Help on Build 4 a New Server

A

(\/)agungis

Weaksauce
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Mar 18, 2009
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I would like to build a new server for use with Media File Sharing. I recently built a new desktop so i am not new on the technology or process but i have questions regarding energy efficiency and speed when it comes to utilizing the PC as a server. What type of Motherboard, CPU, and how much memory would you reccomend. Id like it to be cheap and quiet if that is at all possible although i am willing to spend money if need be (basically i do not need top of the line unless you think it will benefit my needs. I will ultimatley be running a server controlling 6 PC's (laptop and desktop mix), 2 XBOX360's and a PS3. These PC's will mainly be using this server for media sharing and light file sharing. Any articles websites opinions would be greatly appreciated so i can make a more educated decision based on my needs. Thanks in advance to any one that can help me on my project.
 
For your needs, an Intel Atom 330 CPU is more than enough. In fact, just about any dual-core CPU in existence is more than enough for your needs.

RAM wise, 1GB of RAM is enough but get 2GB if it's a better bang for the buck.

Motherboard wise, it depends on what exactly you need in a motherboard. Since this is a server, the prime question is how many SATA ports do you need? Just make sure the mobo has the number of SATA ports that you want and has a Gigabit LAN connection and you'll be set.

What OS are you planning to use?
 
atm i have 2 hard drives to dedicate to it (a 1.5TB that is almost full and a 500GB i just had lying around). I may add one or two more but cant see me having more than 3-4TB of data. And of course a cdrom so probably 4 SATA ports depending on mobo price/specs
 
(\/)agungis said:
atm i have 2 hard drives to dedicate to it (a 1.5TB that is almost full and a 500GB i just had lying around). I may add one or two more but cant see me having more than 3-4TB of data. And of course a cdrom so probably 4 SATA ports depending on mobo price/specs
Click to expand...

Then I recommend this setup then:
$120 - AMD Athlon II X2 240 CPU + Gigabyte GA-MA785GM-US2H AMD 785G HDMI mATX motherboard Combo
 
(\/)agungis said:
as far as a media server goes. I would like to stream movies from my server to my pc how do i eliminate the audio/video from skipping. Is that due to memory, processor, or my network?
Click to expand...

Network and hard drive mainly. CPU secondly. The X2 240 is more than enough CPU power to handle streaming of HD content.
 
cool, thanks for the info man ill look into it. what type of harddrive would you reccomend for accomplishing what i need? right now i have that seagate 1.5TB external that costco had on sale turned into internal and a 500GB WD mybook i turned into an internal.
 
Hi,

You might want to consider the Western Digital Green drives. They run cool, have low power consumption and are nice and quiet. The price of the WD20EADS has come down to a more affordable level recently.

In terms of "audio/video skipping" most of these types of problems are at the client end. Nearly all "servers" are capable of supplying HD streams, it's the transcoding-type activities that requires the grunt.

There's a great how-to I came across recently that should provide useful reading for you: how to build and configure a linux-based media server
Most of it you can ignore but there's still some useful stuff in there.

HTH :)
 
thank you ill look into those drives. whats the smallest PSU i can get away with for this rig?

dude this guide is badass this is exactly what i was looking for thank you for the hookup
 
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Danny Bui said:
Network and hard drive mainly. CPU secondly. The X2 240 is more than enough CPU power to handle streaming of HD content.
Click to expand...

You mean Network only;)

Network in 95% of cases is the bottleneck when streaming.
Followed by HDDs

most modern HDD can do ~100MBs and at best a BluRay is gonna give ~15MB/s
So HDDs can easily handle a single stream.

It get interesting when you are trying to do more than 3 simultaneous streams, because at that point your not really doing sequential reads and is now mostly random IO.
So HDDs come more into play at that point.

But thats assuming that your streaming from the same volume and your network can handle it.
 
i mainly have my dvd's converted to DIVX or something along those lines they are not HD by any means so i think I should be alright

do any server mobo's have an internal network card so i can eliminate buying that as well?

Case: i would like to keep it as small as possible
PSU: Corsair Memory CMPSU-450VX (unless i can go smaller)
MOBO/CPU: this until told otherwise http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.254104
MEMORY: Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) something

i also have a hapaugge TV card i can put in here for DVR purposes if that is at all possible?
 
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(\/)agungis said:
i mainly have my dvd's converted to DIVX or something along those lines they are not HD by any means so i think I should be alright

do any server mobo's have an internal network card so i can eliminate buying that as well?

Case: i would like to keep it as small as possible
PSU: Corsair Memory CMPSU-450VX (unless i can go smaller)
MOBO: ASUS P5Q Deluxe LGA 775 Intel P45 Intel Motherboard
CPU: will going Quad make a difference in performance or should istick with Duo

i also have a hapaugge TV card i can put in here for DVR purposes if that is at all possible?
Click to expand...

Most mobos have gigabit network onboard. Not sure about "server class" ones tho. I use a regular desktop mobo, the P5Q-EM. It has onboard graphics too so you don't need a separate graphics card. Plus 6 SATA ports.

For the CPU I personally think a quad core is a bit OTT. A decent duo will be MORE than plenty.

Nout wrong with your TV card. Works well with MythTV if you're going down that road. ;)

EDIT: Oops, seems you updated your post as I was composing mine. Ignore most of what I've said.
 
I like the Silverstone and Antec Fusion cases for HTPC usage. Cases are personal preference, so go with what you like.
 
Definitely go after the 5k4 hard drives when you need more. I have a few WD green drives and a Samsung. All are working fine while sipping power and running cool.
 
seriously you guys are very helpfull thanks again,

ok heres what I got in my cart so far still haven't picked out a case but I dont really care since im setting it in my closet

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W ATX12V V2.2 80
MOBO:GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
CPU: AMD Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W
MEM: CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5

Total: $254.97 @ Newegg.com

anything else I should be adding/changing for this excluding HDD and case of course

since i have that wireless-N router mentioned earlier what router would you reccomend as a base to make a strong FAST home network?
(and yes money is an issue on this since i dont wana spend $1K on a gold plated router if you catch mah drift :))
 
Danny Bui said:
You can save an additional $20 if you get that same mobo and CPU from this combo link:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.254104
Click to expand...

ya i have that in my cart already just linked individual pieces

Danny Bui said:
Don't bother with the Corsair 450VX as this is a better PSU deal:
$67 - Seasonic SS-500ES 500W PSU

More power + cheaper price + same manufacturer = hell yeah!
Click to expand...

was gonna add but just saw that the other one also has a $20 MIR with it so its really 49.99
 
same here but ill put up with the three dollars extra to get 20 dollars in 8 months lol

do i get any benefits as a server in upping the memory from 4GB to something higher?
 
dabbling said:
Woah. You can't leave now. :mad:

I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants a blow by blow account of you putting the thing together and getting everything up and running :D
Click to expand...

lol ill be back says three days for shipping so ill start on it friday hopefully ill get some pics too if youd like
 
picked up Caviar green 1TB 7200 HDD and a cheeep Lite-On CDROM drive as well

grand total $417 and change all i need to do now is find a case to mount it all in by now and friday any suggestions I am throwing it in my closet so i could care less about looks i care more about size (smaller the better) and acoustics (wana make it silent, quiet).
 
(\/)agungis said:
lol ill be back says three days for shipping so ill start on it friday hopefully ill get some pics too if youd like
Click to expand...

Whilst we're waiting then...............so are you going to be streaming to your XBOX360s and PS3? What file formats?

Are you going to be bunging that tuner in your server too?

What OS are you going for?

You say the server is going to live in a closet. How are you going to keep it cool?

Pics of the build would be good. It's like p0rn to people like us!! :D
(Well, perhaps just me then :rolleyes:)
 
dabbling said:
Whilst we're waiting then...............so are you going to be streaming to your XBOX360s and PS3? What file formats?

Are you going to be bunging that tuner in your server too?

What OS are you going for?

You say the server is going to live in a closet. How are you going to keep it cool?

Pics of the build would be good. It's like p0rn to people like us!! :D
(Well, perhaps just me then :rolleyes:)
Click to expand...

I absolutley want to stream to PS3 since it supports most of my divx media and pictures I currently have on my harddrive. I definatley plan on incorperating my TV card so I can record "Its Always Sunny" and other shows whenever I want. I would like to Hook it up to my XBOX 360's since there are two of them in seperate rooms however all of them work wirelessly including my PS3 at the moment and I'm not sure if thats fast enough for streaming, is it?

As far as OS goes: I can't decide weather to dive into noob status Linux or just work with windows since im familiar with it. I have a copy of Vista (x64) and (x32). I also, not that I need it but have a copy of SBS 2003 that I really wuold want to mess with but this might not be the right application for that.

Keeping it cool: i live in the desert of california AKA The Valley/Hollywood so ya this is huge. Havent really thought of it yet besides the standard fan cooling alternative. I really want to dive into liquid but my i7 needs that before my server does :). Thats why I didn't purchase a case yet. I have a pretty large 5x5x10 walk in closet so it's not too much hotter than my room in there. Probably a constant 75-85 depending on outside air temp. no crossflow though :( however it does have ventilation into the attic which is a bad thing atm since its the tail end of summer over here that mofo gets hot.

and pics for sure whe i get it
 
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