Want to setup what I think is a NAS*HELP*

In short I want to keep one computer to have all the movies on so that the relatives on 2 other floors can watch them as well using the WDTV live and I don't have to worry about shutting my computer off. I want it to be like what I believe a NAS to be but I don't want to spend a couple hundred when I have enough parts to build 2 computers just sitting there.

I will probably use these parts.

TJ07 case (big enough to hold tons of HDDS)

Gigabyet GA-EP45-UD3R

Either a q6600 or a E8400 prob the 6600 though

4 gigs of Gskill ram

A bunch of different HDDS

So will this work the way i want it to? I plan on installing Windows server 2008 will this be what I need to do?

That is a terminal case of overkill bud. I'm going to say a swear word now, but it is one that is a gigantic hardware saving. The swear word is Linux, or more specifically a Linux distro called FreeNAS. The beauty of this distro is it does exactly what a Linux based NAS box does ,it sets up a NAS on the network, all you need to run it is a single core processor of 800Mhz or better and 128MB RAM. The beauty of this config is you simply install PCI SATA controllers to your hearts content to add drives in a JBOD configuration. This way any old drive will do.
Windows Server 2008 as a media server is not my first choice, seriously. If you want to experiment with a server I understand, but you have a learning curve and for all resources to be available to clients they will have to join the Domain of the Server, which requires client logon and authentication, which just to serve media is as I said overkill.
There are many ways to relieve a feline of it's fur, but this way is a long winded one at best.
Here is an article on tomshardware answering a question identical to yours, it's worth a read :
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/25...-ubuntu-server

Heres a linky to the system specs needed:
http://dailycupoftech.com/freenas-sy...-requirements/

Thanks for the reply bud. I'll try linux if it works better sure. As far as the hardware goes. I don't own any single core CPU's ATM. I don't want to buy anything unless I need to so I'll throw in what I have laying around here. These parts just happen to be part of my tech mania and so they are all decent.
The thing I do not have is a STAT controller do I need one or can I use the MoBo's on board one? I'm pretty sure it can do JBOD. Also do I have to do that as well? What I wanted initially is to have different disks for different things like Movies>Music>Pics etc. so they would stay separate.

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you will need to run a CIF/Samba client to allow Windows to read the disks

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WTF is CIF/Samba client??

Your questions in order. You don't have to run a single core processor or anything, it is just a waste of the gear you have (Quad core CPU's & 4GB of RAM etc) they could be far better used elsewhere.Since this machine is going to be running 24/7 the best thing to do is buy a 2nd hand server. A small workgroup server i.e a standard tower case design not a large rack server is great for this task since they are built to run 24/7 with stronger PSU's etc, and the bonus is they are cheap as chips.

This is why I was suggesting PCI SATA controllers they could be added to a machine like this very easily. This was also my reasoning behind JBOD you could configure multiple disks into a JBOD array and use anything lying around. If you have alot of 1TB disks lying around from your tech mania too then this is redundant.
You can still by all means build a quad core 4GB server running FreeNAS if you wish, it's just that the FreeNAS appliance O/S does not support SMP or address more than 256MB of RAM so 3 cores and 3.75GB of RAM are going to be doing fuck all!

(Actually while I am saying all this it is dawning on me that this is a nice cheap way for me to solve my own NAS woes, I've run a FreeNAS server before I just thought I was clever with a NAS box, now I'm not so sure.)
You can definitely dedicate different disks or disk arrays to different tasks on FreeNAS, in fact you have far more client control with FreeNAS than you would simply purchasing a NAS box, the firmware on a NAS unless it is a more expensive one is very limited.
Your leftovers would be far better used in a dedicated media center than in a FreeNAS appliance.

Samba is a slow rhythmic latin dance.....:naughty:
You asked, I couldn't resist. SaMBa is parlance for SMB or Server Block Messaging. It is a network protocol, you do not have to worry about whether your PC is configured or needs to be configured for SaMBa, it is part of the default protocols on Windows 7 and your machine(s) will automatically recognise the NAS box.

Thanks again Art. Honestly I don't even know where to begin on looking for a used server AT ALL. If they are cheap as you say maybe I'll just get one of them. I'm searching Craigslist and Ebay but I still have no idea what I'm looking at. Is this for me or no? Then I came across this offer on CL as well

dual xeon 3.02 ghz IBM server for $140. I emailed the guy for exact specs but again I have no clue what i'm looking for here I'm lost (Oh god, let the jokes fly)

Also could I, instead of building a system from what I have, use an old crappy computer like this one and just use that instead??

Also there's http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/sys/1604708056.html

That Dell 600SC you linked me to is exactly the kind of server I was talking about and would be perfect for the task although the listing did not list the the CPU speed or type on the server ?
It supports both SCSI (2)? and 3 IDE channels but I doubt you still have an IDE drive lying around, so the beauty is you can also install SATA controller(s) into this machine, and if you wish you can set up a JBOD array. Something like this is ideal, along with similar offerings from IBM, HP etc.
This would be ideal as a NAS box, although if it may also need a Gigabit NIC as well to improve throughput.
No jokes here, this is a serious inquiry and I'm glad to help, workgroup servers like these used to be my bread & butter and I know their advantages in running 24/7 as you plan to do with a NAS.

For my personal media server I use FreeNAS (http://freenas.org/).

It is a tiny OS dedicated and revolving around NAS. You can run it off a bootable CD, USB stick, or install onto a hdd partition. It supports SSH, FTP, Samba, etc. basically anything you would want your server to do.

It's quite easy to set up and has a decent sized userbase with new versions released regularly.

Mine runs headless 24/7 and It's been running on the same old P4 for over 5 years now. It rarely requires attention or maintenance.

OK bud here are the specs for the 600sc cpu is 1.7Ghz

http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...234aa0.htm#103

Should I go for it you think?

About this FreeNAS do I install it on a hd or what? I downloaded the latest version but how would I install from a USB? Do I simply move the files or?

Also with that I will need a SATA card buut if I am reading right a PCI one? Like this one here
SYBA SY-PCI40010 PCI SATA II Controller Card

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Originally Posted by Detale

About this FreeNAS do I install it on a hd or what? I downloaded the latest version but how would I install from a USB? Do I simply move the files or?

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To install to a USB you need to install the OS first to disk (or VM would work great) and then there is an option in the main menu to install to a USB stick.

Thanks, disk should be fine though. Do you happen to know if that SATA card will work with that server?

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Originally Posted by Detale

Thanks, disk should be fine though. Do you happen to know if that SATA card will work with that server?

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According to this post on the FreeNAS forum the SIL3124 chipset is reported as compatible.

I bought this PCI SATA controller from newegg a few years ago and it's been a champ. The external SATA ports are nice.

Yes a PCI SATA card will work with that server, it is a server architecture though so has only one 32bit PC slot, the other three slots are 64bit 66Mhz PCI slots, you can still get SATA controllers for 64bit PCI, I have no idea on price though.
That server would be ideal for your purpose.
That Syba card gives you the option of 4 onboard SATA connectors but others also offer eSATA as well, I would still shop around.

Thanks bud. I am meeting the guy tomorrow to pick it up. Another inane question if I may. I believe this is a socket 478 and I'm pretty sure I have 1 or 2 p4 478 chips around here somewhere. Could i swap out the CPU since it's a lower mhz cleron? I'll keep looking but I doubt I'll need a ESATA for this one. After the initial setup I plan on unplugging the monitor, keyboard and mouse and having her sit in the basement to feed the movie needs of the house. So this is the only card I can use for the one slot and the other slots will need something like this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16816102080

This might be a good idea for my retired gaming rig. Also got a Q6600, RAM and a few SATA controllers.
Don't know what else to do with it anyway :P

Thats what I was going to do, but for $75 bucks, I'll get this one and give a computer to my brother.

You can add a higher spec P4 chip to the server if you wish, for the duty it will be doing it will honestly make no difference at all, as I said 800mhz & 128MB RAM & your good to go using FreeNAS so this server in its current spec easily outstrips the requirements.
FreeNAS is designed to run headless, and can be administered from any computer on the Network once configured, I just hope your basement is fairly dry.

LOL yes it'd dry. it's where I do all my computer building.So I can acess it without using nother monitor. thats great.. it may move upstairs then behind the couch then. HMMM this is sounding better and better. I couldn't meet the guy today so i'll be seeing him in the morrow

OK so someone for the love of god explain how I install this thing please. I get 9 options and I have no idea on what to do next. Thanks

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Originally Posted by Detale

OK so someone for the love of god explain how I install this thing please. I get 9 options and I have no idea on what to do next. Thanks

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Gee, that was so helpful, unfortunately though I dropped my crystal ball last week & it's fucked so you will have to describe the nine options !

lol yeah I was in a huge hurry. When installing the freenas I get nine options that I will write down tomorrow. How did you install it bud?

The manual on the web site only says

====== Installation and Configuration Overview ======

FreeNAS installation and configuration involves three steps, which are:

- Download the FreeNAS ISO, burn it to a CD-ROM, then boot from the CD-ROM. The Initial Configuration is done via the FreeNAS Console Setup Menu on the FreeNAS PC.\\ After this stage FreeNAS will be installed on and run from your drive. However, you still need to complete the second step to make FreeNAS operational. This step is optional: You can run FreeNAS from a CDROM and a MS DOS floppy disk or USB device to store configuration.
- Basic Configuration via the Web GUI.\\ After this stage your FreeNAS server will be operational having a basic configuration.
- Advanced configuration via Web GUI and Command Shell.\\ This stage is not covered by this manual. It is up to you to read and understand the various options and features offered by FreeNAS and to decide How-to and What-to-do base on your own requirements.

Further customization, such as RAID configuration and localization to your environment can then be performed.

Now I clearly don't uderstand what the hell I'm doing here so I need to figure this out

EDIT: MN I found what i was looking for on their site. I'll set it up tomorrow. Thanks bud ;)

Ok guys i went with this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815124020
I know it's only SATA I but it's 66Mhz as I understand it it's better to have 66Mhz than STAII in my case. Hope it's true.

On the balance of probabilities, given the overall specs of this system, going for a 64bit PCI controller was the better choice. In terms of overall throughput for the system this will provide a fast data transfer. The Syba 4P uses the SiL 3114 chipset which I have always found to be very reliable, and the huge plus for you is that you can run multiple cards (which is where the real advantages of 64bit PCI kick in).
You can use SATAII drives on a SATA controller, the drives will simply step down to SATA I throughput, so there are no compatibility problems to be concerned with.

What kind of data transfer rates am I to be looking at do you think?

Another question I thought of. I currently have a TB drive filled with movies. Can I just plug in and share or will I have to tranfer all the files or wht?

Yet another question, what are these green slots called are they PCI or PCI-X?

http://img532.imageshack.us/img532/1...9f897dt200.jpg

I want to try and get a SATA controller for those as well. I think the one I ordered will only fit in the regular PCI slot (white) one in the pic.

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Originally Posted by Detale

Another question I thought of. I currently have a TB drive filled with movies. Can I just plug in and share or will I have to tranfer all the files or wht?

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You can add pre-formatted drives no problem. This page has FreeNAS supported file systems.

I'd assume the TB movie drive is NTFS, so:

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NTFS – Originally found on Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista. Writing on NTFS can give you unexpected results(data lost). You can’t format(create a new NTFS partition) and run fsck(file system check) on FreeNAS.
From version 0.684b, FreeNAS will fully support read+write on NTFS volumes. However FreeNAS can’t format and fsck an NTFS volume.

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My drives are UFS formatted, but that's just because I started with older versions.

Thanks so much Lee

Any idea about them green slots at all?

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Originally Posted by Detale

Thanks so much Lee

Any idea about them green slots at all?

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The screen is PCI-E, the white is PCI.

Also I use Ubuntu 9.10 Server for my nas. Works great with Samba sharing. Little more flexible than freenas.



EDIT: Regarding http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815124020 stay away from software raid cards.
They will be bundled with a CD that you have to configure with your OS before it can see the Raid drive. There are dozens of problems with these over true hardware raids, just google it.

You can get proper hardware raids on ebay for under $90.

The four green slots on the motherboard are PCI, NOT PCI-e slots. They are 64bit PCI slots. The bonus for you is that 64bit PCI is backwards compatible to 32bit. In other words you can put a 32bit PCI card into a 64bit slot, it wll just run @ 32bit bus bandwidth. The 64 bit cards are usually for advanced server cards i.e. Hardware RAID with onboard caching, SNMP management and remote access/failover reporting.
There is another version of 64bit PCI called PCI-X or eXtended PCI but these are specialised server cards, and the 600SC does not support PCI-X anyway (I just mentioned PCI-X to cover all the bases).PCI-X is based on 64bit PCI architecture however.
A simple test, simply align any standard 32bit PCI card with the green slots, you will see that the PCI card's connectors line up with the first two connector blocks on the green slot but not the last connector block, so your new card could be installed into one of the 64bit slots with ease.

Thanks Art. I can't seem to find any 64 bit PCI cards for those slots. I want to get some more raid cards, any ideas? Newegg doesn't seem to have any I can find.

There for cards like this Detale

But its not a raid card just sata

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815121009

OK guys I have Freenas installed on my server and have initialized my test disk which is formatted NTFS. I still cannot get to the disk from my main computer. I can use the web GUI and see the disk that way but it does not come up in network at all. For the love of god what am I missing here?

EDIT: Finally I found what I was looking for. A hoe to configure I can easily understand

http://www.lagesse.org/freenas-tutor...configuration/

Thanks guys. This is working out very well already. I will need to replace the stock fans soon though it's kinda loud, but fixable ;)

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Originally Posted by Detale

EDIT: Finally I found what I was looking for. A hoe to configure I can easily understand

http://www.lagesse.org/freenas-tutor...configuration/

Thanks guys. This is working out very well already. I will need to replace the stock fans soon though it's kinda loud, but fixable ;)

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Yep. The WebGUI is your friend now. Just gotta remember to add disks, put them online, then set mount points; sort of a funky process. I have all my FreeNAS drives network mapped for quick access, but typing in the address in explorer isn't too hard if you're on another box.

Be sure to check the graphs to see cpu load and what sort of transfer rates you get.

Yeah I did the network mapping as well, just easier. I was just speaking with Art on MSN and mentioned I NEED to get a gigabit PCI card because I'm transferring at a MAX of 8mb/s what do you get? Where are these "graphs" you speak of? I see this

http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/4010/freenaspic.jpg

EDIT: Ah, I found it here it is
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/8550/graphmk.jpg

Still I think I have to get a gigabit card ;) Hell It's $14 on the egg.

Yea, that's about what I get:

Copying into:
http://imgur.com/gL2MH.jpg

Copying from:
http://imgur.com/rsvjT.jpg


I don't think adding just a Gbit e-net card to the box will help so much unless your router/switch is also Gbit.

Everything on my network is Gigabit. Would that help do you think?

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Originally Posted by Detale

Everything on my network is Gigabit. Would that help do you think?

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/jealous

Enjoi your ludicrous speeds. :happy:

Having a gigabit card on connected to a gigabit backbone will greatly improve speeds. I like you have a wired gigabit segment and with everything running at gigabit speed there is a dramatic speed increase. It will be $14 well spent putting that card in.

Ordered :)

Remember to disable the onboard card in the BIOS as well.

It is already, When I got the server it came with 2 cards in it. One is a network card the other a IDE to PCI card allowing one to connect 2 more IDE drives.