I am in the process of setting up a file server with one of my old machines. My current network of machines looks like this

#1 Athlon 64 bit 3500 with 1.5 gigs ram
#2 Athlon XP 2400 with 512 meg ram
#3 IBM think pad Intel 1.4 with 512 meg ram

This is all running through a Linksys wireless/wired router and all is running fine.

File Server: Athlon 1200 with 512 megs ram and a Ti 4200 video card

The 4th machine (file server) will only serve files to these 3 other machines. It will not have access to the internet and will not be used for anything else.

Here are my questions:

1 - What is the largest Hard Drive that I can run in that Athlon 1200?
2 - Is 512 megs of ram going to be enough?
3 - If I run windows xp pro do I need to bother installing sp2 or any other updates?
4 - Are there any disadvantages to not having antivirus program running on the server?

Does anybody see anything that I could be missing or something I should do?

Thanks,

Glenn,

1. The size of the hard drive will be dependant upon the OS support and the motherboard support. You will need to have SP1 or SP2 in order touse drives larger than 137GB. You wil have to check the specs for your motherboard. A bios update may be required for large hard drives. The CPU has nothing to do with it.

2. Yes. A file server does not need loads of memory. Nut, I would suggest turning off all the animations and display features to make it run as smooth as possible.

3. You should always install the critical patches. BY the way you say that this machine is not going to be connected to the internet. But, aren't you going to need to connect it to the router for access to the network? Even if you block direct access to the internet for the file server, the machines that connect to it will have access. You should take the same precaution on this machine that you would on any other machine.

4. You could get a virus. Because, as I already stated, the other machines will be connecting ot the files on this computer.

Michael J