Why would you want to Build A Server are you a Nerd or a Geek?

I needed to progress up the food chain in order to make more money, funny how having children will entice you to do things you would have avoided if possible.

One way to make more money was with a second job or start a business of my own. Well the second job was the business. It didn't work out very well.

So I decided to "step up" and see what was behind those doors where racks of computers were running 24/7.

A long time ago I was under the impression that anyone that knew how to work on/with a them and networking were Geeks! (note the capital G).

So to move up the food chain I started studying for Server Administration and Networking.

After about three months of study I came to the conclusion that to proceed any further on my new adventure I would need to build a server to practice my newly discovered knowledge. Doing so at work was not an option, well I could have then I would have to find another job. Kinda self defeating if you know what I mean.

So I scrounged up the hardware I needed to build a server computer. That hardware was my test bed for my Novell certification and my experience with Linux. However the hardware would not support any Apple Operating Systems. :)

Once I had the hardware set up (an old 486 with 128 meg of ram and a 160 Meg hard drive) I loaded up the server Operating System and began to trash it with my testing.

Then I found a coupon for an upgrade to NT 3.5 for a price I could afford. ( I was also buying expensive MCSE books at this time so money for hardware was not readily available).

Over the next six months I would go through the Novell/MCSE text books, run the exercises, reload Novell or NT 3.5 and start all over again. (That computer was in the closet until last week, I finally decided we needed the space for other things we want to keep).

Now I have two servers running, one is a true server (server hardware) and one is an old laptop that is the firewall/proxy server.

The reason for this post is I setup Word Press and MySql on my IIS server to test new themes for the old www.fix-it-blog.com blog. The experience was enlightening that with very little software programming experience I could actually take some Linux based programs and make them work on a Windows Server.

Now I know what you are saying but you don't have to be studying for a degree or certifications to have a server.

You could use a server to store your files, increase the security of your network, share printers, have a web site. A server opens up a whole new world for those that want to take the next step.

You can do all this with out a MCSE or an BS in Computer Science. I am not saying it is easy but if you want to have a server it will not cost you three years and $10,000 or more to gain the knowledge. All it takes is some time, a build a server book or two, and some research.

Be careful you may turn in to a nerd!

:)

P.S.

Note: You can use an old Windows NT 4/2000/XP workstation Operating System as a server by changing a couple of parameters (in another article) and use that as a server, the draw back is you can only have 10 consecutive connections at one time.