New HTPC/Server Build - Recommend Changes!

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20 Jul 2011
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I currently have a few internal drives and a few external drives connected to an old server and looking to move it all inside a new htpc/server. So I am looking to spec a new htpc/server and need some recommendations.

Requirements
  • Storage - 15TB RAID 5 (12TB)
  • Quieter the better
  • Cheaper the better(-ish) I am not made of money lol
  • Lower power consumption the better
  • Windows 7

Usage
  • Streaming to AppleTV 2 XBMC (720P moving to 1080P occasionaly in the future) & TV of course through HDMI
  • Running two Windows 7 programs all the time the machine is on

Spec So Far
Case - £167 Lian Li PC-C60B HTPC Case
Motherboard - £180 Asus Z77 Sabertooth Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - Possible overkill for an HDMI out and SATA RAID on board
Processor - £96 Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor
Memory - Not Sure
Power Supply - Not Sure
HD (OS) - Already have a SATA drive for this
HD x 5 (Storage) - £130 each Seagate Barracuda 3TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache
SATA Controller Card - Was hoping to use the onboard RAID
Graphics Card - Was hoping to use the onboard HDMI
 
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Thanks

If I want to spend the extra money, do you see anything wrong with the case I picked as it will look better under the TV?

Also can you recommend a RAID Controller card? never purchased one, well except for a SCSI controller years ago.
 
Sorry one more question.

These days do controller cards have the ability to add drives on to a RAID5 setup, so if I purchase 3 drives this month and then purchase 2 next month? or is it just easier to set it all up with 5 drives in one go.
 
You want a LSI or Adaptec card. That has 2 SFF8087 connectors on it.
Thanks will do some investigation this evening.

If your current case is good enough and already under the TV why not move your storage to a HP Microsever. It's what I use along side a regular HTPC.
I currently have a Small Tower that will not hold all the drives.

The newzbin download and extracting all happens on a dedicated server which doesn't disrupt any TV viewing. And any tinkering on the server means any episodes of Eastenders don't get missed :)
I normally would pause Newsbin when I am about to watch anything so that shouldn't be a problem.
 
The reason i recommended the fractal is due to the fact that the cases are very quiet and have sound deading material all over as well as sound isolationg gromets on the HDD trays.
Yeah but it will look awful under my TV, any ideas for something black and holds 6 drives that has good sound isolation? or I could just add some sound proofing to the inside :/
 
Ok just an update for anyone who may look at this.

@jamesfreddie
I went for the Fractal case in the end. :)
Thanks for that. It has so much space for Hard Drives and also it's silent as fu...!

@Yamahahahahaha
After all the comments with hassle on the RAID side of things, I have taken a turn for the best and moved over to storage pool, using Drive Bender funnily enough.

Also I have a few more processes running and the machine can handle everything I throw at it. So thanks for all your help and one very happy person here.
 
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