Help! I need to figure out a server

TechnTeach

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Alright, I'm finally caving. For years I have ran 5-7 media desktops, all running my files locally. This was the only plausible way, and I've been considering building a server of some sort for a few years now to do-away with this idea.

My issue is that these desktops are in three different buildings. They are connected to the same network wirelessly, but it is not a reliable connection. What are my options? I'm getting sick and tired of updating 7 music libraries weekly (especially when I download on 3 different systems simultaneously) and would just like to have one server drive (or array) set up with my collection, and then one or two backups I will make once every two weeks. It's just becoming far too tedious to keep each of these systems updated and I feel this would be so much easier....is there a way to run a more "reliable" wireless connection (the buildings are a couple hundred feet apart) or would there be any way of trenching in Cat5/Cat6 cabling between the buildings. I do have an older (2008ish) Dell PowerEdge Server/Quad-Core Xeon/4G DDR2, as well as a 48-Port Alcatel Powered Switch that I could set up just not sure where to go from there....networking is new to me, I'm a Support Analyst at a School Division and I am just getting trained in networking as we speaker (Hardware is my specialty)....

Any help would be appreciated! Need to make my life easier, while still having everything at my fingertips!
 
I highly recommend merging everything onto one centralized server.

Do all buildings share a single modem for internet or does each building have a separate modem?
 
You could get a couple point to point WDS wireless units and mount them outside the buildings to get a better connection. I've used both ubiquiti and engenious atennas for this, they work okay.
 
First thing you need to do is establish a reliable connection between all the machines and the Hub then connect the NAS to the hub router or whatever you have and then set up 7 accounts on the nas so that each one can access the public files and then start transferring all your files into the Nas public folder.
I went with a WD 4 slot pr4100 32tb Nas and a Tripp Lite UPS with a USB between them for the smart auto shutdown of the server if power is lost.
I'd keep it in raid 5 for striping and distributed parity and keep a spare new drive in a box nearby.
 
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