Cheap 3TB Server What do you think?

[mbucari1]

Foxconn TLM776-CN300C-02 Black Steel MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case 300W Power Supply - Retail

MSI K9NBPM2-FID AM2 NVIDIA Quadro NVS 210S Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

COOLMAX M-500 ATX12V 500W Power Supply - Retail

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ Brisbane 2.1GHz Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Processor Model ADO4000DDBOX - Retail

CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model VS1GBKIT533D2 - Retail

4x Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD7500AAKS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

EDIT** Found different motherboard, CPU and RAM for about the same price, but better (DDR2 cheaper than DDR )

Build Cost: $870 USD

The RAID controller is built into the motherboard, but works on a kernel/driver level. I will Server 03 on a spare 30GB raptor. The motherboard I chose has a Gb LAN port, so data transfer should be pretty good. The only thing I'm concerned about is that the processor will not be powerful enough to control the array and deliver adequate transfer rates. Is this a legitimate concern? How well do you think it will perform?


And please no useless responses such as "Get 4x 1TB drives instead" or "Go with an quad core". The theme for this build is BUDGET.

[clocker]

Even though I place little creedence in the "Customer Reviews" at Newegg,
the ones for your power supply look scary.

[bungeemirth]

Foxconn TLM776-CN300C-02 Black Steel MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case 300W Power Supply - Retail

you could probably a lot of money on case, if you go dumpster dumping, or buy a second hand case from mom&pop computer stores

COOLMAX M-500 ATX12V 500W Power Supply - Retail

i wouldnt recommend 500w as power supply, get a 600 watt so it would protect you from doing a future upgrade in case you decided to add moe hd's in the future, oh yeah loo around at compusa it might cheaper there than newegg, for now

CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model VS1GBKIT533D2 - Retail

i would go w/ these
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145527
it's $15 more, but at least you get much more in return; come on man you're gonna a run a server not a some surf-the net computer

[mbucari1]

Thanks for the input thus far. I appreciate the concern over the PSU, and I'll look into some alternatives.

Also, good idea dumpster diving for the case. If I can save $40 by getting a free case that's be great. The only stipulation I have is that it be a mini, which aren't as popular as Mids. I will look into it though.

As for the memory, why would I need 2GB? I appreciate that it's only $15 more than 1GB, but really the only thing that the OS is going to be doing is facilitating file transfer, which at the most is processor intensive. I'm not going to be using it for DB management in any capacity. Please correct me if my argument is invalid.

Besides what's already been addressed, are there any other concerns I should have?

[bungeemirth]

As for the memory, why would I need 2GB? I appreciate that it's only $15 more than 1GB, but really the only thing that the OS is going to be doing is facilitating file transfer, which at the most is processor intensive. I'm not going to be using it for DB management in any capacity. Please correct me if my argument is invalid.

Besides what's already been addressed, are there any other concerns I should have?

i guess if you're gonna relies on processor for most of the work 2 gb is kinda overkill for maintaining 4 hard drives- i dunno if the hd's that you're gonna use is more than 8 though-

and one more suggestion, might as well set some budget for raid card for future upgrade since i presume eventually you dont want to be stuck w/ only 3tb woth of space right

[lee551]

as an alternative to Server 03 you may want to consider FreeNAS.

FreeNAS is a free NAS (Network-Attached Storage) server, supporting: CIFS (samba), FTP, NFS, AFP, RSYNC, iSCSI protocols, S.M.A.R.T., local user authentication, Software RAID (0,1,5) with a Full WEB configuration interface. FreeNAS takes less than 32MB once installed on Compact Flash, hard drive or USB key.

i use it on my home server (old p4 1.7 with 1gb ram) and its quite efficient. i also use 4 hdds in mine, of varying sizes from 120-500gb. it uses a web gui interface, so you eliminate the monitor and just need power and lan (if you already have a kvm switch then never mind). it runs very stable. i can't remember crashing it ever in the 6 months i've had it, while running 24/7. i watch tv/movies from it all the time, and it uses very little processor power or lan traffic for that matter.

check it out, just another option.

also, know that the GB lan won't give any performance increase if everything else on the network is using 10/100.

NAS ftw!

[nsap]

also, know that the GB lan won't give any performance increase if everything else on the network is using 10/100.

And that includes your router/switch.

[mbucari1]

also, know that the GB lan won't give any performance increase if everything else on the network is using 10/100.

And that includes your router/switch.

Didn't see that post, but I know that. I already Have my network mapped out with cat6 cables, Gbit hub and another Gbit card on all my PCs.

[mbucari1]

Look what I found

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817332010

New Total is $720

[clocker]

That hotswap rack won't fit into the Foxconn case you show in the first post....