Home server build... Overkill or not enough?

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Yoosh

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Nov 8, 2008
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So I was hoping to get some input from someone besides myself and my gf.

I want some type of data back up for my main box, my sandbox pc and my htpc. This is what I'm thinking about building -
Case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 590
Power Supply: COOLER MASTER Real Power Pro 550
Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L
CPU: Intel Pentium E5200
Ram: G.SKILL 4GB
HD (storage): 4x Western Digital Caviar 500GBs
HD OS: Old WD raptor 36.7gb
Raid Controller: Areca ARC-1210
OS: Probably Ubuntu 8.10 Server Edition

The question is... is it worth it or should i just got with a $500 pre-made NAS box? I like doing things myself. So building it and the fun of making it work is a very big plus for me vs the all ready there NAS box. Any input from people who have tried both options would be very helpfull!

Also if I do go with the Server build vice the NAS box, Should I go with the 8 port Areca card instead of the four port card for future expandability?
 
drop that raid controller, and pick up a motherboard that has on board raid 5 support, to save money, Beyond that, looks good.

But that NAS box would be nice and simple.
 
perosnally i wouldnt touch raid with a 10 ft pole. your build looks fine, and i always tell people to look ahead, so if you can afford an 8port card get it. the system seems a bit overkill for a fileserver and not very energy-wise if you plan on running it 24/7. id never blow $500 on a pre-made nas, as all youll get is a useless box after a few years that you cant use the way you want. youll end up buying more nas boxes or something else in the future. with a home-made server you can do what u want with it.
i went the whs way and put together a small server last year from old parts i had and its been running 24/7 ever since.
amd 3000,a8n-e,1 gb ram,8400gs silent,antec 380 earthwatts psu,antec 300 case,
4 x seagate 500gb 32mb drives, whs as op system. i run all my music and movies from it.its on 24/7 and costs me about 30-45 bucks a year to run (as per my kill-o-watt toy) i still wanna upgrade it to a super low power system next year.
 
I dont see the point in RAID5
I also dont see why you would want 4.x500gb drives?
1tb are cheap and 1.5tb are only $150

With Raid you are asking for problems...I used to run RAID5 and so did many other people here who run arrays that are greater than 30TB and now we run WHS because we get to choose what to make redundant, and it has the best backup system already built in. Also there is no longer a need to have raid controllers that $1000+ dollars.
 
bigdogchris said:
drop that raid controller, and pick up a motherboard that has on board raid 5 support, to save money.
Click to expand...

If you're willing to deal with FakeRAID, then sure, stick with onboard RAID 5.

I would look towards WHS if you're interested in cheap and easy redundancy and future expandability.
 
Windows Home Server FTW. I gave up the hassles of RAID5 when I first got the beta WHS. Now it just sits there and runs.
 
Here is what I would suggest:
- Like others said WHS, it is awsome
- drop your mobo and get a mobo with 5 or more SATA ports and 1 eSATA (eg this)
- drop the 4x500G HDD and get 3 1.5TB HDDs and 1 external HDD enclosure with eSATA port for offsite backup if required.
- drop the RAID controller (WHS takes care of redundency)

Good luck.
 
Wow guys... thanks for all the comments! So I'm definately going to look into WHS. Seems to have pretty good reviews! The reason I went with the 4x500 is just to keep costs down. But seeing what everyone says I just might go with 4 1tb drives instead and drop the raid controller.

I really want to run linux on it. I know it will be a pain in the butt, but it's for the learning experiance.

Also... So it seems like everyone dislikes the Raid 5 idea! I'm going to have to start reading up on the pro's vs cons. It seems like the WHS server route is easier because of the hassel of a raid. I'm curious as to what hassel's you guys have had in the past, with the raid that is.
 
I run a similar setup, with 4x500GB Seagates in Linux software RAID5.

My first suggestion is to ditch the RAID card. For a home storage server you're better off getting a mobo with plenty of SATA ports. I suggest the ASUS P5E-VM or P5E-VM HDMI (very similar, the HDMI version has an extra PCIe x1 slot, and HDMI/DVI out). 6 onboard SATA using the Intel controller (so fully supported under any relatively modern linux).

If I were doing it over from scratch, I'd think for a while about the RAID5, but I'd probably do it again. The main reason is that the vast majority of my storage is TV and Movies. I.e. it's stuff that I value having around, but not to the point where I need full redundancy for the whole collection. It's by no means a foolproof system, but with RAID5 I can lose one drive without all my data being lost. For my purposes that's a good balance between cost and risk. Your requirements may be different.
I don't really think that running RAID is much of a "hassle." There's lots of documentation around the web for Linux software RAID, and it's not a very complicated system to begin with.

I don't have anything against WHS, but I like using Linux since it gives me very finite control over pretty much anything. I can make little additions or modifications with ease. I'm by no means a skilled programmer or anything, but with some googling and trial and error I've equipped my server with a handful of custom scripts that give me at-a-glance status reports, sync backups with my laptop, etc. I've got it set up with a torrent web interface so I can have it downloading while I'm in class, etc. If you don't mind spending a little time up front learning some concepts, it's really not difficult, and gives you a lot of power.

Addendum: Forgot to mention that you should strongly consider using 1TB drives. The $/GB is about equal with 500GB drives right now, and will only improve in the future. By using 1TB drives you can cut down on the number of drives you need, which means lower power consumption, as well as giving you more future expandability without having to get add-in cards.
 
BTW, the cost per Terabyte using TigerDirect.com is:
Cost TB $/TB
$69.99 0.5 $139.98
$89.99 0.75 $119.99
$149.99 1.5 $99.99

So if you are trying to keep costs down, use 1.5TB!
 
I just built a WHS box that's been up for a couple of weeks now. Still playing with it...
Specs:
Asus P5Q-E
Intel E5200
4GB Ram
3 x 1TB WD GP
1 x 500GB WD GP

I'm pretty happy with it thus far. Like I said I'm still tweaking as I'm learning the full capabilities of WHS. I also have the Asus P5E-VM HDMI mentioned above and like it a lot. The only problem I've have with either board is running the SATA ports from the ICH10R southbridge in ACHI or RAID mode. I haven't been able to get either mode to cooperate with WHS or WinXP Pro. It may just be something I'm not doing correctly, but otherwise everything works pretty well.
 
The Hunter said:
I don't have anything against WHS, but I like using Linux since it gives me very finite control over pretty much anything. I can make little additions or modifications with ease. I'm by no means a skilled programmer or anything, but with some googling and trial and error I've equipped my server with a handful of custom scripts that give me at-a-glance status reports, sync backups with my laptop, etc. I've got it set up with a torrent web interface so I can have it downloading while I'm in class, etc. If you don't mind spending a little time up front learning some concepts, it's really not difficult, and gives you a lot of power.
Click to expand...

Its funny you mentioned all that, as that is exactly what WHS aimed to get rid off. Googling, trial and error and custom scripts should not be a requirement for someone who wants a powerful home server with an easy to use interface.

Anyway, I say WHS all the way.
 
Out of curiosity, does WHS have anything available to do automated backups of mac/nix systems at the same per sector level? I know you could configure apps on the systems themselves to write their backups to a WHS share, but was wondering if there was anything more integrated available?
 
DanNeely said:
Out of curiosity, does WHS have anything available to do automated backups of mac/nix systems at the same per sector level? I know you could configure apps on the systems themselves to write their backups to a WHS share, but was wondering if there was anything more integrated available?
Click to expand...

No there is not
The only thing for nix/mac is to get a backup app and write to a share.
 
If you buy the HP ex470 through eBay using the live.com 25% off promotion (Google for more info), you can pick it up for: $426.75 shipped

I bought one, added in 3x1TB drives and upgraded the ram to 2gb and it's perfect for me.
 
epimetheus said:
I just built a WHS box that's been up for a couple of weeks now. Still playing with it...
Specs:
Asus P5Q-E
Intel E5200
4GB Ram
3 x 1TB WD GP
1 x 500GB WD GP

I'm pretty happy with it thus far. Like I said I'm still tweaking as I'm learning the full capabilities of WHS. I also have the Asus P5E-VM HDMI mentioned above and like it a lot. The only problem I've have with either board is running the SATA ports from the ICH10R southbridge in ACHI or RAID mode. I haven't been able to get either mode to cooperate with WHS or WinXP Pro. It may just be something I'm not doing correctly, but otherwise everything works pretty well.
Click to expand...

I dont think WHS likes disks in RAID configuration.

Set them up as stand alone drives and let them be managed by WHS.

As a matter of fact, if you have a stand alone RAID config, WHS recommends setting it up as JOBD.

Good luck.
 
I didn't actually have the disks in a RAID config when I was having problems. I was just referring to the setting in the BIOS. AHCI and RAID gave me headaches. I want to take advantage of NCQ and the like, but the only way I could get WHS to boot reliably was with the ICH10R SATA connectors set to IDE.

Don't let this dissuade anbody from WHS. I think this is just a problem with my particular setup. I'm actually looking at switching the the Asus P5BV/SAS for the extra LSI1068E controller and the PCI-X slots for a couple of Supermicro SAT2 cards.
 
Go with WHS and ditch the raid controller. Cheaper, better, and much more pleasant to use.
 
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