New Build! File-server/Media-Server

BOT#00001

BOT#00001

Registered User
Joined
Jan 3, 2008
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43
Well it's been a long time coming. I have too much data and not enough megs. Been wanting to create a dedicated server for a long time with RAID. Something I have NO experience with. I kinda wanna try linux, but I might just go windows 7 x64 because Im not comfortable enough with Linux, let alone trying to setup RAID for the first time. Hopefully someone on here is an expert with RAID and can give me a few tips. I've kind of settled on 10 I think. I like the redundancy of it over 5 and it has higher read times. I won't be writing to the fileserver a ton so thats not a worry. Anyways here is the build thus far. I'm filling in parts as I go and will update this thread (if anyone cares lol). This box will act as a server to stream video/audio to my HTPC and other machines. It will also store the bulk of my data from my primary box to offload some of the megs.

I'm creating two builds, one Intel and one AMD to compare the price/power usage/heat/performance.



Case:

Fractal Design Define R3 Midtower Case - $124.98

Fractal-Design-R3-5-l.jpg


Case Fans:

Scythe SY1225SL12L (4x) - $10.99(x4)

SY-1042-1.jpg


PSU:

SeaSonic X750 Gold - $119.99(awesome one night deal, bought already)

173422_screenshot2012_04_23at7_21_45pm.png


Hard Drives:

Seagate Barracuda 7200 3 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb/s ST3000DM001 (4x) - $164.99(x4)

_DSC5630.jpg



Now is when they start differing

Intel:

Mobo:

Unknown: Have a few in mind, but will depend on what I learn about RAID. Looking for one with either integrated mobo vid, or integrated CPU vid(depending on which is cooler, just needs to be able to view the OS no gaming or anything graphically intensive). I def want pci 3.0 for raid cards if i need them. USB 3.0 on the outside at least a port or 2. Esata would be nice too. As many SATA 3 ports as possible)dunno if ill be using those or onboard sata) I plan on expanding to 8 HD's possibly at some point.
Heres one of the ones I found so far:

ASRock Z77 Professional LGA 1155

ASRock-to-Unveil-Z77-Fatal1ty-Professional-Ivy-Bridge-Motherboard-at-CeBIT-2012.jpg
- $229.99

CPU:

Intel Pentium G630T Sandy Bridge 2.3GHz - $84.99

CPU-INL-BX80623G_.jpg


RAM:
Havn't bothered yet, should be easy once I have the mobo locked down. Gonna go with a single 2 gig stick prolly, MAYBE 2x 2 gigs

CPU Cooler:

Havnt looked that hard yet. Trying to keep everything at around 12 dba, so I may get a big heatsink and take the fan off to see how she runs. The processor is only running at 35W i believe anyways.


AMD

Mobo:

Again, not locked in yet. Depends on RAID research. The integrated graphics CPUs seem to be limited to FM1 chipset and a min of 65W. This severely limits the choices in mobos. If I went AMD (leaning intel) Id prolly go with mobo integrated graphics. One I'm looking at:

ASUS M5A88-V EVO AM3+ - $114.99

m5a88vevo.png


CPU:

No idea yet.


CPU Cooler and RAM are the same as above.




As for the RAID questions I had...here goes:

I'm still torn between using hardware vs software though. Mainly the implementation of each.

If I go software:
Do I only use the SATA III ports and ignore any slower ports?
Do I also ignore any onboard SATA RAID ports?
If the SATA III ports on the mobo I choose are spread between two onboard controllers, does that cause an issue?

And if i go hardware:
Again, should I use the onboard SATA RAID ports?
If i do use those onboard raid ports, are they separate from any raid controller I add via pci
If i add multiple controllers via pci, are they independent of each other as well?
Does the speed of the PCI slot bottleneck the controllers at all?
If there are onboard RAID ports, with 2x on SATA III(@6 Gb/s) and 4x SATA II (@3Gb/s) will the speed difference cause any issues?

Also what are some good software solutions for RAID?

I Know I should put linux on this box..but with my unfamiliarity with RAID AND linux at the same time..I think it would be too tall of a hill to climb.
Prolly will just stick with Win 7 x64 Ultimate.
 
Besides getting two gigs worth. Are you gonna get the highest speed the board can handle to help with the data transfer speed.
 
ErikStenger said:
Besides getting two gigs worth. Are you gonna get the highest speed the board can handle to help with the data transfer speed.
Click to expand...

I was gonna get fast ram, wasnt planning on getting the fastest. But since you mentioned that now I shall. Do the latencey numbers matter too? Or just the raw speed?
 
For CPUs & motherboards--don't bother with P67/Z67/Z75/Z77 unless you're getting a K-edition CPU. Look at H61/H67/B75/H77 instead for a low-wattage CPU. And for AMD, also consider FM1.

When you're looking at RAM, look for a low-voltage kit--1.25v or 1.35v.
 
Bobsama said:
For CPUs & motherboards--don't bother with P67/Z67/Z75/Z77 unless you're getting a K-edition CPU. Look at H61/H67/B75/H77 instead for a low-wattage CPU. And for AMD, also consider FM1.

When you're looking at RAM, look for a low-voltage kit--1.25v or 1.35v.
Click to expand...

Why bother with a K edition? I dont need to overclock. And the problem I have with the FM1 is that the choice in Mobos is severely limited.
 
That's what I'm saying--either kick the overclocking board or kick the non-overclockable CPU. It's money wasted in purchase and operation. Lower-end boards are typically more power efficient. FM1 motherboards biggest limitation is RAID5 support--wherein comes a piece of advice I forgot before. Find a real RAID card (if you want RAID5).
 
Bobsama said:
That's what I'm saying--either kick the overclocking board or kick the non-overclockable CPU. It's money wasted in purchase and operation. Lower-end boards are typically more power efficient. FM1 motherboards biggest limitation is RAID5 support--wherein comes a piece of advice I forgot before. Find a real RAID card (if you want RAID5).
Click to expand...

The thing is, those overclocker boards fall into the category of enthusiast boards. And since they are enthusiast boards, they are also the ones that have the extra features and pipelines. While I wont be using the overclocking aspects(at least not now), i will most certainly be using multiple PCI Express x16 slots (fast as possible for the RAID controller cards if i get them), as many SATA III ports as possible(so i can hit 8 hard drives) to keep the speed maxed out, extra USB 3.0 slots so I can plug in external storage to do uploads when needed, ESata for similar reasons, and onboard video(or the architecture to allow for on-cpu video) so i can eliminate the need for a discrete video card. I dont mind spending a bit extra to have a machine that will be future proofed.

And as far as getting controller cards..from what I was reading, unless the card has its own onboard RAM then it's "fakeraid" just like mobo RAID is fakeraid. The ones i was looking at that have their own RAM are sitting at $600+ :(
 
Rigdonian said:
If your going for storage and file server, then stay away from building a comp all together. Instead take a look at NAS ( Network access storage) By time your done building a comp you would have spent less on a NAS. And a NAS will use a lot less power. We use these QNAP NAS right here in Kuwait.

Newegg.com - QNAP TS-419PII-US Diskless System All-in-one NAS for Home & SOHO Cloud-ready with Superior Performance
22-107-077-TS
Click to expand...

Trust me, that was the first thing I looked into. But the more I looked into it, the more it seemed like a dedicated server was a better option. For one, I wanted expandibility. 4 drives wouldn't last me too long especially considering you lose some in most RAID. RAID 10, if i do it, means I only get 6tb of the 12 I plan on puttin there. So that NAS you showed me doesn't have that expandibility, not to mention the specs of the NAS boxes are much less than a similarly price PC. Cost/benefit ratio for me just isnt there.

Oh plus I alreaydyordered the PSU. 40 bucks off for one day only...couldnt resist. Its the PSU I would have gotten anyways if I had money to blow so it worked out.
 
Supra said:
Im saving you a big headache and a lot of money, unless that thing is going to bring you revenue.. its a waste of money.
Click to expand...

Considering my career field is Information Technology, every project I do is a chance for training. Working with RAID, servers, and possibly linux to admin this box will all help augment my skillsets. Not to mention, it's something I use every day. All my media needs to be stored somewhere. I already have an old gaming machine acting as a slapped together file server but it runs extremely hot and is very limited in space, not to mention loud as hell. So no, this isnt a "headache" and to me its an investment, not a waste of money. Does everything you spend money on bring in revenue?
 
BOT#00001 said:
The thing is, those overclocker boards fall into the category of enthusiast boards. And since they are enthusiast boards, they are also the ones that have the extra features and pipelines. While I wont be using the overclocking aspects(at least not now), i will most certainly be using multiple PCI Express x16 slots (fast as possible for the RAID controller cards if i get them), as many SATA III ports as possible(so i can hit 8 hard drives) to keep the speed maxed out, extra USB 3.0 slots so I can plug in external storage to do uploads when needed, ESata for similar reasons, and onboard video(or the architecture to allow for on-cpu video) so i can eliminate the need for a discrete video card. I dont mind spending a bit extra to have a machine that will be future proofed.

And as far as getting controller cards..from what I was reading, unless the card has its own onboard RAM then it's "fakeraid" just like mobo RAID is fakeraid. The ones i was looking at that have their own RAM are sitting at $600+ :(
Click to expand...

There are lower-end boards with multiple PCI-E x4+ slots. Many boards have a 3.0 x16 slot & 2.0 x4 slot. Also double-check the board's website--some implement an Ivy Bridge-only PCI-E slot (since the IB chips provide more PCI-E lanes than SB). Anyways, IGP is a part of low-end boards, RAID is part of low-end and mid-range boards (so long as you don't buy H61), eSATA and the like can be provided by add-in cards. It ultimately depends on how many PCI-E slots you plan to use. One would think one RAID controller and perhaps an eSATA controller. 7-series chipsets provide 4 USB 3.0 slots too.
 
If I were building a file server, I'd probably just go with some really really low-end things. Don't need much CPU or memory on it, unless you're going to be running some kind of transcoding or game servers or something.

Maybe even look at previous-gen parts if you can find them cheap (e.g. on ebay)...

As far as RAID goes, I've heard (haven't done it) that it's kind of a bitch to rebuild if something fails, but then again I'm not sure at all.

Edit: BTW these things are really really sweet, and EXTREMELY expensive... lol. My roommate wanted to buy one of them (the cheapest) but never did. http://www.drobostore.com/
 
HeatSurge said:
If I were building a file server, I'd probably just go with some really really low-end things. Don't need much CPU or memory on it, unless you're going to be running some kind of transcoding or game servers or something.

Maybe even look at previous-gen parts if you can find them cheap (e.g. on ebay)...
Click to expand...

Unfortunately Bot doesn't do anything too small lol. Honestly if it were me since he has an HTPC I probably would have built the HTPC to handle this duty. It would be a bit nosier but the overall efficiency of my entire operation would be up.
 
RainMotorsports said:
Unfortunately Bot doesn't do anything too small lol. Honestly if it were me since he has an HTPC I probably would have built the HTPC to handle this duty. It would be a bit nosier but the overall efficiency of my entire operation would be up.
Click to expand...

Lol well yah. Go big or go home. The HTPC was built to be so small that it just became sort of a sattelite thing in my eyes. I WAS just gonna put some more hard drives into it, but I figured hey...this would be a learning experience.
 
Well, BOT. I can tell you, having done this for 13 years, a dedicated server is worth it if your trying to rock an exchange box. However a NAS as a simple file server is your best option.

So 4 drives is not enough? QNAP offers from 1 bay to 10 bays. And I'm not sure what you mean expandability? There are 4TB drives hitting the market now. So in 3 years when the drives start losing their UMP, we will probably see 6 or 8TB drives by then.

I'm just sharing some advice with you, by all means build anything and everything you can for experience reasons. \m/
 
Rigdonian said:
Well, BOT. I can tell you, having done this for 13 years, a dedicated server is worth it if your trying to rock an exchange box. However a NAS as a simple file server is your best option.

So 4 drives is not enough? QNAP offers from 1 bay to 10 bays. And I'm not sure what you mean expandability? There are 4TB drives hitting the market now. So in 3 years when the drives start losing their UMP, we will probably see 6 or 8TB drives by then.

I'm just sharing some advice with you, by all means build anything and everything you can for experience reasons. \m/
Click to expand...


Oh I'm taking it all in. I'm loving all the information and you guys have some great points. I may still try a NAS at some point just to play around with. By expandibility, I meant more that in the future when I add more, the 3TB drives will be even cheaper, so expanding wont hurt the bank account as much. And as far as the box being overkill, well, yah it definitely is lol. But it also gives me the ability to play around with some stuff later on, like an exchange server, just as a proof of concept. I have a feeling once I start going to RIT, I'll be testing out stuff like this in class and it would be nice to have a working model at home.
Oh and any of the NAS boxes that started gettin higher than 4 drives, that were also given decent reviews, tended to start costing in the 800-900 range....thats why I was like screw it, ill just build a computer for the same price lol.
 
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