Cheap/energy efficient computer as a home server

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Minjin

Platinum Member
Jan 18, 2003
2,208
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I'd like to build a home server to off-source some of my main computer tasks. I have a bunch of spare parts sitting around but I'm looking for some opinions for people starting from scratch.

Here are the tasks I expect it to handle:

-bit torrent/downloads/uploads
-file serving for other computers in my network
-automated backups of main computer
-print server
-basic web browsing in case I need it

Since it's an extra computer, it needs to be cheap and since it will be running 24/7, it needs to be as energy efficient as possible.

I'd prefer it to be able to handle ide or sata drives. I don't expect to load it with 10 drives, but 2 or 3 is quite possible. Gigabit would be preferred as well.

Any ideas? Size and appearance are not issues.
 
X

xSauronx

Lifer
Jul 14, 2000
19,582
4
81
you can build an atom machine for under $300. my budget got murdered so the atom box i wanted to build never happened, but i think theres a lower-power mobo available for atoms now (as well as a dual core atom) anyway, and i was going to do an atom setup for under $250.

check this thread
 
Inspector Jihad

Inspector Jihad

Lifer
Apr 17, 2005
13,465
3
81
yeah atom seems ideal for this. when atom came out, i thought that aside from the netbook aspect, it would be perfect for a home server.

edit: can you buy atom processors??? i cant find it on newegg.
 
arrfep

arrfep

Platinum Member
Sep 7, 2006
2,314
16
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Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
yeah atom seems ideal for this. when atom came out, i thought that aside from the netbook aspect, it would be perfect for a home server.

edit: can you buy atom processors??? i cant find it on newegg.
Click to expand...

I think they only have them on Mini-ITX cpu/board combos...but I believe the cpu is soldered on. Not sure though.
 
Zap

Zap

Elite Member
Oct 13, 1999
22,377
7
81
You can buy single core Atom 230 and dual core Atom 330 on mini ITX boards from at least 3-4 different brands these days. Unfortunately all of them use the Intel 945GC chipset and only have two SATA and 10/100 NIC. These all seem to be artificial limitations, but if you can live with them, then you can get the board WITH the CPU starting around $80.

If you are already running a gigabit network and want to run more than two HDDs (or SATA optical drives too) then you would need to find a board that has those features. I've seen some G45 chipset boards with 6 SATA ports and gigabit ethernet. Couple that with an E5200 CPU (probably $70 shipped in a couple days) and you'll have an energy efficient setup that isn't super cheap, but not super pricey either. Minus hard drives, it'll probably idle around 40W. Note that you may want to pay attention to which power supply you use as even being 80+ certified for efficiency doesn't mean it will be an efficient power supply at low outputs.
 
X

xSauronx

Lifer
Jul 14, 2000
19,582
4
81
yeah you buy it with the mobo. theres an intel combo for 85 bucks before shipping, with a gigabit nic and dual-core atom.
DDR2 for $12/1GB.
Find a deal on a case/PSU for under $60 easily enough.
dvd burner under $25 shipped.
50 for a hard drive, to start.
thats about $220. figure a little more for shipping.

youll need a monitor (120+), OS ($89 for windows) and a mouse and keyboard. so youre gonna get nearer to 475 or 500 bucks if you need all that.

you can save money on windows easy enough. Its pretty simple to share drives and printers under Ubuntu, and you can keep a torrent client going, and setup backups from your main pc to the shared folder with something. if you want some geek points (and want to avoid a keyboard, mouse and monitor) you can run it headless, and control the box over the network.

or you can get an eee box with XP, probably under $350, and slap a monitor with it. 160gb hard drive, so youll want an external at some point.
 
Zap

Zap

Elite Member
Oct 13, 1999
22,377
7
81
Originally posted by: xSauronx
yeah you buy it with the mobo. theres an intel combo for 85 bucks before shipping, with a gigabit nic and dual-core atom.
Click to expand...

I didn't think it was available with gigabit. Am I wrong?
 
rudder

rudder

Lifer
Nov 9, 2000
19,441
86
91
Zotac NF630-I and a celeron 420. Probably a little more juice that the atom/chipset combo... but a lot more power. Heck you can probably even underclock the thing.

Otherwise you need to get AMD Geode or C7 cpus... but they are a lot more expensive. The zotac cpu combo is well under $100 whereas the other options are $150+.

My server now consisits of a WYSE dumb terminal that has a 533mhz samuel cpu. Kinda slow... but I threw in a 2.5" drive to install server 2003 and it has no fans. Additional storage comes by a USB external. It does good on torrents because I can leave it on all the time and it uses probably 20watts. But my next server will be the zotac/intel combo because I would like for it to do a little more.
 
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Minjin

Platinum Member
Jan 18, 2003
2,208
1
81
I did a bit of research and for the power savings, atoms and their low power cousins simply aren't worth it. They really don't consume all that much less than a downclocked amd 64. If they were cheap, they might be worth a closer look, but they're not. I'm just going to use an x2 3800+ and mobo I already have sitting around. Will it use more power than an atom setup? Sure, but I think it would take a while to pay off the cost differential.
Another option I think would work great is this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813135060

For the price, you can't beat it. It uses only a few watts more than the atom, and is over twice as fast.
 
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cparker

Senior member
Jun 14, 2000
526
0
71
Well, you could get a low power "screamer" by getting a discounted AMD 780g board and pop in an le-1640 for around 100 bucks total from the egg. For less you could get a cheaper AMD board with less fancy graphics which you don't need anyway (I picked up one for 40 bucks) with same cpu (35 bucks). So for 75 bucks you get a very fast 2.6ghz cpu and motherboard with lots of sata ports, integrated graphics, etc. Get an efficient PSU to go with it. Maybe, Maybe 110 total, including ram.
 
X

xSauronx

Lifer
Jul 14, 2000
19,582
4
81
Originally posted by: Minjin
I'm just going to use an x2 3800+ and mobo I already have sitting around. Will it use more power than an atom setup? Sure, but I think it would take a while to pay off the cost differential.
Click to expand...

can you underclock/undervolt it to bring the power consumption down, or is that not an option?
 
X

xSauronx

Lifer
Jul 14, 2000
19,582
4
81
Originally posted by: Zap
Originally posted by: xSauronx
yeah you buy it with the mobo. theres an intel combo for 85 bucks before shipping, with a gigabit nic and dual-core atom.
Click to expand...

I didn't think it was available with gigabit. Am I wrong?
Click to expand...

Text

its the 945gc board, but yeah, atom 330 with gigabit lan.
 
C

coolVariable

Diamond Member
May 18, 2001
3,724
0
76
I like some of the non-atom options mentioned in this thread.
I currently have a HTPC that also acts as a home server but I am looking at replacing it with a dedicated HTPC and a dedicated home server.

I did some research and heard that the next windows home server plattform will only run on 64bit hardware.
So in order to future proof the built for WHS Vail, I definitely am looking at 64bit solutions.
I currently would use only 2x 750GB SATA drives (possibly RAID1) in the WHS but definitely also want to possibility to expand to at least 4 drives.

Hey, Minjin
did you go ahead with your built?
What did you select?
 
C

coolVariable

Diamond Member
May 18, 2001
3,724
0
76
What really sets the HP mediasmart servers apart is their size and the number of HDD bays.
I just spec'd out a Home Server on newegg but I am extremely unhappy with the mini-itx cases.
If you want to go small footprint (and I do), you are either limited to 3 drives total (1 x 5.25 and 2x 3.5) or you have to get a big ass case (mid-tower).

APEX MI-008 Black Steel Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case 250W Power Supply - Retail
Item #:N82E16811154091
$43.99

2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model RM25664AA800 -
Model #:RM25664AA800
$15.99

ZOTAC NF610I-D-E LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 7050 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #:N82E16813500010
$50.00

Intel Celeron E1200 1.6GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80557E1200 - Item #:N82E16819116064
$49.99

Subtotal: $159.97


Would be very glad if someone could point out a mini itx case like the above that is just a tiny bit bigger so that it fits at least 4 HDDs.
 
Andrew1990

Andrew1990

Banned
Mar 8, 2008
2,153
0
0
You could go for the celeron 220 route. Just a little more power than the atom but much more powerful. It has an IDE port and 2 Sata Ports, but you can add a Sata PCI Card if need be.
 
mxnerd

mxnerd

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2007
6,799
1,103
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Morex Venus 668 case is probably the only one that can take 2 5.25" DVD/CD drive, 2 3.5" HD and 1 FDD, which will be $80+

You can turn that 2 5.25" drive bay to 3 3.5" raid drive bay using this
http://www.kingwin.com/product_pages/kf3000-bk.asp that also cost you another $75

Then you will have to use external DVD.

A newer Morex 669 seems not available in the U.S.
 
M

mooseracing

Golden Member
Mar 9, 2006
1,711
0
0
Amd Geode or Via are the low power ways to go. .

On my Geode I ran Server 08 as a file server that ran 24/7, Other wise get a newer dual core AMD 45 watt chip and undervolt it.
 
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coolVariable

Diamond Member
May 18, 2001
3,724
0
76
Originally posted by: mxnerd
Morex Venus 668 case is probably the only one that can take 2 5.25" DVD/CD drive, 2 3.5" HD and 1 FDD, which will be $80+

You can turn that 2 5.25" drive bay to 3 3.5" raid drive bay using this
http://www.kingwin.com/product_pages/kf3000-bk.asp that also cost you another $75

Then you will have to use external DVD.

A newer Morex 669 seems not available in the U.S.
Click to expand...

That's not a bad option, especially since here it does come with a power supply.
It's dimensions are: 8.9" x 7.9" x 13.0"

I otherwise found this absolutely beautiful case: Chenbro 4 HDD which has the same/similar dimensions as the HP (5.51" x 10.24" x 10.24"). But it is an absolute rip-off price-wise ($158).

Chenbro also makes another case (Chenbro ES30068 for $119.00 with the same dimensions but the specs say that it only supports 2x 3.5" HDD and 1x 2.5" HDD ... I wonder if that case can hold more HDDs?
 
mxnerd

mxnerd

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2007
6,799
1,103
126
Originally posted by: coolVariable

I otherwise found this absolutely beautiful case: Chenbro 4 HDD which has the same/similar dimensions as the HP (5.51" x 10.24" x 10.24"). But it is an absolute rip-off price-wise ($158).

Chenbro also makes another case (Chenbro ES30068 for $119.00 with the same dimensions but the specs say that it only supports 2x 3.5" HDD and 1x 2.5" HDD ... I wonder if that case can hold more HDDs?
Click to expand...

I think the Chenbro 4HDD case itself for $158 is a bit high, but acceptable. However, the shipping fee is a rip-off.

I don't think you can put more drives in ES30068.
 
Zap

Zap

Elite Member
Oct 13, 1999
22,377
7
81
Originally posted by: xSauronx
its the 945gc board, but yeah, atom 330 with gigabit lan.
Click to expand...

DOH, brainfarted. I should have known that.

I also found a Jetway board that cost $100 for an Atom 230 with gigabit. Yes, more costly. However, it seems to support the Jetway expansion modules. For instance you can populate it with a module (which doesn't take up the PCI slot) that adds three more gigabit ethernet ports for another $37, giving you four total. Add a PCI or USB wireless adaptor and you totally have a high performance router.

BTW those Chenbro 4xHDD cases are pretty sweet.
 
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coolVariable

Diamond Member
May 18, 2001
3,724
0
76
So, I just found out that WHS never (NEVER) goes into standby but just idles.
Considering electricity prices, that makes power consumption a factor IMO.
For my area (SoCal) I calculated that every watt per hour equates to approximately $1 in savings per year.
E.g. a 30 watt WHS vs. a 100 watt WHS would save me $70 per year.

My HTPC (P4 2.6Ghz) supposedly idles around 80W.
I was looking at some AMD/intel CPUs for a new HTPC and they apparently use quite a bit more power:
intel e5200 power usage
AMD 4850e power usage[/quote]

Even the atom (thanks to its crappy boards) uses quite a lot of power.

I am personally trying to decide how best to transition from a HTPC only to a HTPC + WHS setup.
Since the next gen WHS will be 64bit only, I will probably stay away from the atoms.

 
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coolVariable

Diamond Member
May 18, 2001
3,724
0
76
I am absolutely amazed.
I have spent the last couple of days looking at cases.
All the mini itx cases are either so small that you can barely fit a single drive, or they waste quite a lot of space and artificially limit the number of drives.
Why doesn't anybody (but chenbro) build a small case that can hold more than 2 3.5" drives?
The Molex Venus case is not bad.
The Chenbro case is great but just ridiculously expensive (especially with shipping).
 
mxnerd

mxnerd

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2007
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