Building my first Home Sever! Need some help please

Carlitos714

Carlitos714

[H]ard|Gawd
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Nov 1, 2009
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I am looking to build a home server. It will be used to back up 4 pc's, store pictures, important documents, stream music and stream Blu Ray rips and DVD ISO rips to all computers. I would also like to access the server from outside at times when I am deployed. The access from outside is a want and not a need.

I am totally new to servers and have no idea how I would connect it. I will list how my computers are currently set up and the gear I have.

-Netgear WNDR3700v2 Router
-Motorola SB6120 modem
-3 pc's (all in sig) and 1 laptop

This is how it is currently connected-----modem>router>HTPC and then the rest of the pc's are connected via wireless.

I am currently using my HTPC to stream video to my other pc's. I have a homegroup setup but, that started becoming a big pain. Always having my htpc on all the time kinda sucks. I would rather have another quiet pc (server) tucked away from the eye streaming anything I want when I want it.


My plan for this sever:

Things I have
-3 x SAMSUNG Spinpoint F4 HD204UI (taken from htpc)
-Corsair hx520 (taken from htpc)
-74gb Raptor for OS (have)
-I can get one of these for free Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard Edition, Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition, Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition

Things I plan to buy
-low end C2D
-DDR2 RAM (2 or 4 GB???))
-Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D (might swap with htpc)
-no case/mobo decided

I plan on adding about 2 or 3 more 2 TB hard drives within the next year. I know I will be needing a RAID card then but, I don't think I need one now do I? I have about 1 TB that I would want to mirror

Questions

How would I connect the server? Wired or wireless?
Do I need 4 GB or will 2 GB be fine?
What OS should I use?
Any other recommendations?
Should I use the 74gb raptor or not?
 
Re: mainboard, I'd recommend an Atom, AMD Brazos or AMD Athlon system with DDR3 - all will be cheaper.

Re: OS, that's your choice. I'm a Linux guy, in that I don't use Windows at all at home. I've started using the ZFS on Linux kernel module for ZFS support. If you don't need anything Windows-specific, which seems to be correct given your use case, I'd recommend you don't use it and try a NAS-specific distro (unRAID, etc).

Re: chassis, do you need hotswap capability? Do you need any "enterprise" features? If none of this matters, get whatever is cheap and will supply airflow to your drives.

Re: RAID card, if you are building a NAS-only machine, you don't need one. If you don't have enough ports, you can use a cheap SATA / SAS HBA. You can then use a filesystem with built-in parity (such as ZFS) or software raid, which reduces your limitations and increases likelihood of data recovery in the case of adapter failure.
 
True said:
Re: mainboard, I'd recommend an Atom, AMD Brazos or AMD Athlon system with DDR3 - all will be cheaper.

Re: OS, that's your choice. I'm a Linux guy, in that I don't use Windows at all at home. I've started using the ZFS on Linux kernel module for ZFS support. If you don't need anything Windows-specific, which seems to be correct given your use case, I'd recommend you don't use it and try a NAS-specific distro (unRAID, etc).

Re: chassis, do you need hotswap capability? Do you need any "enterprise" features? If none of this matters, get whatever is cheap and will supply airflow to your drives.

Re: RAID card, if you are building a NAS-only machine, you don't need one. If you don't have enough ports, you can use a cheap SATA / SAS HBA. You can then use a filesystem with built-in parity (such as ZFS) or software raid, which reduces your limitations and increases likelihood of data recovery in the case of adapter failure.
Click to expand...

I will consider your cpu/motherboard recommendations. I really want something with low power consumption. I do have a Pentium D 945 I was thinking of using. I dont know how much power this cpu consumes so I have to do some research.

i will do more research on the OS.

Chassis. I don't think I need hot swap. Why would I need hotswap? Good air to my drives is a must.

Raid. Yup I might just have to get a sata/sas hba.

thank you very much for your help. I am excited about this build. I will be learning a lot!
 
What about building around a SUPERMICRO MBD-X7SPA-H-O Mini ITX Intel Atom D510 processor Server Motherboard comes with 6 sata ports, and SSF case like LIAN LI PC-Q08B Black Aluminum Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case (can hold 6x3.5 drives) or if you like more towers, Fractal Design Mini (also has 6x 3.5 slots). For PSU maybe SeaSonic SS-300ET Bronze 300W ATX12V V2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply - OEM (but might be a pain on small case like the lian li to deal with all the cables)
 
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I have the same router and I too have 3 computers trying access my shared desktop for media sharing that I want to build a server for. I too was going to use Windows Home Server but am unsure at this point after reading the posts.

I'll look forward to the replies.

Just a quick question though, if your breaking up your htpc aren't you going to lose your encoding power? If so, wouldn't it be best to build a cheap sandy bridge server that can encode or is that not possible in this situation.

I'm still learning as well.
 
Pentium D 945 is not low power, not by a long shot.

Mati71, WHS may work for you, but if you have nothing Windows-specific that needs to run on a separate box and you want just a fileserver, look at the various fileserver-only distros out there. There are numerous advantages - such as most being headless, the reduced attack vector, and so on. Not to mention there are plenty out there that are free...

The reason for hotswap bays is that the machine doesn't have to be taken down or potentially damaged while trying to remove a drive hot from an internal enclosure. Hotswap bays allow you to pull the drive hot without affecting or damaging anything else, so the drive can be replaced if it fails. It's important if you need uptime. If you are fine being down while replacing a drive, then it shouldn't matter to you.

Remember, with Mini-ITX atom boards, you are very limited in expandability if it only as a PCI slot. Even if you have 1 PCI-e x8 slot, that will enable you to expand to over 120 drives (SAS card + SAS expander). Not like you need that much right now, right? :) Look for one with PCI-e, so if you want to add, say, 4 to 8 more drives in the future, you can get a $50-150 SAS HBA, plug it in, and find room to put the new drives. (You can also get a SAS HBA with an SFF-8088 port and put the drives in their own new enclosure if you don't have room internal / via bays for your existing fileserver.)
 
Abula said:
What about building around a SUPERMICRO MBD-X7SPA-H-O Mini ITX Intel Atom D510 processor Server Motherboard comes with 6 sata ports, and SSF case like LIAN LI PC-Q08B Black Aluminum Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case (can hold 6x3.5 drives) or if you like more towers, Fractal Design Mini (also has 6x 3.5 slots). For PSU maybe SeaSonic SS-300ET Bronze 300W ATX12V V2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply - OEM (but might be a pain on small case like the lian li to deal with all the cables)
Click to expand...

i prefer a mATX minimum just in case I want to expand. I love that case but, like I mentioned I need mATX. The Fractal Design Mini is an awesome case but, its a little pricey for me right now. Id rather make this build on something like an antec 300 cuz they are so cheap and have good cooling. Now that is a PSU I will consider for sure! I might just buy one and throw it in my htpc! And take the Corsair HX520 from the HTPC and use it on my server.
 
Mati71 said:
I have the same router and I too have 3 computers trying access my shared desktop for media sharing that I want to build a server for. I too was going to use Windows Home Server but am unsure at this point after reading the posts.

I'll look forward to the replies.

Just a quick question though, if your breaking up your htpc aren't you going to lose your encoding power? If so, wouldn't it be best to build a cheap sandy bridge server that can encode or is that not possible in this situation.

I'm still learning as well.
Click to expand...

I am glad my post will be able to help you.

My step son converts all our Blu Rays to mkv files and we simple stream to all our comptuers. I don't know what program he uses but, I know that he uses his i7-920 @ 4.0 Ghz to do blu rays. He then transfers the mkv files to the hard drive on the HTPC. He uses the HTPC (E8500) to make ISO files out of regular DVD's. I hope I answered your question.

I don't have many blu rays but, I know the i7 rig is the preferred method of converting blu rays to mkv files.
 
True said:
Pentium D 945 is not low power, not by a long shot.

Mati71, WHS may work for you, but if you have nothing Windows-specific that needs to run on a separate box and you want just a fileserver, look at the various fileserver-only distros out there. There are numerous advantages - such as most being headless, the reduced attack vector, and so on. Not to mention there are plenty out there that are free...

The reason for hotswap bays is that the machine doesn't have to be taken down or potentially damaged while trying to remove a drive hot from an internal enclosure. Hotswap bays allow you to pull the drive hot without affecting or damaging anything else, so the drive can be replaced if it fails. It's important if you need uptime. If you are fine being down while replacing a drive, then it shouldn't matter to you.

Remember, with Mini-ITX atom boards, you are very limited in expandability if it only as a PCI slot. Even if you have 1 PCI-e x8 slot, that will enable you to expand to over 120 drives (SAS card + SAS expander). Not like you need that much right now, right? :) Look for one with PCI-e, so if you want to add, say, 4 to 8 more drives in the future, you can get a $50-150 SAS HBA, plug it in, and find room to put the new drives. (You can also get a SAS HBA with an SFF-8088 port and put the drives in their own new enclosure if you don't have room internal / via bays for your existing fileserver.)
Click to expand...
I kinda figured that the 945 was power hungry! thank you for clarifying that for me!

Sound like I don't need hot swap bays, but they do look awesome when having to replace or adding a hard drive. Will save some time for sure!

Yes I think I will be going with a mATX. I don't think I will be needing an ATX motherboard. I'm will be using onboard graphics so I won't need a GPU and that alone will help with power consumption and will open up slot!

What CPU do you recommend for low power consumption?

I am actually thinking of buying an i3/H55 combo for my HTPC and using my E8500/G35 mobo and using that as the server. I will probably downclock the E8500. Mabye 2.0 GHz? What do you think of this?
 
Carlitos714 said:
What CPU do you recommend for low power consumption?
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The Core i3 2xxx series are pretty low power consuming. In fact, they use less power than your E8500.
Carlitos714 said:
I am actually thinking of buying an i3/H55 combo for my HTPC and using my E8500/G35 mobo and using that as the server. I will probably downclock the E8500. Mabye 2.0 GHz? What do you think of this?
Click to expand...
Well the downclocking won't make too much of a difference honestly considering how low power the E8500 is to begin with. But it certainly can't hurt too much so do it if you want.
 
Carlitos714 said:
What CPU do you recommend for low power consumption?
Click to expand...
For your server atom could be fine, but if you want to do swap as you said, intel sandy bridge i3 would be ideal, check the following review missingremote Intel Core i3-2100T and DH67CF Mini-ITX Motherboard, also read Intel Core i3-2100T & Core i5-2400S Low Power CPUs. I just did a build with 2100T and it idles 13W to 15W, Mini ITX Low Power Build or you could build with AMD Zacate, like MSI E350IA-E45 AMD E-350 APU (1.6GHz, dual core) AMD Hudson M1 Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo.

You could go for the upcoming Intel® Core™ i3-2105 Processor, the only difference is with the 2100 is it comes with HD3000 instead of the HD2000. Or if you want to spend less, dont need HT, then you could even go with the new Sandy Bridge Pentiums, like Intel Pentium G620 Sandy Bridge 2.6GHz or Intel Pentium G620T / 2.2 GHz Low-Power.
 
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Carlitos714, if your plan is to upgrade your HTPC and use the E8500 as your fileserver, that sounds like a decent use of existing resources without spending too much money. Downclocking and undervolting can save in power, and you don't need more than 2GHz for your application.

I can't really make recommendations for the new HTPC rig. I'm an AMD guy (more of a non-Intel guy) so would go that route on principle, but there's plenty of options and it wholly depends on your anticipated HTPC workload.
 
Danny Bui said:
The Core i3 2xxx series are pretty low power consuming. In fact, they use less power than your E8500.

Well the downclocking won't make too much of a difference honestly considering how low power the E8500 is to begin with. But it certainly can't hurt too much so do it if you want.
Click to expand...

Yes those i3 2xxx are awesome. Almost makes me want to purchase two of them and be done with it but, I don't have too much $$ right now to blow so I will be reusing as much as I can.

Tomorrow I'm going to test how much power my HTPC (in sig) consumes at idle and playing a mkv file. Thats is probably the most stressful thing my htpc does. I will downclock it down to 2.0 ghz and see if it will even play a large mkv file and do the load and idle consumption. I just want to find some numbers. I will post it here.

thank you for your help
 
Abula said:
For your server atom could be fine, but if you want to do swap as you said, intel sandy bridge i3 would be ideal, check the following review missingremote Intel Core i3-2100T and DH67CF Mini-ITX Motherboard, also read Intel Core i3-2100T & Core i5-2400S Low Power CPUs. I just did a build with 2100T and it idles 13W to 15W, Mini ITX Low Power Build or you could build with AMD Zacate, like MSI E350IA-E45 AMD E-350 APU (1.6GHz, dual core) AMD Hudson M1 Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo.

You could go for the upcoming Intel® Core™ i3-2105 Processor, the only difference is with the 2100 is it comes with HD3000 instead of the HD2000. Or if you want to spend less, dont need HT, then you could even go with the new Sandy Bridge Pentiums, like Intel Pentium G620 Sandy Bridge 2.6GHz or Intel Pentium G620T / 2.2 GHz Low-Power.
Click to expand...

Yeah wow, those numbers are insane! Do yo have a build log of that 2100T build? Also what do you use that computer for?

HD3000 graphics is certainly something to consider.

The upcoming i3-2105!!

I really need to think about this one.
 
True said:
Carlitos714, if your plan is to upgrade your HTPC and use the E8500 as your fileserver, that sounds like a decent use of existing resources without spending too much money. Downclocking and undervolting can save in power, and you don't need more than 2GHz for your application.

I can't really make recommendations for the new HTPC rig. I'm an AMD guy (more of a non-Intel guy) so would go that route on principle, but there's plenty of options and it wholly depends on your anticipated HTPC workload.
Click to expand...

Thank you. I am an intel kinda person. I have to look at what parts I want for my htpc. I know for sure now that my currently htpc is basically gonna be my home server.
 
Carlitos714 said:
Yeah wow, those numbers are insane! Do yo have a build log of that 2100T build?
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What do you mean log of the build? the last post in the link had some pics n how everything ended up.

Carlitos714 said:
Also what do you use that computer for?
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Its very special thing due that i travel too much and im not home and leaving my desktop on is too expensive, so this is mostly to be controlled remotely, and its on 24/7. Im also considering moving away from WHS (not sure yet) but i needed to have a windows based setup remotely, so thats the main reason, now i can move into linux (not sure yet, but considering it).

Research those Sandy Bridge Pentiums, they are very cheap cpus below $80, so might be worth checking if you dont need the HT/HD3000. Those are just out a couple weeks ago, so not much info. But since you are in a budget might play allow you to save almost half of what 2105 costs.

Here is a couple of posts mostly from HTPC, Pentium SNB processor: A quick test and 2D to 3D conversion by G620.
 
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Abula said:
What do you mean log of the build? the last post in the link had some pics n how everything ended up.

Its very special thing due that i travel too much and im not home and leaving my desktop on is too expensive, so this is mostly to be controlled remotely, and its on 24/7. Im also considering moving away from WHS (not sure yet) but i needed to have a windows based setup remotely, so thats the main reason, now i can move into linux (not sure yet, but considering it).

Research those Sandy Bridge Pentiums, they are very cheap cpus below $80, so might be worth checking if you dont need the HT/HD3000. Those are just out a couple weeks ago, so not much info. But since you are in a budget might play allow you to save almost half of what 2105 costs.

Here is a couple of posts mostly from HTPC, Pentium SNB processor: A quick test and 2D to 3D conversion by G620.
Click to expand...

sorry. i didnt see the link. looks great and the power usage is just insane!!!!!

thank you on the links. I have to think about those pentiums.

Thank you
 
So I did some testing on my HTPC to get rough ideas on power usage. I did 4 test

For anyone who cares here is what I found.

E8500 voltage on AUTO cpuz reads 1.216 V at idle for all speeds
ASUS P5E-VM-HDMI
4 x 1 Corsair RAM
Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250
1 x WD7501AALS 750GB
3 x SAMSUNG F4 HD204UI 2TB

MKV= playing Season of the Witch 14.4 GB mkv file

E8500 @ 3.16 Ghz
OFF - 3.5 w
IDLE - 96 w
MKV - 116 w
LinX - 142 w

E8500 @ 2.5 Ghz
OFF - 1.6 w
IDLE - 90 w
MKV - 109 w
LinX - 132 w

E8500 @ 2.250 Ghz
OFF - 1.6 w
IDLE - 88 w
MKV - 105-109 w
LinX - didn't test it

E8500 @ 2.0 Ghz
OFF - 1.6 w
IDLE - 86
MKV - 105 but it would play it very good. it stopped and started. horrible
LinX - 120

I left it a 2.250 Ghz and I will be playing with the voltages. Anyhow, that give me a good idea how much my server is gonna consume if I use my current HTPC guts
 
A 2100 probably will consume half of that maybe even more depending on the components you have, a highly efficient PSU plays a big role, so is the mobo and other components. The i3 2100T in my case idles at 13-15W with a load (prime 95) 50W, for playback check Missing Remote Intel Core i3-2100T and DH67CF Mini-ITX Motherboard, 21W and 39W. Probably the none T will consume slightly more because of higher clocks, but i doubt it will be much. The problem with PSU is most eficiency drops a lot when you are with such low loads, where the picoPSU shines.

i32100tmediaperformance.jpg


If you current situation does benefit of the HD3000 and Hyperthreading, then i would build around the 2105, else i would just go with G620/G620T.
 
Abula said:
A 2100 probably will consume half of that maybe even more depending on the components you have, a highly efficient PSU plays a big role, so is the mobo and other components. The i3 2100T in my case idles at 13-15W with a load (prime 95) 50W, for playback check Missing Remote Intel Core i3-2100T and DH67CF Mini-ITX Motherboard, 21W and 39W. Probably the none T will consume slightly more because of higher clocks, but i doubt it will be much. The problem with PSU is most eficiency drops a lot when you are with such low loads, where the picoPSU shines.

i32100tmediaperformance.jpg


If you current situation does benefit of the HD3000 and Hyperthreading, then i would build around the 2105, else i would just go with G620/G620T.
Click to expand...
very very helpful here. Now I am leaning toward a G620/G620T for the home server and i3-2105 for the HTPC.

Will the G620/620T be enough for a home server?
 
That seems like a very good plan on cpu's for server and htpc. What would you suggest for the motherboards with these cpu's. My plan at the moment is to use a ssd on my htpc and an array on the server. I'm still up in the air regarding what os I should use for the server. I just plan on the server being a file/media streaming server.

Thanks!
 
Keep in mind that using your existing E8500 system, your average additional consumption should be no more than $.20/day, closer to $.10...
 
True said:
Keep in mind that using your existing E8500 system, your average additional consumption should be no more than $.20/day, closer to $.10...
Click to expand...

in 29 Hrs and 30 min my HTPC consumed 1.09 KW. this is normal usage throughout the day.
 
Fellas I took a look at my finances and it looks like I won't be able to build what I wanted. I did however found a computer on CL and was wondering what you guys think of this for the price?

$200

-Intel Pentium Dual Core E6500 2.93GHz
-Gigabyte EP43-UD3L
-EVGA nVidia GeForce 9400GT 512mb
-Seagate 500gb HDD
-DVDR/CDR/ Burner (will sell this i hope)
-Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 150 (will sell this I hope)
-Linksys Wireless Card (G) (will sell this I hope)
-XION Solaris XON-403 ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
-Bestec 300 Watt ATX Power Supply (will sell this I hope)

I thinking this will make a good home server. I think this will do me good for about 1 year?

Really need some opinion on this ASAP. Thank you guys!!!!

oh yeah it has no ram but I think I have one stick of 512 mb around here and might just pull 1 or 2 sticks from my htpc (1066Mhz Doms 1 GB sticks each)
 
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It's an ok deal. Though the 80mm fans in the case leave a lot to be desired for cooling.
 
Danny Bui said:
It's an ok deal. Though the 80mm fans in the case leave a lot to be desired for cooling.
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Yeah thats what I figured. I do have 4 or extra 120mm antec tricools. And I just got a fresh new Dremel 300 back from RMA. :) And im not really worried about noise.
 
Carlitos714 said:
Yeah thats what I figured. I do have 4 or extra 120mm antec tricools. And I just got a fresh new Dremel 300 back from RMA. :) And im not really worried about noise.
Click to expand...

Cool. Just don't use that Bestec PSU and you'll be fine.
 
$200

-Intel Pentium Dual Core E6500 2.93GHz
-Gigabyte EP43-UD3L
-EVGA nVidia GeForce 9400GT 512mb
-Seagate 500gb HDD
-DVDR/CDR/ Burner (will sell this i hope)
-Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 150 (will sell this I hope)
-Linksys Wireless Card (G) (will sell this I hope)
-XION Solaris XON-403 ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
-Bestec 300 Watt ATX Power Supply (will sell this I hope)
Click to expand...

any other opinions. should I buy it and use it for a home server?
 
Maybe a little late on this but I wouldn't buy that system for $200. With the new sandybridge pentiums you can build a new system with much better capabilities for that same $200. I just did a quick scan and a system with a H61 motherboard, pentium, 2 gb's of ram, and a cheap case comes in at under $200. You said you wouldn't use the power supply anyway, so add $40 or so for a decent power supply. If down the road you add some more ram and a sata card it could actually be a useful server for a long time. Or if you pick a motherboard with HDMI it would make a nice HTPC if you decide to upgrade to some serious server hardware. Those new pentiums really lower the entry point for new hardware, so I really see no reason to go with old outdated stuff when the price is the same.
 
 
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thanks guys I ended picking up

-Intel Pentium Dual Core E6500 2.93GHz
-Gigabyte EP43-UD3L
-EVGA nVidia GeForce 9400GT 512mb
-Seagate 500 GB HDD
-Seagate 128 GB HDD
-DVDR/CDR/ Burner
-Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 150
-Linksys Wireless Card (G) (will sell this I hope)
-XION Solaris XON-403 ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

For $100

dude added a 120 gb hard drive and i didnt take the power supply

might sell the 500 gb hard drive, the g adapter, the dvd burner, and the tuner card.

Im happy
 
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Well at $100 it makes a little more sense than $200. Especially if your short on cash. Good luck
 
Duff76 said:
Well at $100 it makes a little more sense than $200. Especially if your short on cash. Good luck
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Thank you.

Now to take on Server 2008 R2. I have never used it. Any good guides? For now I will be using it to store all my music, movies, files and share them through my home. What roles do I use? I will be also using it to back up all my computers. Any suggestions or guides?
 
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