Laptop Server? 1

[macten88]

A friend of mine is kicking around the idea of using a new laptop as a server and as a backup to his other pc's/laptops. We found a really nice laptop on sale for $450. His network is wireless. Although we could cable it to the router.

The screen doesn't have to be on. The battery can be discharged to 40% and removed to extend it's life. So, as opposed to a dedicated stand alone hardrive, what are the pro's and cons of such an idea?

In other words, he wants to backup his laptops and pc and save files on this new laptop. And be able to retrieve them. I have a feeling that a stand alone hardrive would be the way to go. But I've never used one and need to explain it all to him. Your thoughts.....

(the new laptop has windows 7 on it)

 

[DrB0b]

Two thoughts:
1) If all he is doing is storing data whether its raw data or an image, a solid 1TB drive from Newegg/TigerDirect is only about $90 and if he is worried about redundancy, he could make a duplicate backup purchasing a second USB drive for 1/3 the cost of buying a new laptop
2) Is there any reason it has to be a laptop? Odds are the hardware specs on the laptop would fall short of a manufacturer or custom build desktop, meaning more firepower usually in the desktop when $500 is spent vs a laptop

Pros to USB Hard drive:
480mbps data rate
more easily portable
greater size capacity,(if u get the 1TB or bigger)

Pros to new laptop:
You have a new laptop

"Silence is golden, duct tape is silver...

 

[macten88]

thinking about it all...my friend isn't all that technical. I'm thinking of telling him to just use an external usb hardrive.

 

[DrB0b]

If he is technically challenged, I would definitely recommend the USB drive because of its simplicity. Just show him how to drag and drop files and he will be fine.
P.S If the size of his data is 5GB or less, i would even recommend a USB thumb drive. An 8 or 16Gb i believe now is only around $25-$40.

"Silence is golden, duct tape is silver...

 

[kjv1611]

Another thought:

Is your friend ABSOLUTELY only interested in his data files, or do you think he might also really be wanting to back-up the entire systems?

If he wants true system backup, then you may want to help him pick out the right software to use with the hard drive or get a system/drive that already has the software/configuration for backing up system images rather than just files.

Just something to think about, b/c if that person isn't very technical, they may very well be meaning a system backup rather than just a files backup.

 

[BadBigBen]

as a simple backup solution, a USB drive would do fine...

for something more serious, e.g. small business, a NAS system should be considered, with either a RAID 1 or better a RAID 5...

also consider this, though, theoretical, a USB2.0 drive's transfer-speed is 480Mbit/s (bits) translates to roughly 60MB/s (Bytes), I've yet to see one go over 30MB/s... ;-)

and I've seen small NAS solutions hit 60MB/s+, over 1Gbit/s ethernet (RJ45)...

in the $450 range, you should be able to find something that would suit the needs, take a look at Buffalo Linkstations or Synology NAS solutions...


Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[macten88]

thanks for the replies. And yeah, image backup is the way to go. I sent him a link to a wireless hardrive. Anyone have any experience with them?

 

[hairlessupportmonkey]

for $450 you could get a nice NAS like this:

http://www.qnap.com/pro_detail_feature.asp?p_id=192

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