Thought my mind was made up...

So if my budget is $500, can I build a decent enough machine that can run ZFS and share via NFS (instead of SAMBA)? This is all I need.
 
So if my budget is $500, can I build a decent enough machine that can run ZFS and share via NFS (instead of SAMBA)? This is all I need.

Depends what parts you need. I.e CPU, mobo, RAM, case, PSU, HDDs, etc.
 
I would need to focus on mobo/cpu, RAM, NIC, and HDDs. I assume onboard video would suffice.

2TB is the minimum available storage capacity I need at this time.
 
I would need to focus on mobo/cpu, RAM, NIC, and HDDs. I assume onboard video would suffice.

2TB is the minimum available storage capacity I need at this time.

I would really look at the updated HP Proliant Microserver and run FreeNAS on it. It appears to meet your goals quite well and will offer reasonable room for growth at your current level. Could also switch it up to WHS vs or 2011 if would like a windows platform but that would cost a little more.

Total would ~$500 the box, a RAM upgrade, and 2x2TB drives and support 2 more drives later.
 
RAID50 and 60 aren't for redundancy or safety either, they're for speed.

When determining your need for uptime or robustness of a disk subsystem to determine to RAID level needed, you only look at the minimum amount of drives that can fail before your RAID goes offline, and in this regard, RAID50 and 60 adds nothing compared to their unnested brethren.

Yeah, I know, that's why I put the ;) next to my statement. Thanks for the tip though. :rolleyes:
 
@holzmann: There is no need to build a "file server" for your requirements. Just buy a WD My Book, that should be more than enough to fit your needs. Or just buy 2 hard drives and put them on your current computer and use Windows backup to backup from hdd A to hdd B, simple enough, or use that raid 1 card you have right now.

The majority of people in this forum build systems with linux/hardware raid/expanders/etc for systems that most likely have large number of disks, and just required better redundancy. Of course there are people who build these kind of systems just to learn and nothing else.

There is absolutely no need for you to go down that route at this moment, when keeping everything simple works better for you. If you want to learn about ZFS and what most people do in this forum, I suggest to download VMWare Server or similar virtualization software and play with that, rather than diving into something that could turn complicated all of the sudden and might cause you to lose the data.

Also, the article in Anandtech, that article was an introduction, and nothing more. I found it quite lacking myself and thought it didn't cover enough material or presented better hardware/software. Now their article on virtualization for Anandtech which I believed also had a section about hard drive space (file server) was much better and in depth.

Anyways, it is up to you on what you get, but I believe a simple solution would work better with your current usage.
 
@holzmann: There is no need to build a "file server" for your requirements. Just buy a WD My Book, that should be more than enough to fit your needs. Or just buy 2 hard drives and put them on your current computer and use Windows backup to backup from hdd A to hdd B, simple enough, or use that raid 1 card you have right now.

The majority of people in this forum build systems with linux/hardware raid/expanders/etc for systems that most likely have large number of disks, and just required better redundancy. Of course there are people who build these kind of systems just to learn and nothing else.

There is absolutely no need for you to go down that route at this moment, when keeping everything simple works better for you. If you want to learn about ZFS and what most people do in this forum, I suggest to download VMWare Server or similar virtualization software and play with that, rather than diving into something that could turn complicated all of the sudden and might cause you to lose the data.

Also, the article in Anandtech, that article was an introduction, and nothing more. I found it quite lacking myself and thought it didn't cover enough material or presented better hardware/software. Now their article on virtualization for Anandtech which I believed also had a section about hard drive space (file server) was much better and in depth.

Anyways, it is up to you on what you get, but I believe a simple solution would work better with your current usage.

Well, I am comfortable with FreenNAS. And the file server does need to serve 3 home PCs. My current server needs an upgrade. (Currently running 2x 500GBs in RAID 1.)

If ZFS is "easy" to configure in FreeNAS then why not experiment with what appears to be a better file system? I just need some hardware recommendations, most likely for a software-based solution. Meaning the HDDs will connect to the mobo.

I enjoy DIY activities. I love buying and putting together hardware.
 
I would need to focus on mobo/cpu, RAM, NIC, and HDDs. I assume onboard video would suffice.

2TB is the minimum available storage capacity I need at this time.

Well you could go for Trepidati0n's recommendation:
$338 - HP ProLiant MicroServer + Windows Home Server 2011 combo
$80 - Kingston KVR1333D3E9SK2/8G 2 x 4GB DDR3 ECC Unbuffered RAM
$160 - 2 x Samsung Spinpoint F4 HD204UI 2TB 5400 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
---
Total: $578 plus tax and shipping

More than the $500 he quote but that's mainly due to the ECC RAM upgrade and the WHS OS inclusion. That combo deal effectively makes WHS 2011 only $13. I think that's a more than enough fair price to check out WHS 2011 in its entirety. But if you don't want it, just buy the server outside of that combo deal. Not sure if it's advisable to use non-ECC RAM to save $35.

Anyway, that's one option.

Now before I post a DIY setup, I need you to answer these questions:
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
 
I have a case. It's a large ATX case. The PSU could probably use an upgrade. My original thought was to upgrade CPU, mobo, RAM, and HDDs BUT I do have some spare parts: AMD Opteron 170 and an ASUS A8N Premium board. I do NOT have ECC RAM. DDR3 ECC RAM is much cheaper than DDR1 ECC RAM according to newegg.

Desired Mobo features: Onboard video would be easiest for a server I think. No need for dedicated GPU. USB 3.0, why not? SATA 6 is not that necessary given the throughput of most drives out there. eSATA might be good for backing up to an external enclosure, sure. RAID is not that important if being managed by FreeNAS. XFire/SLI definitely not needed.

I tend to research and buy my parts on Newegg or Amazon.
 
I have been thinking about building a nas for quite a while now, and this is one of the lest expensive solutions i have looked at.

motherboard $124.99
ASUS E35M1-I Fusion AMD E-350 APU It has 6 SATA 3 ports so would leave room for expansion. Its not very powerfull but Plenty of power for a small nas. You would have to use software raid with this because the chipset does not support raid.

Hard Drives 3 2tb drives for raidz1 (same as raid 5) $239.97
HITACHI Deskstar 5K3000 2tb drives seem to have the best price per gigabyte at the moment and these drives get pretty good reviews.

Ram $63.99
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB
awesome low voltage ram.

total $428.95

if you wanted a case to hold all this here are a couple of options.
this Fractal Design case has 6 3.5 bays and comes with a 300w power supply
or

a lan li Q08 and buy your own powersupply.

this soultion should use very little power at the wall.
 
I have been thinking about building a nas for quite a while now, and this is one of the lest expensive solutions i have looked at.

motherboard $124.99
ASUS E35M1-I Fusion AMD E-350 APU It has 6 SATA 3 ports so would leave room for expansion. Its not very powerfull but Plenty of power for a small nas. You would have to use software raid with this because the chipset does not support raid.

Hard Drives 3 2tb drives for raidz1 (same as raid 5) $239.97
HITACHI Deskstar 5K3000 2tb drives seem to have the best price per gigabyte at the moment and these drives get pretty good reviews.

Ram $63.99
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB
awesome low voltage ram.

total $428.95

if you wanted a case to hold all this here are a couple of options.
this Fractal Design case has 6 3.5 bays and comes with a 300w power supply
or

a lan li Q08 and buy your own powersupply.

this soultion should use very little power at the wall.

all good stuff..
 
Rody beat me to it. But I have some notes:
1) I recommend this G.Skill RAM instead since it uses even less voltage than the Corsair while being $4 cheaper:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231461

If you buy it before the end of the 14th, you can take advantage of promo code "EMCKAJG57" which knocks off another $10.

2) I'd recommend the Lian Li route since it provides better cooling to the hard drives than the Fractal Design and it'll be cheaper. I recommend this PSU:
$45 - Antec NEO ECO 400C 400W PSU
 
But what about ECC RAM/support?

Do any of you all build around that?

Look at the setup I posted earlier: That uses ECC RAM.

Unfortunately I am not sure if the E-350 APU supports ECC RAM.
 
So once again what is wrong with this proposed build?

Mobo: ASUS M4A88T-M LE AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX (ECC Support)
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core (ECC Support)
Kingston 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) ECC Unbuffered Server Memory
Intel EXPI9301CT 10/ 100/ 1000Mbps PCI-Express Desktop Adapter Gigabit CT
Patriot Xporter XT Boost 4GB Flash Drive (for the OS)

2x SAMSUNG EcoGreen F4 HD204UI 2TB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard (for RAID 1)


I think someone stated that the Samsung Eco drives are not ideal? For ZFS?
 
Theres nothing wrong with that build, it's just a lot of money for what you're trying to achieve..

The drives are fine.
 
Theres nothing wrong with that build, it's just a lot of money for what you're trying to achieve..

Maybe none of the machines are always on (or use wake on lan) so that he can not just share out files from 1 machine and use backups..
 
Theres nothing wrong with that build, it's just a lot of money for what you're trying to achieve..

The drives are fine.

Then there is the other option of using my old Opteron 170 and ASUS A8N-SLI Premium board. Does it accept un-registered ECC RAM? Would the price tag be worth it?

Otherwise, I would still need to buy the HDDs and perhaps a new Intel NIC.

I just wonder why someone earlier boo-hooed the Samsung drives for this application?
 
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