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Budget Network Server Advice

P

Poontos

Platinum Member
For all your bargain finders and basic network server builders! (P.S. I did post this in General Hardware, but didn`t get too many responses)

I have a $600 Canadian (Gimme a break, I`m a student!) budget for a head-less network server for just a couple of workstations.
Which is going to perform: Host Ghost images, file backup, network projects, etc. OS: Win2K Server or FreeBSD or Redhat (probably will change frequently while I thoroughly do experiments/labs/etc. on each one).

Note: I have two spare NIC's. Don`t need a monitor. Probably can dig up a keyboard and mouse. Parts should be in Ontario.


Thanks guys/gals!
 
I was looking to make something like this as well for my home, AMD or Intel?
I saw a few nice boards made by Biostar, onboard sound and video, lan too.
think it was like $55US
 
Haven`t really decided.

If I go the AMD route, it will definitely be Duron 1000, and most likely the ECS K7S5A due to it's cheap price.

If Intel, probably Celeron 1000 and hope to stick with an Asus board... something that is compatible with FreeBSD and Win2K Server. Hopefully the ECS is, if I decide to go that route.

Decisions, decisions...
 
Umm, I think FreeBSD or any other free OS has to be used with that sort of budget. The cost of Win2k Server will leave you without any moola to buy hardware. Look into setting up a SAMBA server.
 
I agree with the ECS/Duron combo - these are getting rave reviews everywhere I look. No personal experience, but they appear to be very stable.

Check the hot deals board - You can often find some great deals over there. Might be a problem being canadian, but you might find some way to take advantage of 'em.

(All $in US) All you really need is a case ($40 anywhere), a mobo/CPU ($100 from Outpost.com), a heatsink/fan ($10 anywhere), a hard drive ($80-$150, call it $100 for a 40 GB), a cheap video card ($30), 256 MB RAM ($75@Crucial), CD-ROM ($30), and Floppy ($10). Call it $400US total, add another $25 shipping and you're good to go. If you have the cash and value your data, I'd consider either a CDRW to backup the critical stuff or a 2nd hard drive and setup mirroring. If you went the 2nd hard drive route, you might want to find a motherboard that supports RAID0 onboard.

- G
 
Good place for parts in Canada is NCIX. I have purchased over $25k worth of parts and their service and prices are great!
 
For just two workstations, you only need a P-3 600 or better with at least 256 megs of ram. Win2k server is almost $1500.00 (Cdn) for a 5 client license, so I'd look into another OS choice.
 
My bad, I failed to mention that I already have all three OSes (including Win2K Server), all legit. 2K has the standard 5 CAL.

Thank you very much guys for all the input! I am much more leaning towards the ECS/Duron route. Hopefully it will work with Win2K, as it appears as though many people on the FreeBSD lists have been successful at doing so.


Cheers
 
I was thinking of a Duron route also, I was looking at BIOSTAR M7VKS motherboard.
For a small server it might be OK, ata100, on board sound and video too. $55 at Newegg
 
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