Building a file server.

[fuzzybabybunny]

I've got 7 HDDs, and I want to build a file server.

The server will be running Linux, probably the server version of Ubuntu since I'm a newbie at Linux. I've got a WTB ad in the For Sale section, and I've been getting offers for hardware ranging from Athlon 1GHz 256MB DDR systems for $65 to P4 2.8GHz 1GB DDR systems for $325.

All I want is a file server that will be blazing fast with Gigabit lan cards.

What level of hardware do I need?

EDIT: How's this?

Sempron 2500+
Shutter AN51R n-Force 3 mobo (already have)
Promise Ultra133 TX2 IDE controller card (already have)
Nvidia MX4000 AGP video card
400W Aspire PSU
7 HDDs
Encore 10/100/1000 NIC
512MB DDR RAM

I'll probably be using Samba or FreeNAS as the software.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

You might want to get an older actual server with PCI-X (not PCIe) slots, so that your GigE can run without the worries of slamming into the conventional PCI bus limitation. You'll also want to get a card that supports jumbo frames, otherwise you won't get all the throughput.

Given the photo info in the sig, I assume you'll be working with raw images over the network, so bandwidth is important.

- M4H

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Yup yup, bandwifth is very important. There have been times when I've worked on 9 800MB files at once

What I'm thinking about doing is using my primary hard drive to save the photos onto first , then do the photo editing, and then transfer the finished files for storage into the server. This way I can minimize going through the network bottleneck.

If I get a server with PCI-X, wouldn't I just be limited on the client end? I'm thinking that the bottleneck isn't going to be the server end, but the client end because that machine's going to have the most hardware overhead with PCI sound card, PCI TV Tuner, PCI-E video card, etc. Basically, if the client end is going to be the slowest, is there a point to getting a PCI-X card on the server end?

What are Jumbo Frames? I was just planning on getting cheapo GigE cards from Newegg, one in the server and connected directly to one in my dual-LAN desktop since I don't have a Gigabit switch or router.

 

[GrammatonJP]

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
jumbo frames
- M4H

Yeah.. 2 new switches... get 2 switch to do core switching, you can team the gigabit switches to double the bandwidth or auto fail over...

Jumbo frame.. w/o it.. gigabit just isn't as fast..
http://sd.wareonearth.com/~phil/jumbo.html

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

How are these cards?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi...bcategory=27&Description=jumbo&Ntk=all

 

[dexvx]

Buy a used Dell 1600SC with SATA hotswap.

Comes with built-in PCI-X based GigE and has PCI-X expansion slots.

 

[xanis]

You're going to need bandwidth, and lots of it if you want it to be fast... If you have crappy bandwidth, it's going to be slow on the client-end.

 

[dBTelos]

In way of major hardware you don't need anything special. 512MB of decent RAM and a PIII is more then enough.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
How are these cards?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi...bcategory=27&Description=jumbo&Ntk=all

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

OP edited.

 

[cleverhandle]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
How are these cards?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi...bcategory=27&Description=jumbo&Ntk=all

Intel NIC's are the standard by which others are judged. Most of the cards on that link look like cheap shite. An Intel GigE NIC will run you about $30.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: cleverhandle

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
How are these cards?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi...bcategory=27&Description=jumbo&Ntk=all

Intel NIC's are the standard by which others are judged. Most of the cards on that link look like cheap shite. An Intel GigE NIC will run you about $30.

A lot of the ones on the list, like the Encore, are getting a lot of good reviews, and they seem to support jumbo frames to boot.

 

[ForumMaster]

frankly, in terms of servers, you don't need a lot of punch. however, getting recent technology might not be a bad idea simply cause of the increased bandwidth of current mobo's.

getting a PCI-E mobo with onboard GB is good. a simple sempron or even a celery might suffice. get a controller card to connect all the drives. how about RAID? jumbo frames are important.

also, if this is a dedicated server for one computer, then a crossover cable will suffice, if you're on a network, make sure that your new gear supports jumbo frames.

 

[cleverhandle]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
A lot of the ones on the list, like the Encore, are getting a lot of good reviews, and they seem to support jumbo frames to boot.

Why ask for opinions if you've already made up your mind, then?

Ask any networking professional and they will repeat what I have already told you - Intel NIC's are the standard when a machine requires high network performance. Not that there aren't some other good cards out there - there are, but Intel is the yardstick.

But hey, go ahead and buy the cheap card in order to save $15. It's not like the network is going to be the bottleneck here. Oh wait... yeah, it is.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: cleverhandle

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
A lot of the ones on the list, like the Encore, are getting a lot of good reviews, and they seem to support jumbo frames to boot.

Why ask for opinions if you've already made up your mind, then?

Ask any networking professional and they will repeat what I have already told you - Intel NIC's are the standard when a machine requires high network performance. Not that there aren't some other good cards out there - there are, but Intel is the yardstick.

But hey, go ahead and buy the cheap card in order to save $15. It's not like the network is going to be the bottleneck here. Oh wait... yeah, it is.

I'm just asking if the $10 card will perform just as well as your "yardstick"