file server

[stuartam]

hi,
currently i have a "server" box, well its really a desktop gigabyte motherboard with 8 onboard sata ports (7 filled)
its about 3 years old now can anyone recomend a replacement board, idealy i would like a motherboard with more than 8 sata ports

i currently have

sata

4x300gb, 3x250gb

pata

80gb, 120gb hdds

but want to add in some extra sata drives

any ideas

oh ps im currently running windows xp pro but wouldnt mind trying linux and dont mind building it from parts ( more fun that pre-built )

thanks

 

[atomiser]

if it were me i would be looking at replacing those drives with some terrabyte ones in a redundant array, with a decent backup schedule for the really important stuff.

 

[iraiguana]

Have a look at free nas for operating system, sounds like it would be what you are after.

 

[BillytheImpaler]

Consider OpenSolaris with ZFS/raidz to manage the disks. There are a couple of lengthy threads on the matter in the Linux forum at the moment. FreeNAS is a bit restrictive if you want to use the rig for some other purpose in addition to simply serving files.

 

[PistolPete]

idealy i would like a motherboard with more than 8 sata ports

Good luck with that. If there are boards with more than 8 (Most I've seen is 6 so you've done well to get 8) they'd be hard to come by.

What's you budget? For about £230 you could get an Asus P5K W/S (with 1x PCI-X slot) and an Adaptec AAR 21610SA PCI-X 16 port SATA Controller.
It's the way I intend to go in the next couple of months.

 

[mangobreeder]

you onhave about 2.7 terabytes there,

Pick up 3 terabyte spinPoints (£240), then you have 5 free ports