First attempt to build a DSS

B

BabeliBou

n00b
Joined
Apr 8, 2008
Messages
7
Well, I now came to the point where I finally want/have to build a Server/DSS.
Right now I have all my media like movies, music, pictures spread across different computers. I want to have a clean solution and put all that stuff onto onto one machine, so that it is accessible from everywhere in the house like living room (htpc), etc.

I already made some resarch and came to the conclusion that its gonna be hardware raid5 and Im gonna use 6 WD 500GB drives which will give me around 2.5TB.

The parts I have in my mind are:
Raid Card
3WARE AMCC STORAGE 9500S-12 SATA RAID CONTROLLER
http://www.3ware.com/products/serial_ata9000.asp
maybe i can get it for $250
6 of the ports will be used, so i have another 6 free in case im running out of space.

Mobo
Asus P5KPL-VM
http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=563&l4=0&model=1772&modelmenu=1
$80

CPU
Intel Celeron 430, 1.8GHz BOX, 800MHz FSB, Socket LGA775
$50

Ram
Kingston ValueRAM, 2x512MB Kit, DDR2-667MHz, CL5
$30

Thats all the additional stuff I need. I alread got the Tower, HDDs, PSU and so on

Know to the questions.

1.
I heard 3ware is pretty good and this card has alot of ports and it should accommodate my needs (enough ports for a later upgrade, i have a second array in mind), thats why I have chosen this one.
What gives a bit of headache is the weird connection layout, looks like to PCIe ports behind each other, well ive read it fits and works with PCIe ports and in the manual it says pci 2.2 compliant. But Im not one hundred percent sure if its really fits and works on this http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=563&l4=0&model=1772&modelmenu=1"]mobo

2.
The hard drives Im gonna use are all WesternDigital 500GB 7200rpm ones. They have all the same size but probabely arent the same model since ive bought them over the course of nearly 1 year. Does this even matter?

3.
I read about this Time-Limited Error Recovery (TLER), so I guess I have to enable it first with WDTLER utility on all of the drives I need for the array?

4.
For which OS should I go? I heard FreeBSD should be good (and free). But since Im a Linux noob I dont know if I should dare to use it.

5.
What do you think in general about this setup?

Thats it for now, thx for your help

cheers
 
1) Not too sure about that RAID card. From this thread:
unhappy_mage said:
9500S-[4LP|8|8MI|12|12MI] - 4/8/8ML/12/12ML ports, PCI-X, hardware raid 0,1,10,5 (50 on >4 port cards), 128 MB cache upgradeable to 256, OCE, BBU.
Decent OS support, and these were the best thing going when they came out. But bus interface messiness (these are very picky about who they interact with) and the fact that these are bridged ATA->sata cards keep them from being recommended.
Click to expand...

I do see Areca cards recommended and used quite a lot here in the forums. So might want to look those up.

2 to 3) Dunno.

4) FreeNAS is a pretty good option. Or any Linux distro out there. Check out www.howtoforge.com to setup a server with most Linux distros.

Though if you want complete ease of use and setup and don't mind paying for it, check out Windows Home Server. However there is a data corruption bug that plagues a small amount of WHS users that won't be fixed till June or July.

5) You can get a dual-core setup for about the same price:
AMD Athlon64 X2 4000+ CPU - $57
Asus M2A-VM AMD 690G mATX Motherboard - $64
---
Total: $121 Plus tax and shipping.

While you really don't need a dual-core setup, since the dual-core setup above is $9 cheaper than that single core Intel Celeron setup you've chosen, why not get a dual-core? Might as go dual-core just in case.

BTW, what power supply will you be using with this server?
 
1) Not too sure about that RAID card. From this thread:
Quote:
Originally Posted by unhappy_mage View Post
9500S-[4LP|8|8MI|12|12MI] - 4/8/8ML/12/12ML ports, PCI-X, hardware raid 0,1,10,5 (50 on >4 port cards), 128 MB cache upgradeable to 256, OCE, BBU.
Decent OS support, and these were the best thing going when they came out. But bus interface messiness (these are very picky about who they interact with) and the fact that these are bridged ATA->sata cards keep them from being recommended.
I do see Areca cards recommended and used quite a lot here in the forums. So might want to look those up.
Click to expand...

I got another idea about the raid cards. Since the areca and all the good hardware raid cards are way to much for my budget I probabely go for a decent software raid card like the HighPoint RocketRAID 2320 8port card.

In my understanding you only need those hardware raid cards for server with a lot clients or when you move around alot of data (alot of read/write cycles).

For my purpose ( only streaming 1080p movies, mp3 and DVDS to one htpc) a software raid card should be fast enough to handle it.

4) FreeNAS is a pretty good option. Or any Linux distro out there. Check out www.howtoforge.com to setup a server with most Linux distros.

Though if you want complete ease of use and setup and don't mind paying for it, check out Windows Home Server. However there is a data corruption bug that plagues a small amount of WHS users that won't be fixed till June or July.
Click to expand...

No WHS for my heard about this bug. I Guess I try one of those Linux distros.


5) You can get a dual-core setup for about the same price:
AMD Athlon64 X2 4000+ CPU - $57
Asus M2A-VM AMD 690G mATX Motherboard - $64
Click to expand...

Dual-core might be better and even same price. Yes go for that.


PSU
Its a 480watt, might be enough for 6-8 drives, but not more I guess.

thx for your help
 
BabeliBou said:
For my purpose ( only streaming 1080p movies, mp3 and DVDS to one htpc) a software raid card should be fast enough to handle it.
Click to expand...

Yes a dual-core CPU should help out there then.

BabeliBou said:
PSU
Its a 480watt, might be enough for 6-8 drives, but not more I guess.
Click to expand...

Ok what's make and model of that PSU? Like who made it? Not all 480W PSUs are the same. Some are actually 500W units in disguise while others are barely capable of 200W. So who is the manufacturer of that power supply and the model of it?
 
1. Keep in mind that the card is Sata 1.5 and PCI-X, it's a great card to get off e-bay though. I am using a 9500-8 in a pci 33 box atm and it works fine. If you do go with a highpoint/softraid card and a linux OS you are better off just presenting the disks and using software raid.

4. Take a look at openfiler. It's fairly easy to use, mainly admined through a web interface.
 
Danny Bui said:
Ok what's make and model of that PSU? Like who made it? Not all 480W PSUs are the same. Some are actually 500W units in disguise while others are barely capable of 200W. So who is the manufacturer of that power supply and the model of it?
Click to expand...

Its made by silentmaxx
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top