Building Home Server - help required

Logan09

Logan09

Logan09

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20 Oct 2004
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Rainford, nr St Helens
I am planning to build a home file server (have been putting it off for ages). Gonna stick Linux (probably Ubuntu) on it. Just got a few questions:

1) I want to use SATA HDDs in either Raid 1 or Raid 5 configuration. Plan on having 2 HDD's initially, but that will grow over time. Am I best getting a newer mobo (and processor) that supports SATA, or getting an add-in SATA card for a cheap old PII/III mobo/CPU?

2) I also want gigabit LAN. With the extra cost of adding a gigabit LAN card & SATA Raid controller to a cheap old mobo/CPU combo, would it be cheaper to just buy a newer mobo & CPU that supports gigabit LAN & SATA Raid?

Appreciate your input. Thanks.

Edit: If anyone could spec me a mobo/CPU combo (& add-in cards if necessary) to support gigabit LAN and 4 SATA connections with RAID (1 or preferably 5) that would be great.
 
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I reakon very few knowlegeable peeps here on linux (may be wrong....sorry), but ive read enough probs guys are having with new setups and advise that u try find most compatible setup for linux as u dont need a screamer pc.
 
Most home servers are made up from all the old bits left over after upgrades. Mine certainly is.

Depends on your budget, and what you already have IMO.
 
Not sure if you're aware, but you mention starting with 2 drives; this will limit you to Raid 1 (mirroring) or Raid 0 (striping), as Raid 5 requires a minimum of 3.

Whether its worth buying a new mobo / cpu depends on what bits you've already got - you'll struggle to find a motherboard with both AGP (assuming that you haven't got a spare PCI-express card) and Raid 5 support.

Onboard Raid 5 isn't on most of the lower-end motherboards, I found an MSI one for about £75, but there might be a cheaper one hiding away somewhere MSI K9N Platinum nForce 570 (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-070-MS). You'll need to add a new cpu / ram / gfx.


Looking around on OCUK, a 4 port SATA raid 5 card is gonna set you back about £75... Highpoint Rocket RAID 1640 4-Port SATA RAID 5 Host Adapter

Can't find a Gigabit Nic on OCUK, but they're about £15ish.

So it looks like the expansion cards are the cheaper option.
 
Ok. Cheers guys. I'm thinking it'd be cheaper to get a cheap old PII/PIII system off that auction site and buy a SATA Raid controller & gigabit LAN card to go in there, rather than build a whole new PC.
 
Same as above, my server is made up of old gear with an added in network card and raid card (or two). Much better. I would never think of new gear for such a mundane task :p
 
Got to agree with the guys above. I always use old kit for things like that, you just don't need the power in a home server.
 
have to say actually my fileserver has gone from a pentium III 1ghz up to an amd 2500 now. Its still a cheep old computer I had spare. Basically its only because I want the server to be a games server occasionally too.
 
YUp, siding with the rest...my homeserver is actually a dual athlon mp 1600+ machine with ECC reg memory, but that's another story.
New server is old main pc....so I re-use the parts.
Most new Linux distributions are easy to setup and get running, it's afterwards that you may run into problems...

Enjoy it, having a server is great if you use it :-)
 
That motherboard is a good base (onboard gfx), but it's still gonna be about £200 for the minimum compontents:

Asus M2NPV-VM Micro ATX (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-145-AS) £49.99
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 1.80GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail (CP-162-AM) £44.99
GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX21GB5300DC) (MY-030-GL) £69.99
Subtotal £164.97
VAT £28.87
Total £193.84
 
Yeah, old parts looks like te the best bet. I was just curious if for the price of the Raid card & NIC you could get the equivalent functions in a newer CPU/Mobo/Memory bundle. Looks like the answer's no.
 
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