Last Updated on Monday, 28 December 2009 11:46 Thursday, 25 June 2009 17:00

Q: What's wrong with using an old Windows PC as a company file server?

A: There's nothing wrong with using an old Windows PC for company file "sharing", but like any business IT application you have to consider a few things:

1. How many users will this application serve?
2. How critical to your business is the function of this application?
3. How critical to your business is the data contained in this application?
4. How long will this application serve your business in its current state and can it grow with your business for the next year or two?

First, if your business has fewer than five or ten employees, then technically an old Windows PC will work fine for file sharing. I say technically, because a Windows PC will not share files with more than five to ten users due to license restrictions. Depending on how demanding those users are, however, you will reach the file sharing limits of a Windows PC before you reach that technical limit.

Second, we all know how often Windows has problems like freezes, blue-screen's, and general slowness. Can the users depending on that old Windows PC live with it being down as often as the average Windows PC? Even if nobody uses the PC, it will slow down over time and require reboots with patches like any other PC. There are also frequent failures in modern PC's that are built with cheap components.

Third, if the hard disk, one component that is often cheaply made, suddenly fails, does it matter if you lose the files being shared by this old Windows PC? Or is the data size small enough and are you disciplined enough that you can make a DVD-R solution with regular manual backups work?

Fourth, will that old Windows PC work for your intended application as long as you expect? How much will your shared data or number of users grow in the next year or two? Failing to plan for double the growth you are expecting is often the cause of "growing pains". Growing pains are nice to have as long as they don't choke your business or allow your competitors to pass you by.

One alternative many small businesses fail to consider is a good Network Attached Storage device that supports many more than ten users, has a high reliability since it doesn't depend on Windows, has hard disk redundancy most PC's don't have, and has room to grow with your business. Today many NAS solutions actually cost as much as the cheapest PC while bringing far more value to your small business now and in the future.

If you haven't considered everything in your company's data storage plans, the mistake will cost you. Contact us for help with a solution that fits your company's budget and needs.