified.html

 

[avalanche]

I have a micro server for sale, with windows server 2012 and new discs ( about 2 months old) it works better than a nas for a lot of programs