What would you all suggest for a decent home network?

[bryce]

Hello,

My name is Bryce and I'm currently re-working my home network. I setup it a few years ago just to get all the computers online and all and back then I didn't know to much about it. Now I do. Even though I know what to do with it and all, I can't figure out what a good network and server setup should be. I don't have many funds for this, but I do have a couple older computers that could do the job ok. So, if you have any suggestions with how I could get a decent network going for my house I'd be thankful.

First of all, I'm the only computer geek in the house. My mom and brothers are 110% computer illerate, and just know the basics like surfing, checking email, online banking, that sort of stuff. Anyways, I've got two older machines currently collecting dust and one in build progress to replace my family's POS pre-built computer. Here are the specifications of those.

Machine #1

AMD Sempron 2.2ghz
SOYO Dragon KT880v2 Motherboard
nVidia GeForce 6200GT
1gb DDR2 800 RAM - if I recall correctly
CD Drive
250gb IDE Hard Drive

Machine #2

AMD Duron 1.8ghz
I think it's an onboard graphics card - can't remember
512mb of DDR RAM
20gb IDE Hard Drive
40gb IDE Hard Drive

Machine #3 - in progress build for family

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+
ASUS M3A78 Motherboard
4gb DDR2 800 RAM
nVidia GeForce 8600GT
DVD Burner
Multi-Card Reader

Machine #4 - my main rig

Intel C2D E8400 @ 3.8ghz - stock @ 3ghz
G.SKILL DDR2 1066 RAM 4x 2gb - 8gb total
nVidia GeForce GTX260 Core 216 896mb
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy Sound Card
CD/DVD Burner
Corsair 520W Power Supply
Seagate SATA 750gb Hard Drive
Western Digital Green SATA 500gb Hard Drive - used to be an external drive I bought
Logitech X-530 5.1 Speakers

I've also go an iMac, eMac and some audio/video equipment for my work that I do. About 10 or more external hard drives that are only connected to the Macs for work. These aren't mind, they were given to me for work by my boss. So, I'm not really sure if I should use them as a whole network storage system.

So, after seeing my systems, what would you suggest I get going on my network? I want to try and get my family to switch over to using technology more than they are now and I want to have a central place to store applications, data, music, etc. I reformat often as well, so having a central place to install applications is very useful.

My family also seem to pickup every virus known to man and some not known some how, so I also need a decent way to protect anything they may save to the network storage and all. I also need an suggestion on a regular backup scheme.

If you could please give me some advice on what you would do or what I should do it'd be appreciated. And again, my funds are very limited right now.

[rallystile]

Wow, you've got quite a nice hardware collection bryce.

I've never set up a network with FreeNAS, but I know that Patrick and Roger did a good walk-through on Systm (http://www.revision3.com/systm/freenas) a while back. If I had as many computers as you and was looking for an open-source solution, I'd give FreeNAS a shot.

You would also be able to give you family members access to their folders even when they're away from home. They might like that option...if you can teach them how to use it. :)

[computoman]

Unless you are doing high scale video, most projects do not requite honking machines.

frewall/router and regular routers depending on size.
Server or servers to do nas, web apps, media streaming, or etc.
client machines.

[tokenuser]

Unless you are doing high scale video ... or playing the latest PC games.

It is gaming that is driving the hardware market these days.

[computoman]

Obviously.
As for freenas youtube has quite few videos on setting up freenas.

Our network:

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/4944/networkl.png