Help me build a home server

[Vybz]

I am going to build a home server below are the main issues that i need to tackle.

• ? Storage Space
  ? Redundancy (this also includes storing all the weekly backups of all other pcs)
  ? Connectivity
  • o Wireless
    o Internet
    o VNC (or similar app)

Please help me get some components together

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: Vybz
I am going to build a home server below are the main issues that i need to tackle.

• ? Storage Space
  ? Redundancy (this also includes storing all the weekly backups of all other pcs)
  
  Please help me get some components together

• 
  Areca ARC-1210 RAID controller
  4 x 1TB WD RE3 HDs in a RAID 5 array
  
  

 

[tynopik]

Originally posted by: Blain
Areca ARC-1210 RAID controller
4 x 1TB WD RE3 HDs in a RAID 5 array

overkill

sounds like a perfect job for WHS

- auto backup of all computers on network
- remote access
- redundancy

 

[Vybz]

yes like WHS but i want to build my own. the hp ones look pretty but i think maybe if i build one it would be cheaper.

 

[sunshinetechnology]

What is your budget?

 

[armstrda]

Check this discussion here:

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...334470&highlight_key=y

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: sunshinetechnology
What is your budget?

This is where the rubber hits the road.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: tynopik

Originally posted by: Blain
Areca ARC-1210 RAID controller
4 x 1TB WD RE3 HDs in a RAID 5 array

overkill

How so?
The OP requires redundancy and capacity for multiple PC backups.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: Vybz
yes like WHS but i want to build my own. the hp ones look pretty but i think maybe if i build one it would be cheaper.

Just in case you don't know it, the WHS software is available from Newegg for $100.

I've been building PCs for about 25 years, but it's REALLY hard to beat the HP or the Acer WHS servers. The Acer is about $350, has four hot-swap drive bays, and comes with a 1 TB disk and WHS pre-installed.

If you try to build the equivalent, that's $100 for the disk and $100 for the software, leaving only $150 for the case, motherboard, power supply, CPU, memory, and warranty. There's no way you can build something similar for that price. In fact, you can't build something similar for ANY price, since nobody sells a tiny case that holds four disks like that.

If you still want to build something, you'll need to decide:
What's the maximum number of disks you'll want?
What's more important to you: Power consumption or CPU power? A file server has low CPU needs, but if you are going to do other things (transcoding of videos) then CPU power may be important.
Does this PC need to do anything else?

 

[Vybz]

wow after reading the other thread i notice this is much tougher than I thought it would be. I was not going to do much else with it but run my magicjack and my bit-torrent app. The only other things are just the stuff already built into whs. I agree though Its really hard to beat the price of the ACER WHS. I do want it to take up as little Power as possible but i also want it to respond and stream data fairly quickly. I want it to be quiet and run cool. I also would prefer that it had more than 4 drive bays. Why is hotswap soo important with these things anyway.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: Vybz
Why is hotswap soo important with these things anyway.

It's not. I'm not even sure you could hotswap disks on WHS anyway. The nice thing is that you don't have to take the case apart to add more disks and there's no screws to deal with.

 

[Vybz]

ok so the acer box is the cheapest. but can you have real redundancy with only 4 drives. dont you at least need 6.

 

[Blain]

RAID redundancy begins with 2 drives and goes up from there.

 

[JackMDS]

File server is Not a gaming computer, it involved a different set of mind.

WHS does not need RAID for redundancy, it does its own redundency.

You make it too complicated for few hundred $$ project.

It really boils down to issues like size and Energy consumption.

If you do not care about size you can get a Big full size case self build the server (would be give and take $50 to $100, as compare to the Acer) and have flexibility for the "Rest of your Life" .

Otherwise, something like the Acer comes with 1TB drive get an addtional 3 1.5TB HDs that gets you to 5.5TB.

By the time that 5.5TB are filled there would be 2, 3 TB or what ever HD available for entry level consumers price. I.e the Acer can be filled with 8 or 12TB.

So unless you run an SQL server for the Census Bureau get of the "May be Horse" and start working.

 

[mmntech]

You can also build cheap, low power servers using old laptops and USB/Firewire hard drives. This is what I've done when building my own vary basic home server. It lacks some of the more advanced features but it's relatively easy for a noob to set up. The *nix operating systems provide a good server platform. Mine runs OS X 10.5 though you could also easily use Ubuntu. My server system is remote controlled through a VNC client. Since the system is self contained, you can always access it directly without having to drag out monitors or keyboards. Most Firewire external drives can be daisy chained out of the box (two ports) and using FW800 express cards offers nearly double the speed of USB2.0. So storage capacity is basically unlimited, at least where home needs are concerned. You can easily get away with building a system like this for under $500. Chances are you already have some parts you can use on hand. This setup I think is excellent for streaming media because the extra CPU power is there if needed.

As a general rule, the server itself should be hard wired to your router. You can still access it wirelessly but you benefit from a more stable, faster connection, especially when using Gigabit ethernet.

 

[Vybz]

Originally posted by: JackMDS
File server is Not a gaming computer, it involved a different set of mind.

WHS does not need RAID for redundancy, it does its own redundency.

Yes you are right. I read up on the redundancy and it really does not depend on raid but rather if it has more the one drive then you got redundancy. This is good stuff, i am very impressed with WHS.

 

[tomt4535]

You can get an Intel Atom board and processor combo for $80-100 on newegg and all you would need is a case, RAM, disks and the OS. You cant go wrong with one of the boxes from Acer or HP, but they most likely have a one year warranty and aren't as much fun to put together

 

[Circlenaut]

Look up amahi, it's shaping up to be a very good home server solution (assuming they manage to port it to ubuntu). I don't like WHS because of its 32bit and I have 8GB of memory on my home server.

 

[JackMDS]

There is No difference in the functional performance of home server between 2GB and 8GB the extra 6GB are simply a waste.

 

[dmw16]

What about something like Netgear's ReadyNAS? I have one and it has been great. Supports multiple types of RAID, provides connectivity via ethernet to all PC/MAC computers on your network.

Can also download torrents, stream mp3's, stream to your xbox360, and lots of other crap.

Drives are also hot swapable.

 

[Vybz]

Originally posted by: Pippy
Look up amahi, it's shaping up to be a very good home server solution (assuming they manage to port it to ubuntu).

Yes this is looking very good to me too. I really like the idea of it being free and that it runs on linux. these are very strong points. I also really like the other features it has but for me the main purpose of getting a sever is to protect my digital data. So i need redundancy from my drives. I like the fact that on the whs i don't need to have more than 5 drives to run raid 5. amahi is going to have to match that to get me interested. even without it amahi is a very tempting option.