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Yes, a gigabit card in the machine, an appropriate cable and a gigabit network hub.
NAS or a home server?
- Thread starter MichaelHo
- Start date
A home server, I run Windows home server, 5TB of drives with more to be added. I have a dual core athlon undervolted/underclocked to 900Mhz to save the power, streams my dvd collection just fine, stores my music, photo's and backs up all the pc's in the house.
Absolutely love it..
Absolutely love it..
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Made me think I might have got this wrong but I've just checked with a plugin power meter and it's running at idle at the moment at 153W so not quite 200 but still rather more than my NAS box.
Oh and it sounds like a hoover
Cheers
Richard
Intels are great, The Broadcom server range of PCI-E NIC's are fine too, that's what i've got in mine.
Soldato
I run an Intel PRO/1000 on my WHS. Excellent controller and get 70mb/s over the GB network. Handy for backing up PC's, serving media, and encoding DVD's wo H.264.
I bought most of mine B-Grade, and then filled it with IcyDock hard drive bays. Check the Home server pictures section. Mines the large one with 13 hot-swap bays
.
I bought most of mine B-Grade, and then filled it with IcyDock hard drive bays. Check the Home server pictures section. Mines the large one with 13 hot-swap bays
.
Soldato
Realteks aren't so bad either - it's what I've got between my PC and server.
TBH don't spend £££ on a faster NIC unless you're constantly transferring a lot of data.
Ok thanks for the info guys. .
In terms of backing up data, do you guys disconnect it from your network at all so if you get a virus on your main pc it can't be transmitted somehow to your home server destroying (potentially) all of your data?
I'm not sure how you'd go about 'protecting' it? - if there is any possibility.
.In terms of backing up data, do you guys disconnect it from your network at all so if you get a virus on your main pc it can't be transmitted somehow to your home server destroying (potentially) all of your data?
I'm not sure how you'd go about 'protecting' it? - if there is any possibility.
Soldato
I only have virus protection on my PCs.
I don't do anything (stupid) that would result in my PCs getting infected. It must work because I've only ever had one virus and that was about 10 years ago.
I don't do anything (stupid) that would result in my PCs getting infected. It must work because I've only ever had one virus and that was about 10 years ago.
Thanks for all the input guys, it's a really hard decision. Home server for better storage expandability and more unrestricted functions, but then a NAS for much reduced power consumption.
Keeping that I currently have a spare pc, spec of which is:
- AMD Athlon 3200+ (I think)
- 2 gig DDR ram
- Viper 500W psu.
Would I be able to use these components for the build? I'd ditch the case and motherboard as I'd want small form factor really. It's a good coolermaster as well :S
Re Nas I've narrowed it down to either the Netgear ReadyNas Duo or the Synology 209.
Would I be able to stream HD movies wirelessly at all? Or should I plan to have this system wired to the media player?
On a side note I've just manage to pick up a iomega 320gb portable HDD at one of the main supermarkets for a very good price! Sub £40. Will use this temporarily until I decide on what to do.
Keeping that I currently have a spare pc, spec of which is:
- AMD Athlon 3200+ (I think)
- 2 gig DDR ram
- Viper 500W psu.
Would I be able to use these components for the build? I'd ditch the case and motherboard as I'd want small form factor really. It's a good coolermaster as well :S
Re Nas I've narrowed it down to either the Netgear ReadyNas Duo or the Synology 209.
Would I be able to stream HD movies wirelessly at all? Or should I plan to have this system wired to the media player?
On a side note I've just manage to pick up a iomega 320gb portable HDD at one of the main supermarkets for a very good price! Sub £40. Will use this temporarily until I decide on what to do.
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Check the Home server pictures section. Mines the large one with 13 hot-swap bays
Did a quick search and can't find the thread! Please link me
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You will be able to stream standard def movies wirelessly on 801.11g but will probably need a 802.11n wireless net to get HD content. Wired would be the way to go if you can arrange the cabling. The server/nas is unlikely to be the limiting factor.
Cheers
Richard
So if wired is the best option would it be worth looking at building a HTPC that can also act as a home server? Just so that it can be kept near the TV, only need cable from router to HTPC.
Still not decided yet , I think I will spec up a home built server and see how much it cost to build a brand new one. It's been a few years since I've read up on components, what do you guys recommend? I know that Atom is highly thought off, how about options for PSU, RAM and Casing?
This is the sort of thing I want.
Do you know how much power it consumes (excluding monitor)?
Right now, my main PC in the lounge sucks up power. With my adsl router, water pump, hard disks, etc, it uses just over 200W. Main PC is on 24/7.
Ideally, what I would want is for the server to be lower power, on 24/7, so that I can switch on/off my main PC when necessary and not run it 24/7.
It kind of seems unnecessary to have a watercooled, overclocked PC on 24/7.
Right, but i'm assuming people protect their data more than just virus protection applications?
People have got Mirror Raid setups, so theres bound to be people here with home servers that have measures of protecting the data on their hard drives - trouble is I dont know what it is they use... hence my question
(i.e; certain write only access etc?)
lol, I've really thought about how much power computers suck until I've been researching this. Feel guilty about leaving it on overnight when doing nothing now!
Think I'm just going to go for a NAS, most likely the ReadyNas Duo but I will wait for reviews this new one by iomega, model is StorCenter ix2-200, just announced today I believe. Having a NAS running at around 30W 24/7 sounds much more green... man I'm getting old
Think I'm just going to go for a NAS, most likely the ReadyNas Duo but I will wait for reviews this new one by iomega, model is StorCenter ix2-200, just announced today I believe. Having a NAS running at around 30W 24/7 sounds much more green... man I'm getting old
But how many drives can the NAS hold and what is the cost?
I havent researched much, but my understanding that most NAS enclosures typically house 2 drives (which isn't enough) and they cost a lot, wiping out any savings on a person's electricity bill.
I havent researched much, but my understanding that most NAS enclosures typically house 2 drives (which isn't enough) and they cost a lot, wiping out any savings on a person's electricity bill.
Depends upon how many drives you need, a 4 or 5 bay NAS cost a bomb, £400-£500 and up. A 2 bay NAS is around £200 for a good one. The 2 bay NAS can hold up to a max of 4TB (2x 2TB drives) if there is no need for a mirrored RAID set up.
I would want to use my existing drives in it though. These consist of a mixture of 750gb, 500gb and 400gb drives. If I decide to buy 2TB drives, this adds to the cost, without increasing capacity. 2TB drives are disproportionately expensive and the sweetspot I believe is 1.5TB, as far as cost/GB goes.
Hence, 2 drive NAS is not worth it.
Of course, if you are rich, then thats a different story.
Hence, 2 drive NAS is not worth it.
Of course, if you are rich, then thats a different story.