Fileserver question

[master7045]

I have an LGA 775 mobo, Celeron 430, video card, case, PSU, 512RAM laying around and would like to turn this into a file server/backup machine for my home. I'll be serving photos, mp3 collection, and a mix of BD ISO/MKV & standard def DVD ISO rips to an HTPC, laptop, desktop, & Xbox 360 (sort of, I understand the limitations of the video file formats, will mostly be music). I'd like to be able to view/play the mp3/photo/video collection on my iphone & samsung tab if possible.
The big question: Is the celeron 430 worth using as the CPU for this? Or would I be better off picking up a more powerful 775 CPU? I don't think the 430 will handle the transcoding very well for the Xbox or mobile devices, which isn't end of the world.
Next question, Will WHS 2011 run OK or would I be better served (no pun intended) going w/ Ubuntu? I don't have any real desire to go w/ Ubuntu server as I'm not that comfortable w/ command. I've used Linux Mint & Ubuntu in the past so I can get around it, but I prefer my GUI. I'm not intending to do full system backups of my HTPC, laptop or PC.

I guess what I'm really after is, can the 430 serve 1080p BD ISO rips over a gigabit network to an HTPC? If that's possible, then I suppose serving mp3s and jpgs isn't really a problem.

Thanks!

 

[gmaster456]

As far as single core CPUs go, the 430 isn't that bad, but it will probably struggle with serving and transcoding 1080p. I'd try and find a Cheap, used Core 2 Duo or a cheap Pentium Dual core for your needs.

 

[mfenn]

The 430 will file serve to your heart's content, no matter what the file is. It won't be very good at transcoding though.

I'd say to go for it. Put a dedicated NAS OS on it like FreeNAS so that you have a nice web interface for everything.

 

[Spikesoldier]

yes a c430 is more than enough.

running ubuntu or freenas (freebsd) will be much leaner on OS overhead, especially when you have the limited amount of ram you have. i would recommend to get 1GB with the *nix OS' or at least 2GB if you decide to go WHS.

 

[master7045]

Thanks for the tips guys. I think ill go ahead and put everything together once i pick up a hard drive and more ram. On that front, is more ram worth it in a fileserver? I know i need more than 512 MB, but is 1GB enough? 2,3 GB? Ill go with ubuntu now and may go with one of the headless other nix OS`s. Now i need to decide if i should go with a 2 or 3 TB drive...

 

[mfenn]

Something that doesn't run an X server will be perfectly happy with 512MB. With a full graphical Ubuntu, you will want 1GB at least, 2GB is optimal. As for drives, get whatever capacity is better cost per GB.

 

[Spikesoldier]

i recommend the 1gb because under freenas i have gone past 1gb of memory usage during heavy writes to the fileserver with 2gb. this is with RAID 1 softraid.

mfenn is right though, 512 shouldnt make or break your fileserver. there really isnt a minimum especially when you are going *nix without GUI.

 

[master7045]

Thanks for the tips again. I'll probably pick up a 1GB stick so I'll have 1.5 GB. Won't be running in dual channel mode, but I don't think that will affect performance in a server. I think my OS is going to be regular Ubuntu to start as I'm pretty comfortable with it and if I get crazy enough, I might switch to a freenas or ubuntu server OS.

I've read good reviews about the Hitachi and Samsung 2 TB drives, so whatever one is on sale will probably be the one I pick up. Right now they are about 80 at the egg. So it looks like I'll be out ~$100 for a full blown NAS/file server. Not bad.

 

[master7045]

I have another question about the OS. I have Ubuntu 10.10 already loaded on a USB flash drive, would it be better to run the OS from the drive, or load it onto a standard 3.5" HDD? I also have a 100 GB Maxtor drive laying around that doesn't get used.

Thanks!

 

[Spikesoldier]

IMO the flash drive is going to be more reliable than a hard disk.

even if it was one of the older hdd's with lower density where they actually made them to last more than a few months.

 

[mfenn]

I have another question about the OS. I have Ubuntu 10.10 already loaded on a USB flash drive, would it be better to run the OS from the drive, or load it onto a standard 3.5" HDD? I also have a 100 GB Maxtor drive laying around that doesn't get used.

Thanks!

It'd definitely run the OS on a separate disk from the storage. That way you can keep your disks as storage and storage only, which makes the config simpler IMHO. If you ever want to migrate the disks to a new box, you just move them over and go to town instead of having to clean off an old OS.

 

[master7045]

It'd definitely run the OS on a separate disk from the storage. That way you can keep your disks as storage and storage only, which makes the config simpler IMHO. If you ever want to migrate the disks to a new box, you just move them over and go to town instead of having to clean off an old OS.

I definitely agree. I was debating whether or not to run the Linux OS (haven't decided if I'll go regular GUI Ubuntu or Ubuntu server yet) from a USB flash drive or from a regular HDD. I think I'm going to install it onto an extra Maxtor 100GB HDD I have that isn't being used. I still need to pick up a storage drive though. Just trying to figure out if I should go Samsung, Hitachi, WD, or Seagate.
Yesterday I picked up another 1GB DDR2 RAM for this project. Was $13 from Micro Center. Almost ready....

 

[Spikesoldier]

I would recommend to go with WD or Samsung drives.

Personally, I get bad vibes about drives that are >1TB.

 

[yinan]

you can still buy spindle drives that are under 1TB?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Check out unRAID, from Lime Technologies. It's a special NAS distro based on Linux, web-browser configurable, and free for up to, I think, three disks.

It does, however, require at a minimum of two storage disks, due to it's parity "unRAID" scheme.

 

[master7045]

So a bit of an update... The 100GB drive I was going to use already had an install of W7 on it, so that's my new server OS! I remember taking advantage of the student upgrade and bought a 32 & 64 bit version, so I'm guessing this is where that came from. I set up a shared drive M (for media) and set up sub-folders Music, Movies, and Photos. I've dropped the itunes directory under music (for now, I might just make this it's own sub-directory under \Media\) and my purchases from my itunes account on my laptop are automatically saved on the server. I then access them via my HTPC using Windows Media Center and it's worked flawlessly. I still need to pick up the 2TB hard drive, which I'll probably do next week. I still need to get VNC installed on the server and the rest of my PCs in the house. I was able to connect to the server using an itunes app called winadmin (which I use for work all the time), but audio wasn't playing anymore when I selected a song, so VNC should simplify that. Anyway, that's all for now, will keep everyone updated on progress!

EDIT: Also forgot to mention that I picked up 1GB DDR2 ram so the system is running on 1.5GB now. OS performance really isn't that bad. Obviously it's not lightning machine, but for running pandora/slacker, it works well. The only other app that is running is Panda Anti-Virus.

 

[mfenn]

Panda???? Get yourself some MSE, stat!