File server for a small network?

Question

I have 4 or so computers connected to a router sharing the same internet connection. What would be the best way to create a file server so that the computers can store documents and share them with each other over the network. I have a spare PC that I could use as a storage device. Would it be a good idea to use this as the file server? Is this safe to do?

Answer 1

Someone wrote exactly what you want.  http://www.freenas.org/

It's as safe as any of the other computers on the network.  Safer in case of a drive failure if you throw another drive in the box and use RAID, which is part of it.