Selecting components for home-based RAID 5 server

[RLymburner]

I want to build a box centered around a large Raid 5 array which will serve to backup computers at my home. My primary computers are a corporate laptop and another workstation (games/video editing) running Raid 0, so I want to offload data from those systems for peace-of-mind.

Priority: (1) Dependable, (2) Budget <$800, (3) Speed

Expansion: Although I do not have gigabit (wireless) right now, I assume that it will be available in the next 2-3 years(?) In the meantime, big bottleneck is wireless G router. Even if I had gigabit netowork access - would this remain the primary bottleneck? If so, the hardware specs should reflect that.

RAID card: Looks like I'm going to drop ~$200 on a decent card. Do I target PCI-X? Assume SATA due to cost saving over SCSI.
CPU: AMD/Intel preference here? Raid cards have processing on board - right?
Motherboard: Do bus speeds matter here? Anything I should consider?
Hard drives: Does it matter if they have onboard buffer? (8/16 meg?) Assume I'll get 3 large (250/300 meg) SATA drives on the cheap.
Power Supply: Assume 3-4 hard drives - what size power supply is needed?
OS: Going with XP here, sorry, no time to tinker with Linux.
RAM: Do I need more than 512 meg?

Alternatives: Do I consider RAID 1 on the mobo instead for additional cost saving? Hurts expansion doesn't it? Should I consider software RAID 5 (remember XP) knowing bottleneck is network?

Anything I'm overlooking?

 

[RLymburner]

Ya know? my mobo knowledge is a bit "aged" and it took me all of 1 google search to find an Asus motherboard (Asus K8N-E Deluxe Socket754 ATX) that has onboard RAID 5 (SATA) and all the bells and whistles for < $100. GigE, USB 2, Firewire, AGP8x, etc. Thus, no need for an expensive controller card.

mobo, cpu, ram --> $200
tower & power supply --> $200
video card --> $25
hard drives --> $300

So this is doable right? Do I just simply order that motherboard (or similar), tower, RAM, CPU from NewEgg and let them configure it? then add the RAID drives later?

 

[Ayah]

For anything above 100MB/sec (Yes, PCI's theoretical speed is 133MB/sec, but doubt you'd hit it), you want PCI-X or something faster.
With PCI-X, you're looking at increased motherboard cost too.

You want a hardware RAID card most likely, to offload work from your CPU.
If you're going cheap, just use a motherboard with onboard raid.

Your second plan is doable. You could drop the cost of the case by going with something like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129155
It's the Antec Sonata II, it comes with a 450W PSU from Antec of course, and should be more than sufficient to power your stuff.

For networking speed, you want gigabit. Nowadays, it's cheap and affordable for the home user.

 

[Ayah]

Originally posted by: RLymburner
Ya know? my mobo knowledge is a bit "aged" and it took me all of 1 google search to find an Asus motherboard (Asus K8N-E Deluxe Socket754 ATX) that has onboard RAID 5 (SATA) and all the bells and whistles for < $100. GigE, USB 2, Firewire, AGP8x, etc. Thus, no need for an expensive controller card.

mobo, cpu, ram --> $200
tower & power supply --> $200
video card --> $25
hard drives --> $300

So this is doable right? Do I just simply order that motherboard (or similar), tower, RAM, CPU from NewEgg and let them configure it? then add the RAID drives later?

As long as you don't use the rig for something else, it'll be fine as the CPU will be handling all the workload. You'll probably want 512MB-1GB of ram, but no use going over that.

 

[RLymburner]

Thanks Ayah - going with onboard RAID looks like best option (cost-concious) and I just need to target other components now. That case/PS combo looks great, will have to keep eyes peeled for similar if I pull the trigger on this. If this is to be a dedicated drive share, what suggestion for CPU requirement? Also - do I need buffered hard drives?