Norco 4220 based WHS build...looking to order today

I am really hoping to order today so I can have everything in before next weekend. Any suggestions for mobo? I can't seem to find one I like and also how does the rest of the build look.

Case: Norco 4220 - $349 w/FS
Controller card: 2x AOC-SASLP-MV8 - $111.69 x 2 with FS
Mobo: no idea. looking for onboard video, support for 2xPCIEx4 for support of 2 controller cards and preferably 6 sata ports so one for OS and one for DVD drive
CPU: looking at the E6300
RAM: 2x2GB DDR2 800 all depends on what is compatible with mobo
DVD: Lite-on DL-8ATS - 49.99 unless someone knows of a slim model cheaper somewhere
PSU: PC Power & Cooling 750 copper - pulling from my desktop and will just throw in something smaller there unless other recommedations.
OS: WHS - already have a copy
Cables: need cables for the controller card and also a reverse one for connecting mobo to sas connectors

It will be used at home in a backroom for backups and HD streaming to 2 or 3 devices at once. Mainly I will be ripping my entire dvd collection, backing up HD recordings and dumping .tivo files to the server. I could probably go more efficient but I definitely want something more powerful than my EX485. Any other suggestions would be appreciated so I can get this done soon especially wile I have some time off work and before I ramp up my recordings with the new fall season.

EDIT: If I need to go AMD I will. I am just not at all familiar with their chipsets so I wouldn't know the first place to look.

After you get this box off the ground, do the best you can to keep your streaming devices pulling from separate drives in the storage pool. Having multiple devices hitting SATA drives at the same time can change the load from sequential to random, and will cause your throughput to tank.

Here's a motherboard suggestion: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813151172

It's got on-board video, two PCI-E X16 slots with X8 electrical links, and two Intel Gigabit LAN connections on board. It will also support ECC RAM, giving you an extra layer of data integrity - it's stuff like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148115

You could look at not using an optical, or using an optical without a burner. Hey, 50 bucks is 50 bucks.

Also you might want to look at a better RAID solution.

"• RAID: Software RAID suported" does not give me happy feelings in my pants. If you want a true hardware level RAID for cheap check out the Dell PERC 5i's, they support 8 drives and are able to be flashed to LSI firmwares. I'm not sure if you can link more than one card for an array as I've never tried, but it probably will.

saedrin said:

You could look at not using an optical, or using an optical without a burner. Hey, 50 bucks is 50 bucks.

Also you might want to look at a better RAID solution.

"• RAID: Software RAID suported" does not give me happy feelings in my pants. If you want a true hardware level RAID for cheap check out the Dell PERC 5i's, they support 8 drives and are able to be flashed to LSI firmwares. I'm not sure if you can link more than one card for an array as I've never tried, but it probably will.

Click to expand...

The SuperMicro SATA board that the OP has picked out is a well regarded choice for WHS, as most WHS users just use the folder duplication in WHS for their fault tolerance. MS does not officially support RAID underneath WHS.

At most I will have three devices pulling at the same time but I don't think that will be often. I will keep it in mind though. I will just try to keep music, tv, and movies separate if possible though I don't know how much you can control with WHS.

I wasn't really planning on running raid since I was just going to use WHS with folder duplication. I have lived this long without my DVDs ripped so I am not that concerned if I lose them. Yeah it will be a pain but I don't know how often I will end up streaming them anyway.

This was the cheapest slim DVD drive in stock at newegg. I checked Mwave and ZZF but they don't have any cheaper.

I will check the motherboard though it does look like more than I was looking to spend. I was hoping to find one around $100-$130. Though at this point I may just spend the cash to get it over with.

brennok said:

Mobo: no idea. looking for onboard video, support for 2xPCIEx4 for support of 2 controller cards and preferably 6 sata ports so one for OS and one for DVD drive

Click to expand...

I recommend the following mobos:
$90 - GIGABYTE GA-MA785G-UD3H AMD 785G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
$100 - Biostar TForce TA790GX A2+ AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard

While they don't use ECC RAM, I think ECC is a bit much for a home server like this.

CPU Wise, the AMD Athlon II X2 240 CPU is a good and cheaper alternative and will be enough for WHS.