The following is probably only of interest to technically inclined readers:
I am considering establishing my own terminal server, with a few eventual uses in mind. First and foremost, it should be accessible as a virtual desktop using the Remote Desktop Connection tool on Windows machines and comparable third party software on a Mac. I want to be able to use it as an internet proxy server (i.e. running a browser within the remote desktop environment) as well as an internet-enabled device connected to my external media drives. Connecting it to my backup drive is also a possibility, though probably less prudent for obvious reasons. It may eventually be connected to a stereo as an audio source. Once set up, it probably won’t have a monitor. It would be nice if it could be tucked away unobtrusively somewhere.
The question is what would be required to do this. Would it be easiest to implement using Mac OS, a version of Linux, or a version of Windows? Buying Windows server is probably out of the question. Also, what kind of hardware is required to do this decently? Mostly, the machine would just be acting as an always-on conduit to the internet and certain filesystems (FAT32 formatted). It should be good enough to provide a video file to another machine on the local network without lag. I am pretty confident that finding a machine at this level of capability would not be overly expensive.
Has anyone done this? Can anyone recommend some reading material on the problem?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I know my father would know how to do this. I believe you can buy servers quite cheaply with linux server software preloaded.
I really don’t know anything about servers.
I don’t know if there is any cheap and easy way in which to do this. Linux will probably be hard to use with the default Windows client.
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