G4 File Server

Best way to turn on old mac into a file server

[aaronjf]

What is the best and cheapest way to turn an old G4 400 into a file server?

[timster]

What is the best and cheapest way

Those are 2 different things, of course. A "good, cheap" way would be to upgrade it to OS X and turn on Personal File Sharing.

But really the best solution depends on what your needs are. Details?

Don't forget backup, of course.

[aaronjf]

I need it for two things. First, to serve up files to Dreamweaver MX 2004 for a about 4 users. Second to serve up photos to about 5 users doing image editing.

Back up would not be a problem. I have back up software and will be backing up the G4's HD to a NAS drive. The NAS drive was our file server. However, we quickly learned how slow using a NAS drive is when loading sites.

[aaronjf]

The G4 is already on 10.2.8 with file sharing on. I know I could just dump every thing into the "Shared" folder. I am mainly wonder if there is something a little better or more efficient, either form a usability/manageability stand point or network efficiency stand point.

[timster]

I know I could just dump every thing into the "Shared" folder. I am mainly wonder if there is something a little better or more efficient

I'd suggest setting up an account for each of your 9(?) users on the server, so they have private storage. That's easy enough.

If you want to get a little fancier, you could set up user groups. Maybe the Photoshop users don't need acess to the Dreamweaver stuff, etc. It all depends on what you need.

Mac OS X server makes all these sorts of things easy, of course, but OS X client is technically capable for this.

[aaronjf]

Yeah, I took a look at X server and it looked good. I also talked to a friend of mine that just went for training in Austin for the X server. I am just trying to make my budget last till November.