Upgrade Path Advice

[Justintoxicated]

I have a bad drive on my WHS, so aparently my storage pool is messed up and the only clean fix is a re-install.

So I need some advice from the experts.

WHS server is a C2D I think 1700mhz Micro atx MB, in micro ATX case. 5 1TB drives, and 3 2TB drives. I also just purchased another 2TB drive, but it appears that drive replacement won't fix my problem...

Gaming / Business Computer is a Liquid Cooled Q9450 Overclocked DFI Lanparty Expert MB with 8 sata ports.

I need to replace my WHS ASAP as in, start ordering parts tomorrow because it's running quite a few things for me. However my Gaming / business rig is just as old and also needs an upgrade. Would the quad core I have make a good WSE box or would it be too inefficient?

Upgrade path one is update my gaming PC, and migrate the quadcore Rig as the new server (remove liquid cooling). I was going to wait till the new install stuff was released next month though...

Upgrade path 2 is to just build a new server.

Another possibility is to keep my existing server hardware, and just upgrade all the 1TB drives with 4TB drives and WSE. I can use the 2TB drive in my gaming rig, to begin migrating data off the server, and remove all the other drives one at a time. This would allow me to wait for the new intell stuff. However, I would not know what to do with my quadcore I have now after the upgrade.

 

[FrostBite]

You didn't list your budget which will be the most important factor, doubly since you are looking to possibly buy 2 separate systems. Also, if you don't need a beefy server, a low power and cheap board with enough SATA slots (or an HBA) will work too, but if you do need something more powerful for storage, expect to pay more.

Again, all comes down to money.

 

[Justintoxicated]

You didn't list your budget which will be the most important factor, doubly since you are looking to possibly buy 2 separate systems. Also, if you don't need a beefy server, a low power and cheap board with enough SATA slots (or an HBA) will work too, but if you do need something more powerful for storage, expect to pay more.

Again, all comes down to money.

Fix the server, still want to upgrade it though... Budget is $1500-2k tops. Currently the server is powerful enough but if I add more security cameras it may begin to struggle with the load IF i want to record at 30fps.

 

[Justintoxicated]

Ok so should I stick with my old hardware? I love the mini P180 Antec case due to only needing one giant fan on top. And drives are easy enough to access and replace. The problem is there isn't enough hard drive slots. Should I buy a new case?

I have an extra CM Stacker ST-01, but getting at the drives in the stacker and poping on the front plates is kind of a pain and probably dated.

Also if I move the quad core to the new storage server, then it isn't going to fit in the P180 mini since it is not micro atx.

I'm almost tempted to get rid of both systems entirely and build new ones.... Or just keep the old storage server, update to MSE 2012, and buy some larger capacity drives for it?

Can anyone recommend a good full tower case that provides decent cooling and easy access for hard drives.

Current Storage server has an E7300 running in it. I pay a lot for power, but I'm still not sure upgrading it would be worth the energy savings? If I use my current gaming PC it will get a Q9450, I'm not sure the difference in efficiency between the two will really matter much? Under max load maybe, but if I need to constantly run at the max load on my storage server, then I would have other problems.