One of the best ways to use an old computer is to turn it into a server for storing files . In practice, you leave your PC on and without a monitor, attached to your home network (not necessarily the internet), so that it acts as a backup and storage unit for files and photos .
For this operation you do not have to spend a penny and you only need a short and fast software configuration, at least 2 GB of RAM and the availability of one or two hard disks, even old ones (but with at least 100 GB of space) mounted inside it.
READ ALSO: Buying a Network NAS Storage: what is it for and how much does it cost
The program to use to create a file server such as a NAS (Network Attached Storage) is FreeNas, a free and open-source operating system that allows you to convert old PCs into networked storage devices. FreeNAS also supports plug-ins, so you could also run a BitTorrent client or media server on it. FreeNas works on older computers (but not too much) because it works at low performance.
FreeNAS is based on FreeBSD, so for minimum requirements and supported computers you can refer to this list.
The only contraindication that must be noted with this solution is the rather high energy consumption which is that of a computer that is always on.
For energy savings it would be better to use a light NAS unit or a Raspberry mini computer with the appropriate configurations.
FreeNAS works on computers with 32-bit and 64-bit Intel or AMD CPUs although 64-bit CPUs are ideal. Theoretically FreeNAS would prefer at least 8 GB of RAM to ensure good stability of the ZFS file system, otherwise, with less RAM (at least 2 GB, better 4), it is necessary to use a UFS file system. If you dedicate a computer to this file server solution, spending a few Euros to increase the RAM would be appropriate. FreeNAS works best when it is installed on a USB drive or on a flash memory card that remains inserted in the computer. The internal disks of the computer can therefore be dedicated entirely to archiving and storing data.
So to make things easy, download the FreeNas operating system from the official website, burn the ISO file to a disc and boot the disc to your computer. If there is no CD player on your computer, you can download the IMG image for USB drive to be installed on a USB stick. To copy the FreeNas system to a USB stick, you can use the Rufus program, very easy and flawless. The old computer, the one to be used as a file server, must already be connected to the home LAN with an Ethernet cable.
Then start the computer to be used as a file server from the USB stick or from the CD to start the FreeNAS installation program through the wizard. To install FreeNas on a USB flash drive or flash card, insert the removable device to the computer. Then select Install / Update and select the drive. The installer will write the FreeNAS operating system files to the chosen disk. After the installation process is complete, remove the installation CD (or USB stick) and restart your computer. You will now see the configuration screen after starting your computer from where you can change some settings.
We are concerned with finding the URL at the bottom of the screen and writing it in a web browser on another computer connected to the same network to access the FreeNAS graphic web interface . From now on, you can detach the monitor from the old computer with FreeNas which will be configured from another PC. FreeNAS will immediately ask you to immediately set a root (administrator) password to access the web interface. The configuration interface of Free-Nas is the same found when buying a dedicated NAS. For basic settings, click on the storage icon on the toolbar to use the ZFS Volume Manager to create a ZFS partition or the UFS Volume Manager to create a UFS partition . (Remember, that ZFS prefers 8 GB of RAM while 2 are also enough for UFS). On the Sharing panel, you can make the new storage volume accessible on the network from a Windows, Linux / Unix or Apple PC. The shared folder will be accessible like any other shared folder on the network so, on Windows, it will be found in Windows Explorer as a network folder.
FreeNAS has many configuration options for which reference is made to specific guides. You will also notice a section related to Plugins, to install software on FreeNas such as BitTorrent Transmission to download torrent files or Plex Media Server to use the FreeNas computer as a media server to watch streaming movies. For example, you can use the Bittorrent client to download and Plex to watch movies, managing everything from another computer.
For any questions about installing FreeNas, I refer to the official website and help forum. The NAS created will be usable in the network from home, but not from the internet unless you configure the network and the router, but this is another chapter.
If the old PC cannot even function well as a NAS because it is too old or because it lacks requirements, we recommend trying to revive the old computer as a normal PC with a light Linux distribution.
READ ALSO: Turn your computer into a "cloud" file server reachable via internet without limits
