Desktop - AMD XP3200+, 3x512MD pc3200DDR, 2x160GB HDD internal, 1x250GB HDD external USB, 1x160GB HDD external USB - daily usage
Dell Inspiron 1705 laptop - daily usage
VPR Matrix 1805B laptop - frequent but not daily usage
HP Pavilion ZE4500 laptop - frequent but not daily usage
emachines - an old machine my daughter uses when she is here, which is not too often but she will not let me get rid of it. total usage, approx 10 hours per year ;)
printer = canon Pixma i6600D USB connected to desktop
Ok, right now, I have all the systems running WINXP and they were all networked, using the networking wizard. I have a motorola SBG900 modem/gateway and everything is wireless.
If I want to access pics/music/data files, I need to ensure that the desktop is on. Same if I want to print. The desktop must be on. And if I need to get something off the Dell laptop, I need to make sure that is on. I have so many duplicate files spread across all of these hard drives, it is not even funny.
What I want to do is have a drive that has all the pics/music/documents on it that can be accessed by any of the machines. I don't want it that that the desktop or laptop is on to access these files. I need it to be wireless, as the machines are all wireless and I dont want to have to resort to a wired network. I want to be able to print from any machine, whether the desktop is on or not. I would kinda like to have all the emails in one place, as there are times that I start one on the laptop and cannot finish it on the desktop... but I supposed just using the comcast website would deal with that.
I do not know much about this stuff and when I went to the store, the kid working their was telling me about email clients and print servers and yada yada yada and the total came to over $2,800. Much more than I was considering. Then someone told me to build a spare barebones system and use that. I would not know how to set that up and their mention of RAID made my eyes glaze over. I was looking at stuff like the Western Digital NetCenter, the Buffalo Drive Station or the Maxtor Shared Station. But will that do what I need it to do?
Suggestions, ideas and opinions appreciated. If I left out any info, I would be glad to post it. If this gets difficult, let me know what the points increase should be. I am not working on any deadlines and timeframes include, whenever I get around to it.
Thanks in advance!
:) KarenMarie
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