Future planning for Home Server upgrade

F

FloridaGuy

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Apr 27, 2010
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I will start with my current build listed below.

Custom Built WHS V1

Case: Ultra M923 ATX Black Full Tower Case

Motherboard: XFX GeForce 8200 Motherboard - NVIDIA GeForce 8200, Socket AM2 / AM2+, MicroATX, Audio, Video, DVI, HDMI, PCI Express 2.0, Hyrbid SLI, USB 2.0, eSATA, RAID, CMOS, LED Display

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000 3.1GHz 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM2 89W Dual-Core Processor with Fan.

Drives: 2 - Seagate 1TB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s, 2 - Seagate 500GB Serial ATA HD 7200/32MB/SATA-3G, 1 - Seagate 750GB Serial ATA HD 7200rpm/32MB/Serial ATA-300, 1 - Western Digital Blue 500GB PATA/16MB, 1 - Seagate 160GB PATA/16MB

Power Supply: Ultra /650-Watt / ATX 2.0 / 120mm Fan / 20/24-Pin / SATA-Ready / PCI-E Ready / Power Supply

Memory: 2- Patriot Signature 2048MB PC5400 DDR2 667MHz Memory

CD/DVD: Lite-On DVD-ROM - 18x DVD-ROM, 48x CD-ROM, ATAPI/E-IDE

The main reason I am planing to upgrade is because this unit is maxed out with drives and is filling up quickly.

This server mostly holds all of my photo's from my photography business. I also use it to to centralize my music collection and other personal documents. It also houses several access databases for my photo business.

The new server can be either rack mount or full tower case. I am leaning towards a rack mount case. I am thinking about a motherboard that will run a quadcore processor or two dualcore processors. I would like it to have space for 10-20 drives. I will probable start out with 10 2TB drives and add as needed.

Please help me with planning this new server.

FloridaGuy
 
Norco 4020 or 4220 case, HP SAS expander, Areca, LSI or Supermicro RAID or non-RAID HBA. Pretty much any motherboard with the appropriate PCIe slots. I'm personally leaning towards a i3-540 solution and an Supermicro motherboard.
 
Willing to be that you have one of those low-end Ultra 600W PSUs. Probably an X3. Either way, I'd recommend replacing the PSU as well. Something like this will do just fine:
$110 - Antec Truepower New TP750 Blue 750W PSU

It would help if you provided a max budget for this server upgrade.
 
epimetheus said:
Norco 4020 or 4220 case, HP SAS expander, Areca, LSI or Supermicro RAID or non-RAID HBA. Pretty much any motherboard with the appropriate PCIe slots. I'm personally leaning towards a i3-540 solution and an Supermicro motherboard.
Click to expand...

That's a pretty good summary.

The i3's and i5's are pretty much all you need. I was going to use the Phenom II X4 955 BE to build a new server on... but getting IPMI 2.0 and Socket AM3 leaves one with one set of Tyan boards. Also, the idle power consumption on the Core i3's/ i5's is really low, very Atom like.

Odds are the Core i3's and i5's are going to be fast enough for your file serving and access databases.
 
Danny Bui said:
Willing to be that you have one of those low-end Ultra 600W PSUs. Probably an X3. Either way, I'd recommend replacing the PSU as well. Something like this will do just fine:
$110 - Antec Truepower New TP750 Blue 750W PSU

It would help if you provided a max budget for this server upgrade.
Click to expand...
Danny Bui,

I have no real budget for this system. I plan on purchasing the basics to get the system up and running then expand it as I have the funds.

FloridaGuy
 
Below is a tenative list of the parts I have so far selected for my new server build.

1.Motherboard - Still in question - looking at Super Macro or Tyan
2.CPU - Intel or AMD
3.Memory - 4GB RAM
4.OS Drive - 500GB
5.Storage Drives 20 - HITACHI Deskstar 7K1000.C HDS721010CLA332 (0F10383) 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive (will start out with the drives from the old system. Will upgrade drives as needed)
6.Case - Norco RPC-4220
7.Controller card - 2x Supermicro MV8 cards to start
8.DVD - LITE-ON Black 8X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 8X DVD-ROM 24X CD-R 24X CD-RW 24X CD-ROM Slimline SATA Slim Internal CD/DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
9.CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

Please provide any feedback and suggestions. I am having a difficult time making up my mind on the processor and motherboard. Also am I missing anything in my list?
 
FloridaGuy said:
Below is a tenative list of the parts I have so far selected for my new server build.

1.Motherboard - Still in question - looking at Super Macro or Tyan
2.CPU - Intel or AMD
3.Memory - 4GB RAM
4.OS Drive - 500GB
5.Storage Drives 20 - HITACHI Deskstar 7K1000.C HDS721010CLA332 (0F10383) 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive (will start out with the drives from the old system. Will upgrade drives as needed)
6.Case - Norco RPC-4220
7.Controller card - 2x Supermicro MV8 cards to start
8.DVD - LITE-ON Black 8X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 8X DVD-ROM 24X CD-R 24X CD-RW 24X CD-ROM Slimline SATA Slim Internal CD/DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
9.CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

Please provide any feedback and suggestions. I am having a difficult time making up my mind on the processor and motherboard. Also am I missing anything in my list?
Click to expand...

LOL, very tentative
certainly keeping your options open

a couple of comments...
why a 500gig OS drive? do you have a specific drive in mind?
why 1TB hard drives? 2TB will be more energy efficient (Watts/TB) and save ports on your SATA card(s)
do you NEED a DVD writer in the case? "borrow" a DVD from another system for the OS install then disconnect
do you NEED such a beastie PSU? probably not. go and search for my thread on watts/TB for servers, it will illustrate that the power requirements are less than you might presume
make sure your mobo has on-board GFX. saves having to install a dedicated GFX card
 
Asposium said:
do you NEED such a beastie PSU? probably not. go and search for my thread on watts/TB for servers, it will illustrate that the power requirements are less than you might presume
Click to expand...

The PSU is only $110 online. So no real reason to skimp on the PSU since it's relatively cheap compared to the rest of the parts he's buying.

Besides Hitachi and most HDDs have a startup amperage of 2A on the +12V. So 20 drives would be 40A on the +12V rail for just the drives alone at startup.
 
Do those Hitachi drives and the Supermicro cards support staggered spinup?
 
Danny Bui said:
Besides Hitachi and most HDDs have a startup amperage of 2A on the +12V. So 20 drives would be 40A on the +12V rail for just the drives alone at startup.
Click to expand...

i WHS has an adaptec SATA card; when I had a 4into3 device all the hard drives would start-up together

when i swapped to supermicro CSE-M35TQ enclosures i noticed the hard drives then staggered spin-up

strange but true
 
7.Controller card - 2x Supermicro MV8 cards to start
Click to expand...
You may want to change that to PCI-express controller instead:

6Gbps:
http://www.supermicro.com/products/accessories/addon/AOC-USAS2-L8i.cfm?TYP=E

3Gbps:
http://www.supermicro.com/products/accessories/addon/AOC-USAS-L8i.cfm

If you ever want something more than Windows, you can use these controllers as they work in all OS (the 6Gbps version does not work on all OS yet). With that PCI-X controller it would be fine for JBOD/single disk like the pooled concept of WHS, but if you ever change your setup these controllers would probably be useless due to their PCI interface.

They also do not support staggered spin-up, i think. Anyone can confirm?
 
Asposium said:
LOL, very tentative
certainly keeping your options open

a couple of comments...
1.why a 500gig OS drive? do you have a specific drive in mind?
2.why 1TB hard drives? 2TB will be more energy efficient (Watts/TB) and save ports on your SATA card(s)
3.do you NEED a DVD writer in the case? "borrow" a DVD from another system for the OS install then disconnect
4.do you NEED such a beastie PSU? probably not. go and search for my thread on watts/TB for servers, it will illustrate that the power requirements are less than you might presume
5.make sure your mobo has on-board GFX. saves having to install a dedicated GFX card
Click to expand...

I have numbered your responses that way it makes it easier to respond.

1.The reason for the 500GB OS drive is because it is a drive that I will be pulling out of my current unit. Seagate 500GB Serial ATA HD 7200/32MB/SATA-3G

2.You are currect the 2TB drives may be a better choice.

3.My thinking about installing the DVD into the unit is that it would speed up the time it takes to burn DVD's into the system with it connected directly to the unit.

4.I choose this power supply because that was one that was suggested that would work for this build.

5.The MOBO will have on-board Video, Audio and Networking.
 
sub.mesa said:
You may want to change that to PCI-express controller instead:

6Gbps:
http://www.supermicro.com/products/accessories/addon/AOC-USAS2-L8i.cfm?TYP=E

3Gbps:
http://www.supermicro.com/products/accessories/addon/AOC-USAS-L8i.cfm

If you ever want something more than Windows, you can use these controllers as they work in all OS (the 6Gbps version does not work on all OS yet). With that PCI-X controller it would be fine for JBOD/single disk like the pooled concept of WHS, but if you ever change your setup these controllers would probably be useless due to their PCI interface.

They also do not support staggered spin-up, i think. Anyone can confirm?
Click to expand...

Both cards listed are UIO cards with the components and backplate on the opposite side of the PCB compared to regular add-in cards. This could cause problems in the Norco 4220 case that OP is planning to use.
 
Well what kind of problems? The Norco is just a normal ATX casing, right?

Since you do not need external ports, you can remove the bracket altogether. Some just leave it there and make it fit somehow.

The fact that the components are on the 'wrong' side doesn't matter; the only problem i can see would the bracket itself - which can be detached and used without.

It really is the best controller that works on many OS without problems and at full bandwidth. Its also pretty cheap. :)
 
After several days of research on what case to purchase I am leaning towards buying this case. It is a bit pricey but it seems to be built much better than the Norco RPC-4220. I am very rough on my system cases because I am always swapping drives upgrading addon cards and so on.

http://usa.chenbro.com/corporatesite/products_detail.php?sku=44

On their site they have a list of motherboards that are tested to work with this case. Is it best to purchase one of these boards or can I go with a diiferent one?

FloridaGuy
 
5U AND room for a floppy? SWEET!!!!!!! Seriously though, 24 hotswap drives is nice.

Also, the RPC-4220 isn't that bad. I am actually starting to use it to house a SAS Expander running the hotswap bays as DAS for the main server (in a RPC-4020) + swapping mATX motherboards in/out + expansion cards to test various test configs/ OSes. I'm actually using the bottom row of drives in the RPC-4220 to connect to the mATX platform being tested. Many times drives will migrate from the bottom row to other rows. The Norco is inexpensive, but it isn't terrible by any means.
 
sub.mesa said:
Well what kind of problems? The Norco is just a normal ATX casing, right?

Since you do not need external ports, you can remove the bracket altogether. Some just leave it there and make it fit somehow.

The fact that the components are on the 'wrong' side doesn't matter; the only problem i can see would the bracket itself - which can be detached and used without.

It really is the best controller that works on many OS without problems and at full bandwidth. Its also pretty cheap. :)
Click to expand...

You could remove the slot bracket, but multilane SAS cables are not known to be the most flexible and generally exert a reasonable amount of force on connected cards. Also, a heatsink on a chip that is on the "wrong" side of an add-in card would interfere with a normal card with a heatsink in the adjacent slot, such as a HP SAS expander in the slot above a UIO card.

I'm not saying don't buy them, just trying to let those who might not know of the possible problems with using UIO cards.
 
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