I have a very basic computer with a 1.5TB hardrive that works perfectly. I got it on eBay several years ago for less than £100.
The more RAM you can get the better, but i’ve found the processor doesn’t really matter. We have a 2nd Gen i3 and Server 2016 r2. All of that happily manages 30 devices.
That is interesting.
I was thinking about FreeNAS/TrueNAS for repurposing an otherwise redundant PC, but then the issue of the Microsoft updates came up.
Charity Digital has the 2016 edition of Server for £8+ vat. Client licences are a couple of quid each.
If you just want the server to connect to standard PCs there is no need for the client licences! 
What do you need client licenses for?
I thought you needed the CALs for each device, unless using the Essentials server.
I have never thought they were needed, and my server has worked fine without any warnings. I’ll take a look. If you do need them, it’s probably better to go down the ‘per-device’ route, than ‘per-user’.
Needless to say, they’re pretty cheap from Charity Digital so it wouldn’t be a big deal if they were required.
It would depend on the set up at the unit.
PCs in the Sqn office, used by CIs & Cadets - device CAL
OC, trg off, adj using both desktop PC or laptop might need the user CAL
If you want to have a user-specific directory on the S: Drive that comes up when the user logs in to a device then they need the user CAL I think.
You should be using CALs if you are accessing the server but the server wont stop you but flag an error in the event viewer under licensing.
There are a default amount built in I think that you are allowed. Always remember to have a backup solution included in whatever you spec.
I genuinely started to do this about 8 yrs ago on a Sqn. I also thought it’d be fun(!!) to add a bit more complication by trying to do everything via virtualised servers using VirtualBox (so separate virtualised servers for filestore, firewall, account management, etc)… But, I was the only person who knew anything about IT, so decided it wasn’t worth it
I did a slightly easier version of this using Microsoft Family. Set up an OC account, staff account and a cadet account, all linked as a family, with the OC account as parent. Then I used the OneDrive, set up OC Folder, Staff Folder, Cadet Folder. Shared Staff and Cadets Folder with the emails. You can then set up each device with the the logins for the three users, but wherever you save any documents, you have access to them on all devices.
That’s often the thing. As we are part timers we sometimes do things the “long way” as the time effort skill or cost of setting it up properly isn’t worthwhile. Whereas it would be for a regular who uses the resource every day.
VDI is interesting though as done right the user won’t notice and it cuts out a lot of admin.
Microsoft offer a completely cloud based VDI but from memory it’s £50-70 a month which to my first point isn’t worth it for us.
Does that still work with Pers accs though? It would be an ideal set up for Wg roles with deputies if it did
You can share folders in your personal OneDrive with others - so if for example you were wing DofE Officer, you can share a DofE folder with your deputy (using personal account). Just has to be managed so when the DofE officer changes they share with the new DofE officer, transfer ownership of the folder, then the new owner removes the previous owner.
That’s the problem we’re trying to work round, that the OneDrives are pers accs, that and the fact that Cadets can’t view them at all, so we can’t use them to distribute training materials etc. to our instructor cadets.
We set up a squadron OneDrive - wasn’t for storing sensitive data, just for sharing training aids etc
I think they have gone, as part of the move to Pers accs, or is there a work round?
Could always petition for “anyone with the link can view” to be allowed in Onedrive/sharepoint
That would solve some of the problems certainly.
We use One Drive for storage, the organisation backs it up for us without the costs. An NCO is allocated with a staff member to update PCs etc which gives them a responsibility.
Although running a server is tempting I would think it will be a drain on resources (money and time) and I’m sure there are some regs about only using Bader applications for storage of data.
There’s a lot of stuff that isn’t sensitive data (blank forms, training materials etc). It’s the training materials that are causing the issue for so many units, as there is no way to share from SharePoint to all who have a legitimate need to access them.
I have gone to the lengths of printing off some of the instructor guides!