First dedicated file server build

[natermeister]

I've been tired of running out of space on my various computers and having files stored on one but not the other, ect. I know that building a file server isn't going to help with the 'running out of space' problem, but it should put it off for awhile. At least until I can afford to build a bigger, better file box in a year.

Motherboard Supermicro X7SBi
Processor Xeon L3360 (gonna run F@H on it)
Memory 8GB Crucial DDR2-800
HBA Areca 1210
Hard Drives Western Digital 1TB RE3
Chassis Supermicro 1U (four hotswap bays, got it for free)

I decided on the low power Xeon because I'm running this in a 1U case so the reduced heat dissipation would seem to be worth the extra money. Ram is so cheap that I figured I might as well populate the board. I also could probably get away with the onboard RAID, but it's dog slow for RAID 5 and I can always use the controller in another system build later on.

I'm not sure what to do about the OS. I had though about putting it on a CF card, but I figured that writes would eventually kill it. I think I might have to figure out a way to put a 2.5" hard drive in there or just maybe pop for a 2U chassis.

For the record, I'm probably going to use CentOS unless my brother (a teacher) can secure me an academic copy of Server 2008.

 

[Drudenhaus]

Nice, looks like a solid 813MT build (I assume that's the 1U you're talking about). You could put the OS on a DOM (example here). Just make sure you don't put anything that get alot of writes on it (notably, the swap partition). My fileserver runs Debian off a 512MB IDE DOM quite nicely.

 

[Ockie]

Put the OS on a 2.5" drive and get a PCI braket (I am assuming you at least have two pci bracket slots back to back).

 

[Drudenhaus]

Put the OS on a 2.5" drive and get a PCI braket (I am assuming you at least have two pci bracket slots back to back).

If it's the 813MT/Q, then he'll only have 1 expansion slot. If it's an 815TQ he'll have multiple slots. He could probably rig a bracket to put a 2.5" drive in the floppy bay...

 

[natermeister]

I was running some numbers and for about $400 more I can do a build around a 2U Supermicro case with 2TB of extra space. I think that is the way I'm going to go with the OS installed on a CF card via an expansion slot bracket.

 

[Ockie]

I was running some numbers and for about $400 more I can do a build around a 2U Supermicro case with 2TB of extra space. I think that is the way I'm going to go with the OS installed on a CF card via an expansion slot bracket.

Why not use a SSD or Laptop drive in the very least?

 

[natermeister]

I was thinking about that, but couldn't find a good way to mount it. Then I saw that Supermicro 2.5" mobile hotswap rack that fits into a 5.25" drive bay. I'll probably go with that. Still, a CF card a la Sun Fire 4500/4540 is pretty cool, if a bit slow. Not to mention I'm not sure how long it would last with an OS running on it.