scratch built whs servers

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Dasimpson

Gawd
Joined
Jan 11, 2010
Messages
641
hi im new here and just found windows home server i been dreaming of an os to do this job for years but dident know were to start thank god it been done for me lol

i would like this to become a place were we swap info on are builds and help each other to build better and faster systems for as little money as possible aslo swap specs what works what dosent

i think best way to start is with ur storage size then a break up of parts in ur system hope this idea works looking forwed to shareing info and ideas

or yeah and hope they is more ppl out there who have scratch built there cases for there exact needs
 
yeah i have looked thru that thread but that isent held only to whs and custem builds i ant after the rack mount stuff they started using to me that defeats the hole idea of low cost and the ideas off ppl doing things on the cheap
 
Low cost BYO = buy an Atom/ ION platform, memory, drives and windows home server. Put in any chassis that will hold enough drives for what you buy. Was there a question?
 
Hmm... do I really want to be a Grammar Nazi today?....

Anyway, you might want to hit up this thread for WHS info:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1390750

As for setups, all you have to do search through the forums for WHS threads or if you want one specific to your needs, just post a thread about it.

Oh and see my sig for my WHS specs.
 
Dasimpson said:
hi im new here and just found windows home server i been dreaming of an os to do this job for years but dident know were to start thank god it been done for me lol

i would like this to become a place were we swap info on are builds and help each other to build better and faster systems for as little money as possible aslo swap specs what works what dosent

i think best way to start is with ur storage size then a break up of parts in ur system hope this idea works looking forwed to shareing info and ideas

or yeah and hope they is more ppl out there who have scratch built there cases for there exact needs
Click to expand...

welcome

they're a helpful bunch here; I've learnt (why doesn't the spell checker like learnt??) a lot, but be warned, once the bug hits there's no going back! :p

consider that for most people a windows home server don't need to be a fast system, though an exception may be transcoding. the vast majority of people build with wall-plug efficiency in mind; particularly important if a server is on 24/7

many of us have built from scratch, and it is fascinating the variety in builds according to an individual's needs

we can advise if we know your present requirements and future desires.
what do you want from a server box?

to get you started, here is my server

mine was built to be low-power and and low-noise
• achieved though the use of a low power atom motherboard and low power (LP) seagate hard drives. using large (2TB) drives requires less drives for a given capacity; thereby increasing the W/TB of the server
• the server is quiet, the chatter of the hard drives is the most apparent noise. LP drives are low RPM, so generate less heat than higher RPM drives. less heat requires less cooling. less cooling requirements equals fewer fans and lower air flow fans. lower air flow equals less noise.
ease of hard drive exchange was important
• achieved through the use of the supermicro drive modules
• i started out with the el'cheapo 4into3 drive modules. it was a right royale PITA to change a hard drive so i took that as an excuse to buy the SMs :p
I also wanted something small
• achieved through the use of the coolermaster case

side1.jpg

side2.jpg

front.jpg
 
ty for the info i was looking at an atx mother bosard pref 5 pci ports main use is for storage my idea was at first to use a cd duplicator case and use 4 5in3 drive bays but wonted these vertical untill i relised the mesuments so that scraped that idea wonted vertical basicly to make it easyer with drive numbering so then the idea was to build a case to hold them vertical the next preblem i had was the pci 128bit cards and would they work in standerd pci slots slwly getting the info needed just needs the funds to haveing the bug well whs is a dream i have had for over 4 or 5 years just never knew how to do it i did at one time use xp pro and dynamic disk but this was a real pain in the backside tried whs in vm and well everything i been wonting just damn anoying i find it after passing on all my old parts but hey such is life

oh and asposium is the cream bay the os drive i very mutch like that idea i was going to put the os drive in the first carrage but hadent thoght of chanching the color of the bay

and to the spelling i could use spell check but then would still get the wrong spelling were spelling and wrighting goes i am very poor but were working with my hands thinking and technical stuff im very good with
 
Dasimpson said:
oh and asposium is the cream bay the os drive i very mutch like that idea i was going to put the os drive in the first carrage but hadent thoght of chanching the color of the bay
Click to expand...

yes, the cream tray is the OS drive; i had some drive trays spare from previous builds. little use for the cream stuff now, as black is the new cream.
the OS drive is located there as that location gives the neatest cable route internally :D

building your own case just sounds like a complete PITA. is there no case whatsoever that will suffice?

as for spelling, after a few reads, and re-reads i can get the jist of what you're saying.
try writing like you speak. that is, we naturally insert pauses and breaks when we talk. merely replace the pauses with commas and the breaks with a full stop
keep sentances short and concise
when you change topic start a new paragraph.
and give up on the text speak
if people can better understand what you're saying they'll be more likely to help
not meaning to criticise, merely to help
 
thank you ill try and do that should help with getting noticed

cooler master stacker is the ideal case but they are not made anymore and are snapped up very fast.
my other idea was a duplicator case or a old CD-ROM server case, but these cases tend to be 2 case's wide or only hold 9 bays i need 12 to 13 for my idea will just have to put the drive in horizontal instead of vertical.
i wonted vertical so that the main drive is at top and you add them going down seemed allot better to me.
also would be nice is the server case would also be good as a PC gaming case then i could have to of them one each side of desk server and main system if tall enough table legs also lol
what dose PITA mean please
 
a bit on the expensive side, especially when the 5into3 drive modules are considered, but how about the lian li a77

PITA = pain in the arse (english) pain in the ass (american) ;)
 
bingo thats the case looks very much like duplicator case.
yeah i have been thinking the bays are rather pricey but best way i can think of for hot swap.
i could use the 4IN3 that would give me the vertical drives like i wont but loose 4 drives.
i guess it will end up with what ever i can get my hands on job as they often turn out to be with little founds.

last system was build out of 1by1 and hard board lol but did the trick.
 
why do you prefer horizontal drives to vertical drives?

when factoring in the price of a case such as the lian li and 4 drive modules many people simply purchase the norco case

i wanted something somewhat smaller!!
 
Asposium said:
welcome

they're a helpful bunch here; I've learnt (why doesn't the spell checker like learnt??) a lot, but be warned, once the bug hits there's no going back! :p
Click to expand...

it doesn't like learnt because learnt is not a word :)

it is learned

i know, grammer police :D
 
because like you i wont a small system but in tower form.
the norco are rack mount and pritty danm big
it is vertical i prefer not horizontal i prefer it is just a pitty the 5in3 are horizontal i would of preferd them vertical hence the idea to build the case.
the resion i wont them vertical is if you look on whs disk manager they label disk from 0 to what ever number fo drives you have 0 been the os and first part of the pool
 
but i am willing to make that compermise and do as you have done with the drive bays would just have to start the 0 at left and work to the right right down the drives bays
 
many of us use the disk management add-in for WHS

with this add-in one can create a wireframe that depicts the storage

i then have an excel file that says what is where, mainly serial numbers

as an example, here is the console for my server
the red "drive" indicates a drive that failed and was recently removed

the two drives floating in the air are external USB connected drives

whsconsole.jpg
 
ah i had forgot about the graph highliting the hdd on the left that will solve alot of problems
somthing i really dont get and have noticed dose whs fill one drive to 98% then start using the next drive or dose it keep them all the same lvl
i really need to find 2 x 256mb sdram so i can get this up and running for testing
 
as far as i'm aware, and others may/will know better

DE will try to keep data together(*) and will put the data on the fullest drive
the logic being the fullest drive will remain the fullest drive
DE will use the OS drive when all other drives are full
(*) the example used is copying a CD audio album. it is "better" to loose the entire album than than one track off this album and another off that.

i added two 2TB drives at the same time. WHS didn't use either for sometime
then one of the 2TB drives developed a bad sector
 
why i asked is how the drives look to be filling.
the way i figured it is the file you copy go to the pool on the os drive they are then moved to another drive with the correct space.
ok i got it i understand now say one drive has 90% but the file you copy is say 15% it will keep it on the os pool drive untill they is a hdd that has the 15% spare room needed then other files you copy smaller then the 10% will finish filling the 90% full drive or am i giving the os to much credit.
as i see from ur image it looks like it is filling the last drive and working back to the os drive
now if all the drives were in order 0 to 7 0 been at top and 7 been at the bottom and all sata connections also been in this order it would better repersent what is going on
 
WHS no longer copies data to the OS drive, the data goes direct to the pool drive
the OS drive is only used for data if all the pool drives are full
 
so then why is it ppl who have the lkatest updates and pp3 still get the pool full error and os reporting that they is only the os pool drive avalable to the network
 
disks 6 and 7 are my "original" disks
disks 2 and 3 were added at the same time
disks 4 and X were added at the same time
disk X has now failed
disk 1 and Y were added within a week or so of each other
disk Y has bad sectors, so was removed as a pre-caution

but you're right, WHS seems to be working it's way up
 
so dose the order of your drives go right to left then drop to the bays below and follow the same order
 
Dasimpson said:
because like you i wont a small system but in tower form.
the norco are rack mount and pritty danm big
it is vertical i prefer not horizontal i prefer it is just a pitty the 5in3 are horizontal i would of preferd them vertical hence the idea to build the case.
the resion i wont them vertical is if you look on whs disk manager they label disk from 0 to what ever number fo drives you have 0 been the os and first part of the pool
Click to expand...

Umm, the Norco isn't that much bigger than the tower case Asposium was using. In addition, you can remove the "ears" or the handles on the side and you can now stand the case up on its side. That pretty much makes it a tower at that point.

But just to be clear: you are willing to pay MORE for a smaller sized setup correct?
 
whs.jpg


this is how i was thinking of haveing a set up disk 0 would be under the dvd-rom disk 15 would be at bottom of case
 
well if i can help it pay as little as possible may ethern scrap the idea of the hot swap drives and just make a caddy to hold the hdd's
 
oh and i have whs running on a 600mhz intel p3 with 256mb of sdram little slow but only testing at moment.
i used my main pc to install to the point were it rebouts to show the blue instal screens we all know from older windows.
i then put the hdd and disk into the pc thats is the whs and carryed the install on all hardware detected and is up and running
 
Dasimpson said:
well if i can help it pay as little as possible may ethern scrap the idea of the hot swap drives and just make a caddy to hold the hdd's
Click to expand...

Yes, if you're extremely budget-cautious, making your own caddy, assuming that you have the materials, tools, and skills to do so, might be the better cost-effective setup.

IIRC, some people actually made their own 5in3 caddy (non hot-swap of course) using an old CD Drive.
 
thank you thats a bloody brillent idea i had not thoght of that my cus has shit loads of cd and dvd roms
 
Danny Bui said:
Umm, the Norco isn't that much bigger than the tower case Asposium was using. In addition, you can remove the "ears" or the handles on the side and you can now stand the case up on its side. That pretty much makes it a tower at that point.

But just to be clear: you are willing to pay MORE for a smaller sized setup correct?
Click to expand...

now pricing everything up, i now understand why the case is so common. if i could get everything else like ups router and etc. i would defiantly think about this option and have it set up under the stairs were the noise would not matter.
 
yeah the Norco cases are some of the best bang for the buck server cases out there.
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
they do sale just the 5x3 cage if you dont do hot swap. last i check it was around $30.
 
i love my norco 4020....

the only thing is that with power and size of drives... i only have 8 drives in it ATM....

it is nice to know that I can still add 13 drives :D
 
yeah i bet it dose and when they get full get a sas card and add another array i have a feeling my 350gb ant going to last the week lol
knew i shouldent of put the 1tb in the gf pc for her dysign work and storge of her artwork and etc
 
well now added another 256mb to my server so now im at the 512mb and what a diff it has made logging on etc now just need to upgrade cpu from 600mhz to a gig or more
 
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