I'm looking for some advice on the kind of specs I need in a home server. I'm new to the whole building a computer thing so any and advice would be appreciated.

What I'm going to use it for: to back up my other computers (with some kind of network attached storage? My wife does photography so she fills up her computers hard drive frequently), to stream movies from something like Netflix to my tv, and possible a tv tuner.

I have a couple of old laptops that I think I can scavenge most of the parts off of besides the hard drives so I'm not really thinking about budget right now and from what I've researched it shouldn't be too expensive besides the hard drives anyway.

 

So, i have Just one Word for you, since im not an expert, but use Linux man, Linux. The best OS for a server

 

holy shit, I had a reply all typed up because linux is my jam, then I looked at the post date. This isn't the worst necro I've seen, but it's impressive nonetheless.

 

Welp. Dat necro.

Edit: ninja’d

 

Omg, i cant believe this is happening. I'm laughing so hard right now

 

Meh, while we're here, I'd might as well chip in for anyone else looking to get a server.

Before you buy anything, if you intend on accessing your server remotely outside of your home you have to ensure that your upload speed is actually decent. If you're only accessing it inside your own network then using Cat6 cables and a gigabit switch is enough.

Most people these days want to go for a server for Media purposes. They might use the built in Windows Media Centre that comes with Windows but, as other commenters have said, I'd recommend Linux but only if you're willing to learn how to use the Command Line. It's nothing too complex but you'll find that there are many forums on the internet that can offer Linux support.

Hardware wise, just think of a server as a Gaming Computer without the Graphics card. Even then, there's no fundamental difference between a server and a normal computer. I could start calling my Alienware laptop a server and I wouldn't actually be incorrect.

Not sure where OP's hearing that Hard Drives are expensive though? They're pretty dirt cheap. I would recommend going for at least a 250GB SSD so that you can store the Operating System on there for faster boot and handling of data. DON'T go for NVME. It's not worth it, even in most enterprise scenarios.

You can grab a couple 2TB or 8TB Hard Drives as your primary storage options. You can also look at using rclone to mount an unlimited Google Drive (Enterprise edition £6.60 a month).

CPU wise, it really depends on what you want to do. If it's just simple file sharing then you can cheap out on an £50 Intel Celeron. If you're hosting a Plex Media Server and with all the conversions that entails then I'd recommend going for a something like an Intel Xeon E3 (E5 if you're budget allows it). Alternatively, you can go for an AMD chip (I'd recommend the 2600) and a cheapo Graphics card.

If you don't want to build your own, then I'd recommend a Dell Server. Their consumer products may be dead and gone but their servers are pretty decent and service is great.