Server for a small office network

[Ben Q]

I have a small office with 2 desk top PCs, and a lap top. currently all of our data is stored on my desk top and shared through a LAN. I am planning on getting a server and was wondering if a home media server such as the HP - 1TB MediaSmart Server would suffice. I have looked at the Dell servers but they seem to be for much larger networks. Also the server operating systems on them are quite expensive.
The server would be used to store data for our accounting, drafting, estimating, contact management etc...
Is there anything in the more expensive servers that we would need that would not be available on the Home server? Also, what are your thoughts on Ubuntu server OS?

 

[S0ULphIRE]

For such a small network, it's not worth buying anything so expensive. As I understand it all you need is a storage server.
I'd recommend buying an external 1Tb drive and just connect that to your PC. Then share it out over the network as usual.

 

[Hefemeister]

^^agreed. For up to 5 computers a simple peer to peer network works just fine. If you wanted you could buy a nas hard drive as well so the host computer would not have to be on to access files. Any old computer could be used, as well as hooking a external up to a existing computer as SOUL recommended.

Basically for your needs you should not have to spend much over $300.

 

[kmote]

If it's just file storage then yeah, just make sure your backup routine is solid.
If you think you might want to serve applications, maybe you want to convert some spreadsheets into a proper database, maybe a few intranet pages? Again keep it simple: a pentium 3 with two HDDs and a DVD writer combined with linux should be very cheap and reliable.