My question: I would like to buy or build a small, portable server to serve a web application to a very small number of users (as in a dozen or less), as well as some file server functions. Cloud based solutions are out because I won't have internet access at my location, so I need to carry this box with me to the location. What kind of specs do I need for this?
The background. Every year, I help out with a convention for a youth group. There are competitions of various kinds: the kids take tests, they compete in athletic competitions, they make art and submit it for judging, the list goes on. My part in this is I compile the scores in a database and process them to determine the winners. This takes place at a youth camp, and I set up in one of the buildings at the edges of the facility, and other convention helpers bring me the results to process.
Right now, I'm doing this in an Access database running on a decently powered Lenovo laptop. This is fine as far as it goes, but it limits the score entry and processing to only those who have Access on their machines. That means we end up having one, maybe two extra machines if we're lucky, for people to enter contest results. I have been thinking recently that it would be nice move away from that to something that would run in a browser. People submitting scores could use any laptop that was handy or we could potentially just hand them a tablet to use. It could greatly streamline our process.