Dirt cheap web/fileserver spec please

Khrest · 4 Jul 2007 at 20:06

I'm after something to use as a web/fileserver that will run 24/7. So I'd like quiet, low power consumption and fast enough to stream video and media to my XBMC downstairs.

No monitor, key or mouse required as I will access it remotely. Needs to have room for a TV card at some point.

What's the best price I can get 500gb min of storage for?

Will_3rd · 4 Jul 2007 at 22:36

Samsung SH-S183ABEBN 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer Serial ATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.50
(£19.39) £16.50
(£19.39)
Intel Core 2 Duo E2140 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.60GHz (800FSB) - Retail Intel Core 2 Duo E2140 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.60GHz (800FSB) - Retail £45.99
(£54.04) £45.99
(£54.04)
Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB 5000AAKS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB 5000AAKS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM £52.99
(£62.26) £52.99
(£62.26)
Asrock 4CoreDual-VSTA (Socket 775) PCI-Express/AGP DDR2 Motherboard Asrock 4CoreDual-VSTA (Socket 775) PCI-Express/AGP DDR2 Motherboard £39.99
(£46.99) £39.99
(£46.99)
Antec NSK4400 Mini Tower Case - 380W SmartPower PSU Antec NSK4400 Mini Tower Case - 380W SmartPower PSU £39.99
(£46.99) £39.99
(£46.99)
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C5 800MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400DC) GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C5 800MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400DC) £45.99
(£54.04) £45.99
(£54.04)
Asus GeForce EN7300GS-HTD 256MB DDR2 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail Asus GeForce EN7300GS-HTD 256MB DDR2 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £32.99
(£38.76) £32.99
(£38.76)
Sub Total : £274.44
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £49.94
Total : £335.33

jammir · 4 Jul 2007 at 22:50

Samsung SH-S182D 18x18 DVD±RW ReWriter (Black) - OEM £12.99
(£15.26) £12.99
(£15.26)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB ST3500630AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM £56.99
(£66.96) £56.99
(£66.96)
Antec NSK4400 Mini Tower Case - 380W SmartPower PSU £39.99
(£46.99) £39.99
(£46.99)
Crucial 1GB (2x512MB) DDR2 PC2-4200C4 Dual Channel Kit (CT2KIT6464AA53E) £23.99
(£28.19) £23.99
(£28.19)
Abit IP-95 Micro ATX (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £31.99
(£37.59) £31.99
(£37.59)
Intel Celeron D 326 2.53GHz (LGA775) - Retail £20.99
(£24.66) £20.99
(£24.66)
Sub Total : £186.94
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £34.46
Total : £231.35

i dont think you need a vga card or a c2d for a file server as i have 2 which are much lower spec then this and run fine

Khrest · 4 Jul 2007 at 22:58

Nice one jammir.

Just thinking it through tho, I cant install the OS without a VGA card, unless I'm missing something obvious (highly possible!).

Also, is the Celery going to be fast enough for video streaming? My Dad had one in his PC a year ago and I couldn't believe how slow it was just at general desktop stuff.

paradigm · 4 Jul 2007 at 23:22

Khrest said:
Just thinking it through tho, I cant install the OS without a VGA card, unless I'm missing something obvious (highly possible!).

Onboard VGA on the motherboard. Crap for anything other than basic 2D, but fine for what you need it for.

Khrest said:
Also, is the Celery going to be fast enough for video streaming? My Dad had one in his PC a year ago and I couldn't believe how slow it was just at general desktop stuff.

If all you are doing is streaming to another device that will be doing the playback and rendering, all you need is a fast LAN connection and fast disks, the processor will be doing minimal work.

Khrest · 4 Jul 2007 at 23:27

Looking good. Other option I suppose is to get a NAS but they seem to be at least half the price of these specs and not all support >4gb files ...

paradigm · 4 Jul 2007 at 23:30

Just so you are aware, my current server, which runs Windows Server 2003, Exchange Server 2003, Three websites on IIS, my Active Directory Domain, and a file server is a P3-700 with 512MB RAM.

Specs for low load servers don't have to be huge.

Khrest · 4 Jul 2007 at 23:54

Sounds good, thanks for the intel.

jammir · 5 Jul 2007 at 02:43

the spec above will do what you want with no probs you could even cut the ram to 512mb and get rid of the optical drive maybe use one from another pc just for os install

here is a link to one of my fileservers

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17247892&page=9&postcount=244

much lower spec and does everything i want i also have another one which is only a PIII 600, 256mb ram i used to use that as fileserver now as a triple WAN router