I've been considering setting up a file server myself... I don't exactly have a dedicated file server at home, but I do have a few SAMBA shares on both my Linux and Windows boxen. I have thought of going the dedicated file server route, and keeping most of my media files on said file server, but I'm a little concerned about performance. Obviously, having to go get files off the network (be it via 802.11g, 10Base100 or 10Base1000) is not nearly as fast as getting them via the local IDE/SATA controller. But I was wondering if, in practice, how bad this is.

I guess the only way to figure it out is to try it, but what kind of penalty can I expect? The biggest problems I've noticed on my SAMBA shares is not in the ability to get file data fast enough, but in the ability to get directory listings fast enough, especially when the number of files in a directory is large.

So, for best performance, would switching to ReiserFS help? How about using NFS instead of SAMBA? Of course a RAID array will help the cause, but I'm not sure I want to take that kind of plunge yet. In general, what are the prevailing theories on how to best set up a file server on Linux for the best performance?