So I built an HTPC a little while back (with the help of fellow [H]'ers) while we were still living in an apartment and now that we have a house I would like to build a WHS.
My house will be networked with Cat 6, an HP Procurve gigabit switch (8 port now, 24 port in the future), a wireless N router, and all other computers will be running Windows 7. My needs will be pretty basic, I want it to do backups of three to five computers in the house, store and backup media, stream all of my Blu-ray and HD-DVD ISOs, and possibly do some home automation (slim chance of surveillance) and weather station data collection. No more than two computers will probably access it at once. Being reasonably quiet, not necessarily silent, is also a priority.
Parts that I currently have and will be reusing for the build are:
1 x 2TB WD Green
2 x 2TB Seagates
1 x 1TB Seagate
2 x 640GB WD Blacks
1 x 500GB WD Blue
Intel PCI-E x1 CT Gigabit NIC
1 x 2GB DDR2 800 Stick of RAM (until prices come back down)
3 x 120mm Antec Tri-Cool fans pulled from my P182 (not the quietest or best fans in the world but they can be used if the temperatures get higher than I would like)
A legal copy of WHS
I have been spec'ing out builds for the last couple months and have come up with the following parts:
Corsair Obsidian 800D ($238.14) - This I will be picking up from MicroCenter tomorrow. It may not be the best choice for a server but I love the way it looks, I figure it can hold at least 14 hdds and that should be plenty for me, and I couldn't pass up on the MC deal.
Corsair 400CX ($49.99 - $1 CB - $20 MIR) - Should be enough power for my needs. (No overclocking, low loads, should be able to handle spin up of all hdds 15x20w = 300w)
EVGA 113-YW-E115-TR 730i ($120.99 - $3.63 CB - $10 MIR) - Onboard video is way more than I need in WHS but it is about the only board I can find with onboard video and 8 or more SATA ports. I am hoping that I can disable the onboard video after it is setup, but if not then that is fine. It is also black, which is a plus because it would match the case and powersupply.
Intel e3200 ($46.91) (purchased elsewhere without hsf) - Should be more than powerful for my needs, low power, has VTT if I decide to do any Virtualization in the future. I will probably underclock it until any greater performance need arises.
Corsair H50 ($74.99 - $2.25 CB - $15 MIR) - So I know this is overkill for a WHS and my needs but I wanted a better than stock air cooler that was also black, so I looked at the Dark Knight and it was $45 with FS on Newegg. Then I started looking at the H50 and thought it would be a better fit with how I want the case.
2.5" WD 160GB Black ($56.99 - $2.28 CB) - This is to replace the 1TB OS drive I will be pulling from my HTPC. It is one of the cheapest 7200rpm laptop drives larger than 80GB and I prefer WD over Seagate.
Total comes to $592.09 before any cash back and mail in rebates and $533.76 after.
Down the line I will add more hdds, a controller card (probably the SAT2-MV8), and hot swap drive bay adapters to increase the storage pool size.
Do you storage gurus have any suggestions or advice? Am I forgetting anything? All help is greatly appreciated!
My house will be networked with Cat 6, an HP Procurve gigabit switch (8 port now, 24 port in the future), a wireless N router, and all other computers will be running Windows 7. My needs will be pretty basic, I want it to do backups of three to five computers in the house, store and backup media, stream all of my Blu-ray and HD-DVD ISOs, and possibly do some home automation (slim chance of surveillance) and weather station data collection. No more than two computers will probably access it at once. Being reasonably quiet, not necessarily silent, is also a priority.
Parts that I currently have and will be reusing for the build are:
1 x 2TB WD Green
2 x 2TB Seagates
1 x 1TB Seagate
2 x 640GB WD Blacks
1 x 500GB WD Blue
Intel PCI-E x1 CT Gigabit NIC
1 x 2GB DDR2 800 Stick of RAM (until prices come back down)
3 x 120mm Antec Tri-Cool fans pulled from my P182 (not the quietest or best fans in the world but they can be used if the temperatures get higher than I would like)
A legal copy of WHS
I have been spec'ing out builds for the last couple months and have come up with the following parts:
Corsair Obsidian 800D ($238.14) - This I will be picking up from MicroCenter tomorrow. It may not be the best choice for a server but I love the way it looks, I figure it can hold at least 14 hdds and that should be plenty for me, and I couldn't pass up on the MC deal.
Corsair 400CX ($49.99 - $1 CB - $20 MIR) - Should be enough power for my needs. (No overclocking, low loads, should be able to handle spin up of all hdds 15x20w = 300w)
EVGA 113-YW-E115-TR 730i ($120.99 - $3.63 CB - $10 MIR) - Onboard video is way more than I need in WHS but it is about the only board I can find with onboard video and 8 or more SATA ports. I am hoping that I can disable the onboard video after it is setup, but if not then that is fine. It is also black, which is a plus because it would match the case and powersupply.
Intel e3200 ($46.91) (purchased elsewhere without hsf) - Should be more than powerful for my needs, low power, has VTT if I decide to do any Virtualization in the future. I will probably underclock it until any greater performance need arises.
Corsair H50 ($74.99 - $2.25 CB - $15 MIR) - So I know this is overkill for a WHS and my needs but I wanted a better than stock air cooler that was also black, so I looked at the Dark Knight and it was $45 with FS on Newegg. Then I started looking at the H50 and thought it would be a better fit with how I want the case.
2.5" WD 160GB Black ($56.99 - $2.28 CB) - This is to replace the 1TB OS drive I will be pulling from my HTPC. It is one of the cheapest 7200rpm laptop drives larger than 80GB and I prefer WD over Seagate.
Total comes to $592.09 before any cash back and mail in rebates and $533.76 after.
Down the line I will add more hdds, a controller card (probably the SAT2-MV8), and hot swap drive bay adapters to increase the storage pool size.
Do you storage gurus have any suggestions or advice? Am I forgetting anything? All help is greatly appreciated!