Which motherboard for fileserver?

[ATWindsor]

I am rebuilding my fileserver and I need some tips conserning the motherboard. I'm planning for a capacity of 28-32 disks, I have at the moment one areca 16-port PCIe8x-controller, I might get anther one, or I might Just use software-raid for the 12 additional disks. If I use software-raid I would have to fit at least to cheap controller-cards into the mobo. I would also like to have the possibility to fit a neywork-card if needed (the speed on my fileserver now isn't so great for some reason). The server is used for windows-filesharing, normally accessed by 1-2 users.

So to summarise: The card should preferably have 4 PCIe-slots, with at least 2 beeing 8x or more. It is also extremly important that the PCIe16x-slots can handle cards that are not graphic-cards (read controller-cards)

Other features that are nice are:
As many sata-ports on the card as possible
A proper gbit-lan, preferably two.
VGA if possible, however i realise this is unlikly.

Single-socket atx-board is prefered.


Stability is important, I will not overclock, due to some bad experiences in the past, I'm pretty set on a intel-chipset. In the past I have mostly used ASUS but I'm open for other makers, as their last bords I have owned have failed to impress. I'm considering waiting for x38, but I'm unsure of the real benifits, and ddr3 is very expensive. Maybe a P35 or 975x is a good alternative?

These are some options I have dug up myself:

Asus P5K64 WS (P35)
Asus P5W64 WS Professional (975)
Gigabyte GA-P35-DQ6 (P35)

And the future:

Asus P5E64 WS (DDR2 x38).

Which seem ok, provided they actually support something else than graphic-cards in their 16x-slots, and Asus seems to insist on using marwell ethernet-controllers, wich I am not to happy about to be honest. But I am very open to other suggestions.

Slight on the side of the topic, I'm also open for suggestions concerning the OS (I'm at the moment palnning on using win2003 server) and CPU, do I have anything to gain from using quad-core for instance (if I'm going to run a software-raid in adition to the hardware one)

Thanks in advance for any input.

AtW

 

[tcsenter]

Possibly the underlying problem explaining your dissatisfaction is that you have selected the wrong tool for the job in the past, and based on your prospective choices, will again. You have chosen workstation boards for a bona fide server application.

I've seen some users on ASUS Forums have report problems with ARECA and other non-graphics PCI Express cards in the x16 slots of a few different workstation and enthusiast boards (among other problems).

You should be looking for a server board that is designed precisely for this very thing (e.g. Tyan or SuperMicro).

 

[ATWindsor]

Originally posted by: tcsenter
Possibly the underlying problem explaining your dissatisfaction is that you have selected the wrong tool for the job in the past, and based on your prospective choices, will again. You have chosen workstation boards for a bona fide server application.

I've seen some users on ASUS Forums have report problems with ARECA and other non-graphics PCI Express cards in the x16 slots of a few different workstation and enthusiast boards (among other problems).

You should be looking for a server board that is designed precisely for this very thing (e.g. Tyan or SuperMicro).

Well, not to go on a crazy rant here, but wasn't the whole point og PCIe to hav eone slot for all types of cards? Frankly I wish whoever is in charge of the standard would refuse to let mobo-makers label it as PCIe when its "locked" to only graphic-cards

But thanks for the advice, do you have any concrete products in mind? I have difficulity finding cards that meet my need, and is not a dual-socket-type.

AtW

 

[tcsenter]

You never know, the problem could be on ARECA's side of things (firmware or drivers), being that PCI-X has been the standard (still is) for server-class mass storage controllers while its PCI-E products are still relatively new.

As with PCI, its still up to the board makers to test their motherboards with a range of different controllers (and controller vendors to test their stuff in a range of different motherboards/chipsets). That will never change.

 

[ATWindsor]

Originally posted by: tcsenter
You never know, the problem could be on ARECA's side of things (firmware or drivers), being that PCI-X has been the standard (still is) for server-class mass storage controllers while its PCI-E products are still relatively new.

As with PCI, its still up to the board makers to test their motherboards with a range of different controllers (and controller vendors to test their stuff in a range of different motherboards/chipsets). That will never change.

THat might be, but I have no reason to suspect that at this moment, all I know is that quite a few mobos only support a graphic-card in their 16x-slots. And I want to get a mobo wich supports other types of cards.

AtW

 

[Indyboy2]

I have a p5w-dh with a 8800 gtx in one slot and a 3ware 9650se in the other with no problems at all