NAS/Download Box

Conrad11

Conrad11

Conrad11

Soldato
Joined
12 Jun 2005
Posts
5,361
Hi there,

I am looking to create a Mini-ITX system that will primarily be used as a NAS but also as a download box for downloading from rapidshare (I'm a premium user).

I am looking for something that will maximize the throughput of my LAN (Gigabit router & Wireless-N)...so I am looking to get around 37.5MB/s or thereabouts read/write (Wireless-N)

I have already got the drivers (they will be RAID 1) Samsung F2 5400rpm 1TB drives.

Is what I am after possible?

I have been looking at the FreeNAS software, is it any good for this type of thing?

Thanks.
 
There are external hard drives built for this sort of thing, admittedly quite a bit more expensive than normal external ones, but much cheaper than a whole system. Though if you already have the HDD's, I don't really know what to recommend :P
 
Freenas or ubuntu server with the desktop version installed ontop would be the way to go with this type of thing.

I have been trying for the past week to get the desktop version to run headless ( no monitor attached) and it will not play ball on reboot so only real solution is the above.

Freenas was what I will try and play around with next, not sure it goes quite far enough for me as I like the functionality of a full operating system gives.

Depends if flexible functionality to integrity matters. If all it will do is download from rapid share then get freenas on it as I assume it has a downloader you can get it to work for you.

Also I have a dual core atom 330 setup with 2 gig ram (complete overkill but it was cheap) and it has been performing really well. No real slow down unless you start getting into heavy downloads/reprocessing via sabnzbd whilst doing other things which it can become slow with. Good data rates and no other issues.
 
I always thought that the external NAS boxes are a bit dodgy when it comes to read/write speeds which is why I am going the server route. Also, going the server route is a lot more flexible.

See I already have my hard drives, I have an 80W silent PSU. Just need to get mini itx motherboard, ram and a case that will take 2 hard drives.

My only issue will be noise. I would like no moving parts when the hard drives aren't being accessed so would have to sort out suspend and WOL but how reliable is WOL these days....I hear stray packets can wake the computer sometimes when it doesn't even need to be woken....I would also like it to be relatively quick to Wake so I can access the files quickly. (Also for it to sleep after 10 mins of inactivity)

Does FreeNas index the files that are shared so that after its Woke on LAN I can still see the files that are shared even (whilst the hard drives are spinning up).
 
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That would be a good question to ask their forum to be honest, I do not know that much about it and so would advise asking direct.

I would expect you to try a single core atom setup so as to reduce heat. Then stick it in a IN-WIN case eg:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-006-OP&groupid=701&catid=209&subcat=1415

I use that one and it takes two 3.5" drives + a 2.5" and a slim optical. Your biggest issue will be running out of sata ports fast, unless you only use two HDD and one IDE slim optical, or some other converter.

I would look around for all the different variations on the atom board unless you want something with more power, this will then need more cooling.

I have heard of people using the atom boards with no fans on any of the parts and just a slow moving 80 or 120 mm fan on the case providing the cooling and not having an issue. I would advise changing the fan on that inwin case as the one it comes with is not quiet by any standard!
 
I heard the board uses a desktop chipset and that uses 35W alone....thats why I wanted to check.

Anyways, ordered a Case, RAM and that board and we'll see what happens when I put it together.
 
Let me know how you get on as I want to get the exact same board / setup.

Out of interest were you tempted / thinking about getting the Ion Atom motherboard combo ?

It's like an extra £100 !! But has like more SATA ports / 2 DDR slots and better chipset. As i'm not sure which I should go for ....
 
The whole idea for me was the get something really cheap that does a decent job.

That board fitted the bill perfectly as it was less than 60pounds, had gigabit ethernet port (important for me) and had 2 sata ports for my drives. The fact it has only one ddr2 slot was not an issue for me as I got a 2gb stick for just over 16pounds.

The board and ram will be moree than enough to run a desktop version of ubuntu if I wanted to and would be able to download and dserve my media at the maximum throughput.

...I didn't really contemplate the ion board because it was too expensive for my build and I didn't need the extra features it boasted, but the fact it is lower powered and completely passive does make it quite appealing in hindsight.

When I get the hardware I will create a build log. I managed to get the board, 2gb ram and case (with psu) for just over 110 delivered brand new which I think is fantastic value. I won't actually be using the psu the case came with though (ill be using the silent one I have)
 
Thanks, be good to know how you get with your box. I'm planning to install Windows home server just to make the most of the way it stores files and duplicates.

Think you've sold me on the much cheaper Intel one, £60 compared to approx £160 is a big difference for what is very little gain. I was sad enough to look at the difference in power and it's soo little, like 15 watts to worry to much about it.
 
ubuntu desktop should run fine without the monitor, my home server is made up like this.

install webmin for powerful remote administration of the system. after this you won't even need to use the monitor. you can also consider remote desktop access (autologon needs to be enabled first).

if your server is close by to your main desktop computer or something also consider using a kvm switch.
 
Could I just ask how you set-up your ubuntu desktop to start without a monitor attached?

Mine will just error about low graphics mode and fail to boot to a screen so I can ssh or vnc in to control it.
 
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i used a crt connected to my server when i set it up and just yanked it out and it worked fine.
i am presuming you are using tft which xorg tries to configure automatically when first installed. when you pull the monitor out xorg cannot find the monitor and falls back to low graphics mode in case there is a problem, so xorg needs to be reconfigured

remember to set up autologin too otherwise it will sit at the login screen and you wont be able to ssh or vnc to it.

this post at ubuntu forums would help you:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=4161032&postcount=9

the rest of the thread is here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=618965
 
install webmin for powerful remote administration of the system. after this you won't even need to use the monitor. you can also consider remote desktop access (autologon needs to be enabled first).
Click to expand...

If you have more than one Linux machine, you can also use XDMCP to remotely login. You'll barely notice that you're running on a remote machine.
 
I just use ssh and have the server set-up with AFP so its auto mounted on my MBP.

Atom 330 working great with ubuntu. Takes a while to set-up if your a linux noob like me, but worth it in the end!
 
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