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Need a case for NAS/Small Server....

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S

Shyatic

Platinum Member
Apr 5, 2004
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Any ideas? It will be a 2HD server that will run Win 2008, SQL, and maybe some other stuff. It's going to be my development box and backup box. :)

Feel free to chip in with suggestions!
 
C

Cliff Couser

Senior member
Jul 15, 2008
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if only 2HD's and you don't mind going the mITX route....The Shuttle K45 or the LL PCQ-08.

I have the Shuttle K45 and an Intel D510 board with 2x 2TB HDs. I'm using a PicoPSU as well.

Couldn't be happier with the setup, quiet, clean and low voltage. Although I only use it for WHS (primarily as a file & backup server).

You can get these cases for dirt cheap on ebay.

2008 & SQL though, so the Atom will probably be a handicap.
 
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PCTC2

PCTC2

Diamond Member
Feb 18, 2007
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You should look at mini-ITX motherboard and a Chenbro ES34169. It has 4 hot-swap bays, and space for 1 2.5" system drive. It's not exactly what you are looking for, but it gives you space to expand later.
 
nerp

nerp

Diamond Member
Dec 31, 2005
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The LIan Li PC-Q08 is the bomb. Running a 5-drive WHS box with it using that gigabyte dual atom board. It's awesome.
 
B

beginner99

Diamond Member
Jun 2, 2009
5,318
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Is dual atom good for win 2008 server and probably SQL Server?

Probably yes if you only have small DB's for Dev but if you also need to test with large datasets, well then I would probably go for the Intel Pentium G6950 or one of the low-voltage Athlons like Athlon II X2 240e depending which plattform you prefer.
 
S

Shyatic

Platinum Member
Apr 5, 2004
2,164
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PCTC2 said:
You should look at mini-ITX motherboard and a Chenbro ES34169. It has 4 hot-swap bays, and space for 1 2.5" system drive. It's not exactly what you are looking for, but it gives you space to expand later.
Click to expand...

Looks great honestly, but the 120w PSU is that going to be enough to power my stuff?

I'm not running any video but 2 HDs and a decent CPU it seems light, no?
 
PCTC2

PCTC2

Diamond Member
Feb 18, 2007
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Scribe said:
Looks great honestly, but the 120w PSU is that going to be enough to power my stuff?

I'm not running any video but 2 HDs and a decent CPU it seems light, no?
Click to expand...

Between a Celeron E3200, Intel DG45FC motherboard, 4GB DDR2, a 40GB SSD, a 250GB 5400RPM HDD, dual GbE NIC, a UVerse modem, a gigabit switch and a wireless n access point, I draw 40-50W at the wall.

Between dual E5520 Xeon quad core, SuperMicro motherboard, 24GB of DDR3, 2x 250GB 7200RPM HDD, 6x 7200RPM 1.5TB HDD, RAID card, gigabit switch and a wireless n access point and a VOIP phone, I draw 210W at the wall.

120W is the internal power draw, not including the inefficiencies of the PSU. I think if you run 2 low-powered HDD and a dual-core system and 4GB of RAM as your dev system, you'd be well within 120W.
 
aigomorla

aigomorla

CPU, Cases&Cooling Mod PC Gaming Mod Elite Member
Super Moderator
Sep 28, 2005
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PCTC2 said:
Between a Celeron E3200, Intel DG45FC motherboard, 4GB DDR2, a 40GB SSD, a 250GB 5400RPM HDD, dual GbE NIC, a UVerse modem, a gigabit switch and a wireless n access point, I draw 40-50W at the wall.

Between dual E5520 Xeon quad core, SuperMicro motherboard, 24GB of DDR3, 2x 250GB 7200RPM HDD, 6x 7200RPM 1.5TB HDD, RAID card, gigabit switch and a wireless n access point and a VOIP phone, I draw 210W at the wall.

120W is the internal power draw, not including the inefficiencies of the PSU. I think if you run 2 low-powered HDD and a dual-core system and 4GB of RAM as your dev system, you'd be well within 120W.
Click to expand...

dude i thought i was like one of the only people on this forum who had full blown servers @ home.

I use a Sammy as a full duty NAS.
Intel Sossman, which is a dual processor setup on 2 yonahs.
Works very good for a NAS, and i got it fairly cheap.

My main full duty server is 2x X5570's however im swaping them to 2 x L5640's (woot 40W 32nm westmeres!) on a i5520.

My advice.. unless u want to play with full blown servers... there was a intel NAS box which seemed pretty solid and was fairly cheap.

I would look into one of those.. maybe i can get sunny to chip in, as i think he has one.
 
S

Shyatic

Platinum Member
Apr 5, 2004
2,164
34
91
aigomorla said:
dude i thought i was like one of the only people on this forum who had full blown servers @ home.

I use a Sammy as a full duty NAS.
Intel Sossman, which is a dual processor setup on 2 yonahs.
Works very good for a NAS, and i got it fairly cheap.

My main full duty server is 2x X5570's however im swaping them to 2 x L5640's (woot 40W 32nm westmeres!) on a i5520.

My advice.. unless u want to play with full blown servers... there was a intel NAS box which seemed pretty solid and was fairly cheap.

I would look into one of those.. maybe i can get sunny to chip in, as i think he has one.
Click to expand...
Which Intel NAS box? Got a link?
 
PCTC2

PCTC2

Diamond Member
Feb 18, 2007
3,892
33
91
aigomorla said:
dude i thought i was like one of the only people on this forum who had full blown servers @ home.

I use a Sammy as a full duty NAS.
Intel Sossman, which is a dual processor setup on 2 yonahs.
Works very good for a NAS, and i got it fairly cheap.

My main full duty server is 2x X5570's however im swaping them to 2 x L5640's (woot 40W 32nm westmeres!) on a i5520.

My advice.. unless u want to play with full blown servers... there was a intel NAS box which seemed pretty solid and was fairly cheap.

I would look into one of those.. maybe i can get sunny to chip in, as i think he has one.
Click to expand...

Aigo. I think I'm as crazy as you are. Between watercooling, workstations, and my servers, I've got a lot of CPU power at home. I ran out of space in my sig, but in addition to my dual E5520 server (which is my full production server) w/ the 6x 1.5TB disks in RAID 5 (LSI SAS2008 controller) on a SuperMicro X8DTH-6F GPU computer board w/ 24GB of RAM at home, I also have a dual E5504 server with 12GB of RAM on an Asus Z8NA-D6C board w/ a HighPoint RAID 5 with 8 2TB disks as my main storage server running Crashplan. Go big or go home Aigo. :p

Scribe said:
I like the Chenbro better :)

I think that's the route I'm going to go... it's really slick looking and it will sit well in a closet I think :)
Click to expand...

Good choice. Good luck! I recommend getting either the Intel H57 miniITX or Gigabyte H55 miniITX boards with a Core i5-650 and 4 to 8GB of RAM for your server.
 
S

Shyatic

Platinum Member
Apr 5, 2004
2,164
34
91
PCTC2 said:
Aigo. I think I'm as crazy as you are. Between watercooling, workstations, and my servers, I've got a lot of CPU power at home. I ran out of space in my sig, but in addition to my dual E5520 server (which is my full production server) w/ the 6x 1.5TB disks in RAID 5 (LSI SAS2008 controller) on a SuperMicro X8DTH-6F GPU computer board w/ 24GB of RAM at home, I also have a dual E5504 server with 12GB of RAM on an Asus Z8NA-D6C board w/ a HighPoint RAID 5 with 8 2TB disks as my main storage server running Crashplan. Go big or go home Aigo. :p



Good choice. Good luck! I recommend getting either the Intel H57 miniITX or Gigabyte H55 miniITX boards with a Core i5-650 and 4 to 8GB of RAM for your server.
Click to expand...

I am going to use my Q6600 in that server (which is currently my main machine) and then upgrade my machine instead :)

This way I am getting a new desktop, and my server will be plenty fast as well.
 
PCTC2

PCTC2

Diamond Member
Feb 18, 2007
3,892
33
91
Scribe said:
I am going to use my Q6600 in that server (which is currently my main machine) and then upgrade my machine instead :)

This way I am getting a new desktop, and my server will be plenty fast as well.
Click to expand...

A Q6600 is a little hot and power hungry. It should be fine, but you might want to pick up a Kill-A-Watt Power Meter from amazon.com or your local fry's and make sure you're not going over 120W. My machines are all on the 45nm manufacturing node, so they use a little less power. So are you looking at the DG45FC for your server then?
 
S

Shyatic

Platinum Member
Apr 5, 2004
2,164
34
91
PCTC2 said:
A Q6600 is a little hot and power hungry. It should be fine, but you might want to pick up a Kill-A-Watt Power Meter from amazon.com or your local fry's and make sure you're not going over 120W. My machines are all on the 45nm manufacturing node, so they use a little less power. So are you looking at the DG45FC for your server then?
Click to expand...

That board looks good... I'm not 100% sure yet though, and I know the Q6600 is a little power hungry but it's also free if I cannibalize my old system, so I think that the cost works out :)

Worse comes to worse, I can upgrade the PSU in the Chenbro case, right? What size PSU is it, anyway?
 
PCTC2

PCTC2

Diamond Member
Feb 18, 2007
3,892
33
91
Scribe said:
That board looks good... I'm not 100% sure yet though, and I know the Q6600 is a little power hungry but it's also free if I cannibalize my old system, so I think that the cost works out :)

Worse comes to worse, I can upgrade the PSU in the Chenbro case, right? What size PSU is it, anyway?
Click to expand...

Proprietary. Most SFF cases use proprietary form-factor PSUs.
 
PCTC2

PCTC2

Diamond Member
Feb 18, 2007
3,892
33
91
Also, I should point out that the components on the mini ITX boards have maximum ratings such as current pull. The power that the Q6600 could be too much for a miniITX board. My Zotac G43 board can only use TDP 65W CPUs, which the Q6600 is a 95-100+W CPU. My Zotac board and E3300 CPU get really hot in my miniITX case. Imagine a Q6600. The newer 45nm/32nm processors will run much cooler.
 
S

Shyatic

Platinum Member
Apr 5, 2004
2,164
34
91
Then what CPU should I look to get, that offers me good power savings and good speed for my needs? I'm going to use it as a Win 2008 domain controller, NAS box, SQL development and team foundation server. The SQL work will be really light, as will most other functions but I need it to work reasonably well.
 
PCTC2

PCTC2

Diamond Member
Feb 18, 2007
3,892
33
91
Well, you could get something like a Core i5-650 with the Intel DH57JG board or if you want to keep your DDR2, look for something like an E8400 or Q8200S on the DG45FC.
 
WoodButcher

WoodButcher

Platinum Member
Mar 10, 2001
2,158
0
76
Is there any reason not to use your current rig as is for a nas box? use onboard vid or a low power card, use software for power savings and then build a new rig.

If mitx is an urge you have to build, this board, zotac GF9300 I-E will run your Q6600. Athough it is not on the compatible list I have a Q8400 running on it atm with 2 hard drive ( 200G notebook and a 1 TB 3.5") in this case. I've set this up for media center use but with large drives or maybe a PCIE card for additional sata ports this would be a fine server in the proper case.
 
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