Old computer to file/media server - Will this work?

T

tingies

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I have an old computer sitting and doing nothing which I wanna turn it into a file/media server to use it as a hub for my home network.

Specs: Pentium 4 @ 2.4Ghz (socket 478 - Northwood), 1.5GB DDR memory, Abit IC7-G motherboard (Intel i875P), 400W PSU.

I don't wanna spend any money on upgrading stuff other than necessary components that I will need to turn this thing into a full time media server. I plan on installing four to eight 1/1.5/2 TB HDDs and may look into RAID build, although I don't really know much about it. The motherboard has 4 SATA slots so I'll be good for up to 4 hard drives. If I decide to install more space what kind of card will I need? One thing to take into consideration is that there are only PCI slots.

Will the CPU and available memory be able to handle all this? Is the PSU sufficient enough to power so many hard drives?
 
I don't see an issue with the CPU/RAM. No idea how your network is set up so that could be a concern (you'll likely want a Gigabit ethernet connection) The PSU could be tricky though. Not knowing the model, or the age of it I would likely upgrade it with the amount of disks your going to be using, and your desire to add a raid controller down the road. Not knowing your budget I can't really make a reccomendation to you at this time. You should take a look at the sticky at the top. Without more info we'd all be guessing.
 
I pretty much did the same thing
Used my Athlon 2800 socket A
Asus A7N8X-E Board
some old video card i had
1 gig ram
And i got six drives in here
Using a 450w PSU (im pretty sure thats the size)

And i have no problems. It runs 24/7 used for central server for media and backup. Streams to other pc's and ps3. Only thing i would do is maybe put some more ram in there. I do have a basic pci to 4 port sata controller card. Not in raid though. It think your psu would be fine. Maybe in the near future getting something a little bigger. Because eventually you will add more stuff.
 
All you really need are a new PSU (depending on the age of your current one, and that's more of a CYA measure) and a RAID card. You don't necessarily need a PSU with more power, as the Antec Earthwatts EA380 and the Corsair CX400 each could handle your above setup plus a few HDDs.

More RAM is preferred, but DDR 400 RAM is scarce and expensive. You may want to look for it used.

Will you keep the same OS for this server? IIRC, both Windows 7 and Windows Home Server would be able to run on that system (though with Windows 7, you may have to turn off some of the visual features.
 
I personally still opt to use windows xp the os of choice for your unprotected home server,
provides easy in and out access to your files.
Hoping that your 400w cpu psu is coming from a nice manufacturer otherwise for 24 hour stability for the next few years, get a 80+ efficiency power supply.
 
tingies said:
If I decide to install more space what kind of card will I need? One thing to take into consideration is that there are only PCI slots.
Click to expand...

Best price to performance to port density storage card IMO:
$100 - SuperMicro AOC-SAT2-MV8 PCI-X (PCI Compatible) 8 Port SATA Controller Card

tingies said:
Will the CPU and available memory be able to handle all this? Is the PSU sufficient enough to power so many hard drives?
Click to expand...

The CPU and RAM is more than enough. You don't need to upgrade the RAM at all for simple file and media serving. PSU wise, I'm willing to bet the PSU is as old as those parts so in that case, no that old 400W PSU will not be enough. A quality and new 400W PSU (the Corsair 400CX is a good choice) would be enough to handle 4-6 drives + your current setup depending on what video card you have. Speaking of which, what video card are you planning to use with that file server?

For 8 to 12 drives, you're gonna need a bigger PSU. Something like this:
$70 - Seasonic SS-500ET 500W PSU
 
I'm willing to spend $250-300 on a few upgrades before buying hard drives/OS. The PSU is either a Zalman (350W) or a Seasonic (400W). The graphics card is a AGP ATI Radeon 9800 (EPIC card in its time :p).I plan to replace it with whatever quiet AGP card I can find. I'm hoping I can get my hands on a fanless one.

What about cooling? The case has 2 80mm intake fans and 1 80mm exhaust fan running in quiet mode. With at least 4 hard drives in there it's surely going to run hot no?

I don't know which OS I wanna use. I haven't had experience with windows 7 and I never really touched anything with Linux. Even though I've read and heard good things about Ubuntu I think I will have trouble setting this box up with it because I have zero experience with it. I would like to try windows 7 because I plan on building a new gaming rig with win7 in about two months. Is win7 worth it or should I just use ol' trusted xp? Or even maybe indulge myself in a little adventure and try Ubuntu?

I'm gonna read on RAID setups and see what I can do with it and decide if I wanna do it that way.
 
The video card you have doesn't need to be upgraded unless you'll be using the box for direct output of video. Honestly you cold run this box headless quite easily if you'll only be serving the media. Pass on the memory upgrades also. Grab yourself a good PSU like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004, add some form of decent cooling solution for your drive bays if you feel the need. Proper case flow will likely take care of the issue for you though.

As for your OS, stay 32bit for maximum codec compatibility and ease. Sounds like a minor gripe but I have read enough horror stories of 64bit codec issues to know I want no part of it. As for the OS, well I would pick what I am most comfortable with. If the unit is protected from the outside world via internet access I see no reason to not run XP/MCE if your comfortable with it. XP makes a lot of sense with its broad adaptation and extensive knowledge base. Your not likely to find a piece of hardware, or software that won't work on XP, or hasn't had any issues ironed out.
 
Do you have a picture or link to the case?

For file serving duties don't bother with Windows 7 if you don't already have a free unused copy. Try out Ubuntu, FreeNas, Windows Home Server 120 day trial and see which one best fits your needs.
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Im gonna agree with the above.
If the computer is on alot, then cooling definitely is important. Try to get some intake fans blowing right on the drives and more than one 80mm outtake.
stick with XP or similar. Especially if it just file sharing. there are tons of programs you can use with it. Keep the 9800.
Maybe use some of the money for a better case with bigger fans that you can have spin at a slower rate.
Alot of people don't like it, but i got the antec 900 on a good sale and it has good cooling. The 2 fans in front keep my drives cool, and the big fan on top is good exhaust. Might not be for you, but there are some good options. Leave room for adding some drives, once you get started you will want to add more, just because you can. Id link, but i gotta go to work.
 
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The 9800 is pretty close to its death plus it has become very noisy. I wanna change it with a really cheap and quiet card. Performance is not a factor so anything cheap and quiet will do as long as it's AGP.

The case is a mid tower Lian Li although I can't remember the model. It's an ok case I just don't know how well it will handle so many drives together. This machine will be on 24/7 so I'll have to see how well it works with the case I have.

I've read about RAID and I have a question. I undestand that with a RAID 5 config, disk space loss depends on how many drives exist in the array, i.e. if there are 3 drives it's 33% with 4 it's 25% with 5 20% etc. What happens with a RAID 6 config? Is the space lost bigger than RAID 5? Once I get a RAID config working will I be able to add more space to it, lets say start with an initial 4 hard drives and then add a couple more every few months? Will I need a RAID controller?

The data I'll be storing on the drives will be mostly movie and music files. No one likes to lose data and I'm no different. Although losing some movie or music files will be an annoyance, to say the least, I think I'll be able to survive. I would like to have the security of a RAID array but not at the expense of a lot of hard drive space. What would be best for me?

I've been looking at hdd's and I'm thinking that I should go for green drives instead of 7200 RPM ones. This way I will keep the noise and temps down. It seems that the 1.5TB drives have the best price/TB ratio. Which are known to be the most reliable so far?
 
Simple formula to determine how much space will be available with RAID 6: (N - 2) x S where N is the number of hard drives you're planning on using and S is the size of the smallest drive you will be using with the array. So say if you were planning on using 4 drives of 1TB in a RAID 6 array, the resulting RAID 6 array would be 2TB large ((4-2) x 1TB = 2TB). And yes, RAID 6 does take more space

The formula for RAI5 is just as easy: (N - 1) x S. No need to deal with percentages and the like.

The feature that allows you to expand an active RAID array depends on whether or not the RAID chip supports OCE or Online Capacity Expansion. So you have to make sure that the RAID card or chip supports OCE.

Ok just a FYI: RAID IS NOT BACKUP. RAID guarantees uptime of the data stored on the RAID array, not the security and integrety of said data. So in terms of backup, you still need an external hard drive, another server/NAS, or DVDs. RAID in and of itself is not backup.

If you want uptime of the data, then RAID5 is your best bet. However your old motherboard only has PCI slots. Many of the available PCI RAID cards are pretty slow. Nor are the onboard RAID of many mobos considered true hardware RAID either since the PC's CPU is still being used to do all of the parity calculations.

Whether or not you need a RAID controller depends on the following:
- Do you need performance?
- Do you need uptime?
- Do you already have a backup source?
- What OS you're planning on using?
 
I don't really need super performance. The most this server will do is serve data for 2 computers at the same time like a mkv file and mp3 file going.
Once I get it all configured and up and running I don't wanna have to bother with it unless it's really necessary. I wanna be able to access it at any given time so I guess uptime is important.
I kinda have a backup source. I plan on saving my most important files on external drives.
I'll most probably use win xp because I know it well, athough I'm open to try other options. I kinda wanna play around with different OSes to see if there's anything I might like.
 
tingies said:
I don't really need super performance. The most this server will do is serve data for 2 computers at the same time like a mkv file and mp3 file going.
Once I get it all configured and up and running I don't wanna have to bother with it unless it's really necessary. I wanna be able to access it at any given time so I guess uptime is important.
I kinda have a backup source. I plan on saving my most important files on external drives.
I'll most probably use win xp because I know it well, athough I'm open to try other options. I kinda wanna play around with different OSes to see if there's anything I might like.
Click to expand...

Then you'll be fine with software RAID. However if you're sticking with your old system, I'd highly highly recommend going with Linux for software RAID 5. Linux's Software RAID 5 implementation is far better than Windows XP. May not be as easy as XP's but it is far more robust, reliable, and more efficient than Windows XP software RAID 5.
 
Just use FreeNAS. It's free, and easier than RAID-5 in XP since it's not officially supported in that OS.
 
I've been reading a lot about Windows Home Server. Has anyone has any experience with it? I think I'm gonna play with it on a virtual machine and see what's it all about.
 
I havent had too much. I tried to install it one time and just havent got around to doing it again. From what i've read, it seems pretty decent. People with more experience will be able to give you some better info. Virtual machine is a good way to go that way if you dont like it then just delete it.
 
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