old macbook as backup and media server

[oreez]

Hello everyone,

So I have an early 2008 white pre-unibody macbook which I have upgraded over the years to have 4GBs of ram and an 256 GB ssd. I also have a spare 500gb hhd which i could install in place of the cd drive to give it some extra storage place (approx. 750GB overall). Nevertheless, since I bought a new laptop (Windows based) I don't have much use for it anymore and it just sits with no purpose.

Now, my new laptop is pretty fast and has a super clear screen and everything but only 256 gb ssd storage which is why i'd like to use my old macbook to dump any larger files and just have it running in the background also serving as a backup for some files on my new laptop.

Does anyone have any experience in setting this up? Using a macbook to back up windows pc and also double up as a file server to transfer larger files and free up some space on the main laptop.

Also, I would need it to run with the lid shut, so that I could just put it somewhere in a corner and not have see it everyday. Just wondering if this is feasible at all and how simple or complicated.

Thanks for taking your time to read through!

 

[ryanwarsaw]

Not sure about the windows back up part but I think you can just hook it into a monitor and run it in clam shell mode. I seem to remember doing that ages ago on a macbook that old. I was just using wireless transfers from my main computer. So you should be able to do what you are saying with no problem.

 

[deeddawg]

You'll probably need the OSX Server app from the App Store to enable file shares and such.

Personally, I tried to do the same thing with an old laptop years ago and found it to be far less of a headache to just buy a dedicated NAS device. Something like a Synology DS216j is pretty affordable for what it offers, just add the 500GB drive you already have and/or put in a single larger drive if you prefer. (it'll support two drives, but will work with just one installed)