Home server build..Up and running...almost complete

[sam.jury]

EDIT:

The basis of my home server are now complete it is up and running xubuntu now all that is left is the storage drives and RAID configuration. The specs are below

AMD A6-3500 CPU
MSI FM1 Motherboard
8GB Kingston HyperX DDR3
Patriot 60GB SATA3 SSD (For OS and possible webserver later on)
5 Bay Hotswap harddrive enclosure.

Pics of the build below

Case with ThermalTake 700W Psu


Guides to be modified for HotSwap bay


Guides 'flattened out' and HotSwap bay installed


Internal goodies


Motherboard and components installed


First Boot, OS installing


The processor I used might seem a little odd but it was relatively cheap and I though should be enuf to stream/record/encode etc when the time comes further down the track.

Samba is all set up now the server is now serving files to our two laptops and other desktop pc, it is headless but can be accessed from my laptop using an SSH Tunnel and UltraVNC.

Still a few things to get setup, namely getting it connected to the xbox which I seem to be having great difficulty at the moment, using ushare to do it but it just wont pick up the server or any pc on my network actually.

For storage I will be using 5 Hitachi 5k3000 3TB drives in RAID5 as for the RAID controller I will be using something from Adaptec but need to research which will suit my needs.

I'm interested in any feedback you guys might have and/or constructive criticism

[davros123]

Sorry for the brief post...but no time to fart about...

* Get the Hitachi 2TB drives, 5400rpm is what you want.
* linux mdadm or get a"cheap" perc 6i on the forums or ebay - make sure it has bbu and ram.
* o/s wise, you might want to look at LinuxMCE
* ECC is best, but you can run non-ecc which would be ok...esp as ECC support is limited to "server" class mobo's.
* 4GB is the min....better to go 6GB or 8GB if you can.
* The case is nothing special...so no comments there.
* PSU is average but ok
* CPU is old...I assume it's already in hand...so "free"...if not choose a quad over dual esp. if encoding...really best to get a new sandybridge if that's a serious role.
* Mobo...when for this build anything will do really as you're not exactly playing on the top shelf with an Athlon
* Forget the onboard lan... get an Intel CT Gig PCIe Gigabit lan card - they are cheap ~$40.

I note you say you are ordering parts...instead buy a PC cheap from the for sale section...as by the look of it you are after pretty old/low spec hardware.

Hope that helps and sorry I am in a rush.

[sam.jury]

Thanks for your reply mate, ok so i will look at a newer CPU and some more ram, I presume I should be looking at DDR three but the actual speed of the memory isnt overly important? am I correct about that?

What is the issue with the power supply I presume the wattage is ok for a server is it just the quality that is the problem

The other thing I have a question about is this line here
...What is that your talking about exactly.

Sorry am very behind the times these days

Thanks for your help mate

edit: ok have changed plans to an intel based system looking now at an intel i5 CPU unless you guys think that I can get away with using an i3. Still looking around at suitable motherboards are the chipsets overly important in my situation or will just any do, as faras I can see all it needs is SATA3 4 - 6 ports, on board video and preferably onboard RAID

[davros123]

the actual speed of the memory isnt overly important? am I correct about that?

Correct.

re. psu, no it's more the 12v rail voltage for the HDD"s...they use a bit at startup and I have blown a good quality 400w psu from having 8 HDD's startup on it in my old server...so I tend to err. on the side of 550w plus with high current (pref. single) 12v rails.

The other thing I have a question about is this line here
...What is that your talking about exactly.

Which line?

[sam.jury]

Sorry i dont quite know what happened to the quote but this is the line i was referring to

linux mdadm or get a"cheap" perc 6i on the forums or ebay - make sure it has bbu and ram.

..Not too sure what you are talking about there

[davros123]

linux mdadm or get a"cheap" perc 6i on the forums or ebay - make sure it has bbu and ram.

perc is a hardware raid card, the perc 6i can do raid 6...which is a good thing for later expansion past say 6 x 2 TB drives...it can also do raid 5, so good for now and later. you want ram on the card for cache and a bbu...or Battery Backup Unit...this enables features on the card like writethrough (iirc) for faster performance.

mdadm is linux software raid.

the raid card will be faster than mdadm.

you do not want to use onboard/motherboard raid aka. "fake raid" unless you have a server class board with a real onboard raid card like the LSI 2008.

google is your friend.

personally, if i wanted speed and simplicity, i'd go the perc raid card (for ~200) otherwise if younare after a cheaper solution, go software raid with mdadm which is configured thriugh linux.

google is your friend.

[sam.jury]

Thanks mate have just started searching that stuff now... have a revised list now

3 x Hitachi 7k3000 2TB Harddisks
G.Skill 2 x 4GB PC3-10666 DDR3
ASUS P8H61-MLE
Intel i5-650

Will go for the software RAID for the time being and expand as my need for storage does, and as I leanr a bit more about RAID configurations.

Thanks for your help its made things alot more clearer

[davros123]

glad i cld. help.

hw is looking better

i'd suggest the 5400 rpm drives....5k3000 for your use they are a better option.

[sam.jury]

Right so havent replied on this for a while but have a new hardware list

Coolmaster case the same as I mentioned before.

Going down a different route with the CPU I decided to use the new AMD Fusion GPU and a MSI A75MA-G55 at only a hundred dollars I thought it was quite good value it is also pretty low on the power consumption compared to a core i3/i5 although it doesn't perform aswell but after all this is essentially only a file server

The rest is pretty much the same
8gb of G.Skill ram
and for the mean time 3 Hitachi 2TB 5k3000 HDDs

The only thing I need help with is the perc 6i RAID controller all the ones i found on ebay had a huge price variation 150 - 400 and they all said they were only suited to dell servers, so I'm not really sure where to find one that is suited to my build.

Any help would be much appreciated

Cheers

[sam.jury]

Ok so here is the new list for the server
The motherboard case and Hotswap bay has been purchased this list of components is as follows

Home File Server

CoolerMaster Elite 370 – 79.80
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/180664850...84.m1439.l2649
Corsair 650W PSU - $139.90
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Corsair-T...item43a9058ec7
AMD Fusion A8-3850 – $159.00
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/AMD-A8-38...item35b51acfe5
G.Skill DDR3 2x4GB = $73.90
http://computers.shop.ebay.com.au/Co...4.l1513&_pgn=4
SNT-3051 SATA/SAS 5 Bay Hotswap - $151.99
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SNT-3051-...item2310cf3049
3 x Hitachi 5K3000 2tb $394.14
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Hitachi-2...item3f0d5e675f

RAID Controller - I need some suggestions on this i like the idea of it having battery backup and also on board RAM it will need to support RAID 6 as there is a big chance that the capacity and duties of the server will be expanding, I was told to look at a perc 6i but I don't know which one will suit my needs and also where I can actually purchase one form as the ones I found on ebay are all from the UK or US and the price of shipping is astronomical

Any help and/or guidance would be much appreciated

Thanks

[oli]

Why ebay for everything?

[Phido]

For not a lot more you can get 3Tb Hitachi's.. They are going for around ~$140 each..

Higher densities usually mean, faster (sustained), higher capacity and for simular/same/better power levels.

[sam.jury]

Umm, eBay because it was pretty easy to find the stuff and the prices seemed to be OK to me, but if you have an other suggestions it would be great to hear them.

I will look into those 3tb drives would definitely be worth it to get an extra 1TB for all of 23 dollars

Now just need to sort out this raid thing


Thanks

[davros123]

for prices, jump on staticice.com.au. best to try and grab stuff from thesame place to save on shipping.

scorptec have the 3TB's @ 149iirc. a good deal.

re. the perc's, they need a pin mod to work in non-del servers iirc...google will tell you all about it. they come up here in the for sale forums regularly. just be sureget getone with a working bbu or it'll disable writethrough and be slower (iirc). also, re mem, I think 256mb will be fine for the cache.

[oli]

I recommend just going to the OCAU sponsors (Scorptec are the best at the moment IMO, if not for prices then for service) and getting it all from them.

I agree with davros123 re: 3TB drives. As long as the controller you're connecting them to supports them they're the best buy nowadays.