building a energy efficient NAS system

[Bugster]

Hallo!
Im planning on building a system to use primarily as a file server (also allow ftp options). Pretty basic really..

I currently have a small Compaq Ultra Slim D530 running a P4 2.4ghz and a large hdd, with Win Server 2003. Probably uses about 40-60 watts total. Been using it for about 6-7 years, and its still going great!

But its not very expandable in terms of storage (meaning i can only have 1 drive). So i need some suggestions on hardware that is the most energy efficient for the performance.

- Motherboards? (6+ SATA, the smaller the form factor, the better; 1000mb network a must)
- CPU? (best bang for buck/energy consumption/low heat output)
- PSU (no need for huge monsters, silent)
- Video/Sound (no need, onboard is fine, no monitor will be connected to this pc)
- Case (silent, reasonable amount of space for hdd, maybe up to 6)

Whatcha got?

 

[ToddW2]

Are you really using a AMD Athlon XP 1700 as your primary desktop

 

[novadude]

Assuming you aren't going to try software raid, Supermicro X7SPA-HF + Seasonic S12II Bronze psu (very efficient at low wattages, just like the X650/750 gold series) and a LIAN LI PC-Q08 if you want a tiny case, or a cheap midtower if you want something bigger/cheaper.

The motherboard needs nothing for controls locally thanks to the awesomeness of IPMI. Toss in a few gigs of ram, WHS or something of your choice and a few HD's.

 

[sub.mesa]

You could build an energy efficient NAS using Micro-ATX AMD/Intel board with 6 SATA and PCI-express and use a PicoPSU to power it. That would imply you use 2,5" (notebook) drives, though. 500GB each. The PicoPSU is very efficient (~28W idle is certainly possible) but cannot withstand high current when 3,5" disks spin up and require 30-35W each at startup.

Would you be comfortable running FreeNAS?

 

[pjkenned]

Assuming you aren't going to try software raid, Supermicro X7SPA-HF + Seasonic S12II Bronze psu (very efficient at low wattages, just like the X650/750 gold series) and a LIAN LI PC-Q08 if you want a tiny case, or a cheap midtower if you want something bigger/cheaper.

The motherboard needs nothing for controls locally thanks to the awesomeness of IPMI. Toss in a few gigs of ram, WHS or something of your choice and a few HD's.

I totally agree... if the OP doesn't need sound. IMO... trade sound for IPMI 2.0!

 

[Bugster]

Thanks, will look into suggestions.

Also, what about using a premade NAS solution (Drobo? or something similar?) Anyone know how flexible those are in terms of software? Like, can i ftp into it? Can i setup scheduled tasks on it to backup from remote servers? Can i password protect certain folders so not all PCs on my local network can access that folder...?

 

[ToddW2]

Thanks, will look into suggestions.

Also, what about using a premade NAS solution (Drobo? or something similar?) Anyone know how flexible those are in terms of software? Like, can i ftp into it? Can i setup scheduled tasks on it to backup from remote servers? Can i password protect certain folders so not all PCs on my local network can access that folder...?

I have the ReadyNAS DUO and you can set it up for FTP, web server, media server, pw protect/user permissions, etc, and more.

 

[Nir]

Assuming you aren't going to try software raid, Supermicro X7SPA-HF + Seasonic S12II Bronze psu (very efficient at low wattages, just like the X650/750 gold series) and a LIAN LI PC-Q08 if you want a tiny case, or a cheap midtower if you want something bigger/cheaper.

The motherboard needs nothing for controls locally thanks to the awesomeness of IPMI. Toss in a few gigs of ram, WHS or something of your choice and a few HD's.

let me be the third guy that recommends that supermicro board, i've been searching alot lately and supermicro appears to be the best in class, specially because support for IPMI 2.0 which allows you to do quite awesome stuff (KVM over IP, Boot from Image etc).

about an OS, that's gonna be a hard choice.. if you aren't familiar with ZFS I suggest you read about it, and research a bit into FreeBSD which can do all the things you requested.
if you're just looking for an easy way, go with Windows Server 2008 (i heard there's a free version for students)
allthough I'd go for the ZFS solution, far more advanced in my opinion