Small home server check

Col_M

Col_M

Col_M

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We're currently on the verge of filling the ~500Gb of storage we have right now and I've been looking at getting a home server. The main uses would be file storage, backing up networked computers, print sharing, streaming audio/HD video over the network and downloading. The primary constraints are price, power consumption, size and flexibility in that approximate order.

A full sized box is out of the question due to size and power consumption, a NAS isn't ideal either as consumer ones aren't that fast, I'm not sure if they can print share and adding functionality is limited too.

So.....what I'm thinking of is getting a little Asus Eee Box B202 and attaching an old USB enclosure to it with a new 1Tb drive in, we could then simply add enclosures and drives as needed. Because the Eee box runs windows or Linux it's flexible and it only uses about 20W so being on 24/7 would only cost £35 a year (20/1000)*24*365*0.2 (kW*hours*days*£/kwh) plus whatever the HDD enclosure uses. It's also really small so can be tucked out of the way and has gigabit ethernet (USB enclosure will be the limiting factor but that's still ~4.8 times the speed of 100 megabit ethernet which is fine for HD video).

So according to my limited knowledge it seems an ideal solution, what do the experts think?
 
Its only got 2 USB ports, unless you intend to Hub them.
My Windows Home Server uses approx 65W and thats an AMD X2-6000+ with 2Gb ram and 3 500gb hard drives. All running under an 380W Antec Earthwatts.
 
PhillyDee said:
Its only got 2 USB ports, unless you intend to Hub them.
My Windows Home Server uses approx 65W and thats an AMD X2-6000+ with 2Gb ram and 3 500gb hard drives. All running under an 380W Antec Earthwatts.
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It's got 4, 2 under the front panel and 2 on the back, once it's set up I'm planning to use remote desktop or VNC on my main PC to administer it, so won't need a kb/mouse :)

I appreciate the benefits of a component system and ideally I'd build one but we don't really have any space to hide even a micro ATX box, the eee has all we need in a tiny package, anything else would be overkill I think. The only thing I don't like abut this setup is HDDs in an USB external enclosure(s) but I can live with that :)
 
I see one potential problem and that's longevity. The Eee is not intended to run 24/7. What about an older shuttle ? You can pick them up for very little and they will have internal storage options (2 x 3.5" + 1 x 5.25"). Size wise it's a valid option in comparison to a load of externals and an Eee, power wise it's going to be similar and asthetically cleaner with greater flexability.
 
Avalon said:
I see one potential problem and that's longevity. The Eee is not intended to run 24/7.
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True, it isn't intended to but that doesn't really mean it can't. Heat would be my main concern but it's fan cooled and the power brick is external, I'm willing to give it a try.

That could be irrelevant though, I just looked and Shuttle should be releasing an Atom based desktop too called the X27, it seems you can install a slimline optical drive, it's meant to cheaper than the eee and it has 2 internal SATA connectors. Using SATA-eSATA cables I guess you can poke them through the blanking plate at the rear and could use external enclosures without the limitations of USB. I may wait for this rather than the eee box. Price looks to be $199 in the US compared to the Eee box at $350.
EDIT: seems that the $199 price is for a barebones system, hmmm, maybe not so cheap as initially thought, but then again it's only a stick of ram and a HDD away from being complete as the CPU is soldered to the mobo, oh and an OS.
 
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Perhaps I overstated the longevity issue, i'm sure it would run 24/7 for quite some time (my mac mini manages it and that's got a 2.0 C2D inside but i'd not consider it to be ideally suited for such a task, at least with a slightly larger box you can improve the cooling etc. That and by the time you've forked out £15 a time on external cases and the PSU's for them you've probably taken up as much space/power as having a shuttle anyway with it all inside and kept nice and cool by a good 80mm fan.
 
An external USB drive added to an EeeBox brings overall power well over 20W.. might as well get a Shuttle or whatever with C2D.. or a low power AMD system. Atom is seriously underpowered.
 
I've just checked with my power meter and the external enclosure only draws 4W on full tilt so even if I add 2 that's only 30W which is far less than a full system. My little bro's old 3400+ athlon shuttle used to draw about 70W so I don't think it's worth it.

Like malcolm said home servers usually sit at really low CPU utilisation so you don't need a chip any more powerful than a P3 or Atom anything else is overkill.
 
4W power usage with a HD that is 6W sounds a bit suss to me unless you mean 4W+6W ?

Anyway, just was expressing my opinion. If the CPU is gonna do nothing then a NAS box would do just as well.
 
Methanoid said:
4W power usage with a HD that is 6W sounds a bit suss to me unless you mean 4W+6W ?

Anyway, just was expressing my opinion. If the CPU is gonna do nothing then a NAS box would do just as well.
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No that's cool man, your input is appreciated. I meant that the tasks the CPU does don't strain it too much, not that it won't be doing anything :)

I can't vouch for the accuracy of the power meter and I was just measuring it during reading a file from it, but a HDD manufacturer's spec of 6W could well be a peak maximum, I'd guess in normal use it'd draw less.
Ok, I just checked Seagate's spec for the drive (7200.7) and it says 12.5W active, 7.5W idle, maybe my power meter isn't so accurate then lol
 
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