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WHS server upgrade options

P

plunger

Gawd
Joined
Jul 22, 2011
Messages
730
I have a home built Atom based WHS. It only has 2 SATA ports and no Gigabit Lan. I have an Intel CT Gigabit card in the sole pci-e slot.

I want to add an SATA card to add more hard drives. Should I get a PCI-E card or would a PCI card be ok? If I get a PCI-E SATA card, I would have to buy a PCI Intel Gigabit card also. I am not doing raid and all the drives I use and plan on adding will be WD Greens.

whse.jpg

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Specs for my MB:
Jetway ATOM-GM1-330
Intel®945GC Express Chipset +ICH7 Chipset
Intel® Atom 330 Processors
Integrated Intel® GMA 950 GPU
Supports Dual Channel DDR2 533/400
Integrated 2 * Serial ATA2 3Gb/s
Integrated 10/100m LAN
Integrated ALC662 HD Audio CODEC with 6-CH
2 * 32-bit PCI Slots
1 * PCI-Express x1slot
Micro ATX Form Factor (228mm X 180mm)
http://www.jetway.com.tw/jw/motherboard_view.asp?productid=349&proname=ATOM-GM1-330
 
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A cheap PCI SATA card would also work - if you're not that much worried about drive throughput...
Overall better performance would come with your idea (PCI NIC and PCIe SATA card), however there are few PCIe x1 SATA cards and they typically support only 2 SATA ports. Is that enought for your use case?

Another route would be to switch out the mother board for one that already has more SATA ports and sell the existing one plus the Intel NIC. That may be roughly the same expense.
There are many boards that fit the bill, but take a look at the SuperMicro X7SPA-HF-D525. It uses a slightly more powerful ATOM that uses less power, but has two Intel NICs, six SATA II ports and even an IPMI port (for KVM-over-IP).
Another (cheaper) option is the ASUS E35M1-I: It also comes with six SATA ports and costs a lot less than the SuperMicro board and you would use the Intel NIC in the PCIe slot.
The ASUS E35M1-M PRO is a fuller featured version of the above board and brings more connectivity and an additional PCIe slot (you'd put the Intel NIC in the PCIe x1 and have the remaining PCIe slot for future enhancements - if the BIOS allows IO cards in that slot).

What's that little thing at the bottom of the case? A fan power splitter?

Nice and clean cabling by the way...

-TLB
 
That is a fan controller on the bottom :)

I think I will suck it up and buy the ASUS E35M1-M PRO. It looks good and I've outgrown this setup. I didn't have a gigabit network at the time and I didn't think I would need more than 2 TB of HD at the time (2009) :D

I will need new DDR3 ram. Do I go for 2x2GB or 4GB?

Windows Home Server:
Windows Home Server is available only in a 32-bit edition. The physical memory limit is 4 GB.

ASUS E35M1-M PRO:
2 x DIMM, Max. 8GB, DDR3 1066 Hz Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory
Single Channel Memory Architecture
 
Ooops, yeah I forgot about the DDR2 vs. DDR3 memory. Maybe the PCIe x1 SATA card in conjunction with a PCI GigE card (around $50...$60 total) is the better option to enhance the life of the system by just a little bit (let's say a year). Once you outgrow that setup that is basically maxed out, you go to a new system.
You'll get a much better replacement motherboard a year from now (or you get the mentioned stuff a lot for a lot less).

Regarding your other question:
It depends on the system how much RAM is actually usable for the OS. The Zotac in my media center (see sig) only has 2.85 GB left for the OS (after the video card also took its share).
So technically a 1x1GB + 1x2GB setup would be sufficient, but since RAM is cheap these days....
As 2x2 GB vs. 1x 4GB doesn't make a difference in performance, I'd go the 1x4GB route as this allows for upgrades in the future (in case you want to use the board for a different purpose or OS).

-TLB
 
I think I will be building a fresh WHS v1 with the ASUS E35M1-M PRO board. Will keep the current one also.

Server 1 will be LAN only for backups and other important files. 2TB is more than enough for this.
Server 2 is strictly for music/movies and will use the new MB.

I have a Pogoplug I tried to use as a media server. What a piece of junk.
 
plunger said:
That is a fan controller on the bottom :)
Click to expand...
What brand/type? Is it just an adapter for the different connectors or can you control the fan speed with it?
I am looking for a small fan controller to silence the fans on my CHENBRO ES34169-BK-120 case.

-TLB
 
I have a Windows Home Server with 11 harddrive bay, if you wanna see pics letm e know and il post em
 
SilverStone FP33 is the fan controller $21. The thing on the bottom was included. It has a front bay mount or rear mount.

I'm not going to upgrade this current machine anymore. Going with a new build. Looks to be the best option for me.

Thanks for the photo offer, photos are always welcomed :D

FP33-3.jpg
 
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I have a new server ordered.

The only thing I forgot was to add an Intel Gigabit PCI-E card. I already have a desktop and server with it.

orderqh.jpg
 
Here's the finished product. I still need to order a 90mm exhaust fan. No complaints about the MB or setup at all :)


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whsasus2011.jpg

whsasus20112.jpg
 
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