Cheap 3TB Server What do you think?

[mbucari1]

Foxconn TLM776-CN300C-02 Black Steel MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case 300W Power Supply - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811153078)

MSI K9NBPM2-FID AM2 NVIDIA Quadro NVS 210S Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813130065)

COOLMAX M-500 ATX12V 500W Power Supply - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817159066)

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ Brisbane 2.1GHz Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Processor Model ADO4000DDBOX - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819103774)

CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model VS1GBKIT533D2 - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820145526)

4x Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD7500AAKS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822136131)

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

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 (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811153078)



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 (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817159066)



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 (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820145526)

i would go w/ these
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145527
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:01:

[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:yup:

[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! :01:

[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/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817332010

New Total is $720 :)

[clocker]

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

[mbucari1]

yeah, nevermind. Thought it was a standalone controller but I was wrong.

THought it was something like this (http://www.buffalotech.com/products/network-storage/terastation/terastation-live/)without the HDDs.

I'd like to build something like the terastation instead of a regular PC with excess storage. Could it be done for less than the retail price of the 3TB terastation ($1400)?

[GrimRe]

Have you thought about going with an intel solution?

Something like this:

GA-G33-DS3R
Celeron Processor
6x 500GB (RAID5)
Lian Li PC-K7B (450W)
2x512 Generic DDR2

This should be around the same price but much nicer case, and faster array.

[mbucari1]

Have you thought about going with an intel solution?

Something like this:

GA-G33-DS3R
Celeron Processor
6x 500GB (RAID5)
Lian Li PC-K7B (450W)
2x512 Generic DDR2

This should be around the same price but much nicer case, and faster array.
No, I haven't for good reason. Celeron?? Intel is NOT the route to travel for low budget builds. Also, why get 6x 500GB when the price/GB for 500GB disks is the same as 750GB disks?

[yozshura]

yeah, nevermind. Thought it was a standalone controller but I was wrong.

THought it was something like this (http://www.buffalotech.com/products/network-storage/terastation/terastation-live/)without the HDDs.

I'd like to build something like the terastation instead of a regular PC with excess storage. Could it be done for less than the retail price of the 3TB terastation ($1400)?
Hardware only is possible. But you should consider the time it would take to build/setup/secure the server.

If you definitely want to setup your own server, i would recommend to have a good PSU and a proper cooling system. 6 HDDs will generate a lot of heat, you probably don't want to cook your hardware up, no ?

[mbucari1]

yeah, nevermind. Thought it was a standalone controller but I was wrong.

THought it was something like this (http://www.buffalotech.com/products/network-storage/terastation/terastation-live/)without the HDDs.

I'd like to build something like the terastation instead of a regular PC with excess storage. Could it be done for less than the retail price of the 3TB terastation ($1400)?
Hardware only is possible. But you should consider the time it would take to build/setup/secure the server.

If you definitely want to setup your own server, i would recommend to have a good PSU and a proper cooling system. 6 HDDs will generate a lot of heat, you probably don't want to cook your hardware up, no ?like I said before, I only want a portable file server. It's not going to do anything process intensive.

Back to hardware only, do you know of any guides to accomplish this? I'd imaging it's be quite difficult with no software interface to configure the server.

[mbucari1]

I just had a thought. What about instead of buying a microatx board with 4 raid -enabled sata ports (which are not common) I just use linux's software raid? Anyone had any experience with this?