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Good SFF choice for file server?

D

daddybigwords

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 2, 2004
Messages
145
I'd like to make a small file server and was wondering if you guys had any recommendations for a SFF computer to base it off of.

My ideal system would be (in order of importance):
* Able to take 3 or more hard drives
* Quiet
* Low power consumption
* Small

I don't really care about the graphics capabilities or amount of ram. It will probably be running Linux or Solaris.

I'd like to spend $400 or less on the computer, not including the drives.

Any recommendations for good models, new or used? Should I build my own, and if so where can I find reviews of SFF motherboards and cases?

Thanks in advance!
 
Not sure of how I would do it, but there is the new Silverstone DS531 SATA enclosure that holds 4 drives in a very pretty chassis.

I think you could get a mini-itx board into that case.
 
If youre running linux than like, anything will work; but if you put it together yourself for ~400$, ide recommend:

AM2 3600+ (50$)
Basic Am2 matx mobo with 4 SATA ports (~50$)
512MB ddr2 (15$?)
Case + PSU, NSK1300 like steve said (75$)
and your drives, etc

Pretty badass dual core file server for not much money at all...
 
Just an idea... pack in notebook drives?? I don't know... maybe that's ridiculous now that drive sizes have gotten so big.

You might want to consider judging the fileserver by amount of disk space rather than by amount of drives. I mean... you can get a terabyte drive now. :D

I have my SFF connected via fibre to an external SAN unit (yes... the SFF is louder than the 14 drive SAN unit). But obviously that takes up quite a bit of room compared to just the SFF alone.
 
Heck, for a file server, you don't even need to get a dual-core CPU. Just pick up the cheapest CPU that'll fit in your socket. Even an older VIA mini-ITX board (we're talkin' under 1GHz) can easily saturate a 100mbit network connection. If you really want to push things, you can get a motherboard that will allow you to underclock and undervolt your CPU to knock down the heat production/power consumption.

My brother bought a Dell GX110 SFF off ebay a few months back for $60 including shipping, and he's using it as a file server running Windows 2000. That same computer wouldn't work for you, since it only has one HDD mount, but you can find something along those lines for pretty darn cheap. You'd have to add a SATA card, but those can be found very inexpensively, and you'd just have to add your drives to that.
 
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