Set up a Windows device as a NAS for file storage and sharing.
Set up a Windows device as a NAS for file storage and sharing.
This addresses the issue directly. Using SMB or SAMBA isn't practical due to performance problems across platforms. The most viable path might be building a custom OwnCloud solution if the user prefers avoiding UnRAID or a tailored Debian server. At least such an approach would offer a user-friendly interface for easier management.
You're asking how the data will be delivered to clients—specifically mentioning SMB and owncloud. It sounds like these methods are inefficient and could strain local storage resources, making them unsuitable for practical use.
I'm working with a limited budget, so I might look for an affordable 80GB SSD for the boot drive.
That should be fine. A 64GB drive would be sufficient after removing the extra files and enabling hibernate. My current Windows version uses around 30GB even with all installed programs.
I wasn't sure about the comment, but I ran WinDirStat on my laptop and saw that hiberfile.sys occupies a significant amount of space.