Small home server - will these parts be OK?

[Lightning98]

Hello,

I'm planing on building a small server for my home... probably going to be used by a few people (and not at once :D ) so a powerfull computer is not really needed.

here's what i've come up with.

Gigabyte G31M-S2L
Celeron Dual Core E1200
G.SKILL Standard Series 1GB
WD 640AAKS
Fortron 350W

The CPU is the cheapest i could find, and i'll use my old box cooler from a Q6600 on it so it should be OK.

Just looking for input, or if any other mobo would be better...
My only requirement is that it doesn't draw too much power, is dead silent and has G-LAN.

Any advice is welcome :)
Thanx,
Tom.

[Roliath]

What will its intended purpose be?

[ripken204]

if it's just a file server then you're fine, what OS do you plan on using?

[Lightning98]

Well that... just a file server... and not a very advanced one (i just thought i'd "map network drives")...

I'll be storing files i work with on my main computer (the server should be working 24/7) so i can access them by my laptop or other computers in my house...
Also, storing family pics movies... stuff (of course properly backed up)...

Planing on putting XP Pro on it, since vista would probably be too much for it + it would probably draw more power. IS it even possible to share files XP - Vista x64??

[zanzabar]

i would get something with ecc memory, u can get an older 975 with ecc for relatively inexpensive now for intel, and i would go amd

[reberto]

i would get something with ecc memory, u can get an older 975 with ecc for relatively inexpensive now for intel, and i would go amd

ECC is a bit overboard for a basic home file server

[zanzabar]

but u can get the ram cheap and an amd board that dose ecc cheap and all a64/opterons do it

[Lightning98]

Why do i even need ECC? i mean isn't that meant for servers which do some critical work, and not a single mistake is allowed...
Oh and i checked, ECC memory here isn't cheap... its more expensive than DDR3, so no way i'm doing that... i just need something really cheap, but still OK to be able to run 24/7

[zanzabar]

what about prices http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134099 its $12 for 1GB, u were probly looking at fully buffered ecc

[reberto]

what about prices http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134099 its $12 for 1GB, u were probly looking at fully buffered ecc

Cheaper ;)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148239

And if he gets ECC ram then he'll need a motherboard that can utilize ECC ram which is even more expensive. ECC is just pointless for a home server.

[ExodusC]

Agreed, ECC seems pointless for a non-critical home server.

All the parts would be fine for a file server and more, except maybe that power supply. I've never even heard of it, but if it seems to be reliable, it'll probably be fine.

I was going to suggest a motherboard that supports RAID, in case you ever decide to set up something like a RAID1 for backup, but if you're going to use the onboard video, you could always just stick a PCI-E x1 software RAID card into the PCI-E x16 slot and be ready to go.

So overall, it seems fine to me.

[tiro_uspsss]

I disagree on the ECC being useless - I myself have fallen 'victim' to bit errors; I was transferring files via LAN, lost a bunch of pics & an ISO - no fun, I can tell u that. If u live in USA, ECC RAM is cheap enough, & as zanzabar said, either get the older (thus cheaper) 975 intel mobo or go AMD, both of which will support ECC :up:

[zanzabar]

all asus board on am2+ are ecc capable ;)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131325

and 45W 2.1ghz x2 for $38
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103647


and i always use ecc affter im done ocing/gaming and retire something i will getting some ecc ddr2 to go with my current board once i get a 32nm i7 or a p2

[reberto]

On a small home server there is no need at all for ECC ram. It needs ECC ram as much as your personal computer does.

[tiro_uspsss]

On a small home server there is no need at all for ECC ram. It needs ECC ram as much as your personal computer does.

ur repeating urself & not substantiating ur view ;)

[reberto]

ur repeating urself & not substantiating ur view ;)

And your grammar is awful. ECC ram in a HOME FILE SERVER is just as pointless as having ECC ram in your gaming rig.

[tiro_uspsss]

And your grammar is awful. ECC ram in a HOME FILE SERVER is just as pointless as having ECC ram in your gaming rig.

& why? u never give a reason :stick:

edit: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144158
oh noezz!!! $22 for 2x1GB ECC DDR2 - waaaay too expensive! /sarcasm :rolleyes:

[Lightning98]

Okay... i see that some like ECC and some don't ... i never had a chance to work with it, but i have looked at the prices here. I can only buy in my country, although i have tried shipping a few times it ended costing me more (think +15% customs & +20%tax)
And the cheapest ECC here is about 110$ for 512MB. ON the other hand the memory i wrote in the 1st post goes for about 10$. Besides, isn't it more likely that if i lose files because of corruption over LAN it will probably be because of the switch/cable than the "server"?

I thought about RAID1... and i wanted to ask, that mobo (ICH7) probably doesn't have raid right? it would say ICH7R if it did?
And about the PSU... i was looking at something around 200W, but the lowest i found was this 350W (its the same manufacturer as the once popular BlueStorm)

How much would a configuration like this even draw? i'm guessign it shouldn't be more than 100W

[tiro_uspsss]

Okay... i see that some like ECC and some don't ... i never had a chance to work with it, but i have looked at the prices here. I can only buy in my country, although i have tried shipping a few times it ended costing me more (think +15% customs & +20%tax)
And the cheapest ECC here is about 110$ for 512MB. ON the other hand the memory i wrote in the 1st post goes for about 10$. Besides, isn't it more likely that if i lose files because of corruption over LAN it will probably be because of the switch/cable than the "server"?

where u located?


I thought about RAID1... and i wanted to ask, that mobo (ICH7) probably doesn't have raid right? it would say ICH7R if it did?

that is correct :yepp:


And about the PSU... i was looking at something around 200W, but the lowest i found was this 350W (its the same manufacturer as the once popular BlueStorm)

How much would a configuration like this even draw? i'm guessign it shouldn't be more than 100W

well if ur gonna expand along the line... either buy something more powerful now or spend later.. all depends on how fast ur gonna acumulate HDDs :D

[Lightning98]

I'm In Croatia... and i tried looking in countries around me but the prices go for about the same + i can't seem to find a lot of dealers for 975 mobos.

And i'm not planing on expanding this computer, i'm currently building (planing) a storage server which is going to be a bit... better :) So i'll only have 1 HDD in this computer.
The PSU will have to power: mobo, CPU, 1GB RAM, 1HDD, 1CPU Fan, 1x120mm fan. + USB Keyboard and Mouse... and that's about it :)

[reberto]

& why? u never give a reason :stick:

edit: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144158
oh noezz!!! $22 for 2x1GB ECC DDR2 - waaaay too expensive! /sarcasm :rolleyes:

My reason is that it is pointless and unnecessary, what more do you need? Why not save a few bucks and get normal ram which for this use will work exactly the same? He's also not in the US, so it won't cost the same for him.

[tiro_uspsss]

My reason is that it is pointless and unnecessary, what more do you need? Why not save a few bucks and get normal ram which for this use will work exactly the same?

cheapest DDR2 2x1GB is $17 @ the egg.. thats a whole massive $5 saving :eek: - thats.. thats.. an ice-cream? TIM? :shrug:

oo oo I know.. spend the extra $5 & do lil towards reducing BER - I somehow dont see this as 'pointless & unnecessay'

:2cents:


He's also not in the US, so it won't cost the same for him.

we're all the wiser in retrospect arent we? :rolleyes: :clap:

[ExodusC]

I still say ECC RAM is unnecessary for a home server. ECC RAM is generally used in mission-critical environments where there can be no margin of error, such as dataservers.

For a little home server, regular RAM will do just fine.

[reberto]

I still say ECC RAM is unnecessary for a home server. ECC RAM is generally used in mission-critical environments where there can be no margin of error, such as dataservers.

For a little home server, regular RAM will do just fine.

Exactly :up: Even on a file server that lots of people use it's still a bit overkill since all its doing is storing files for people to download.

[Lightning98]

Well its no point of arguing about it since i can't really buy it cheaply here :) And the mobos, i can't find any on the old 975 chipset, and the cheapest one here that supports ECC (Intel) costs about 340$ - which is more than the entire configuration in my 1st post.

So can someone sum it up for me in one word what would be the big advantage of running ECC? i know i have wikipedia and stuff but i don't really wanna go out and read a bunch of stuff to end up understanding nothing :D lol

[tiro_uspsss]

Well its no point of arguing about it since i can't really buy it cheaply here :) And the mobos, i can't find any on the old 975 chipset, and the cheapest one here that supports ECC (Intel) costs about 340$ - which is more than the entire configuration in my 1st post.

So can someone sum it up for me in one word what would be the big advantage of running ECC? i know i have wikipedia and stuff but i don't really wanna go out and read a bunch of stuff to end up understanding nothing :D lol

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=212417

:up:
& no, I havent 'digested' all the info in that thread myself! :p: :D

[Lightning98]

Okay, now with all the talk about ECC and losing files you're starting to get me in a paranoid mood :D lol

I was always under the impression that if i copy something the OS checks to see if its copied exactly the same...
But since we're talking ECC, can someone suggest a few Intel & AMD based motherboards that are ECC capable, and i'll check to see if i can buy any here, because the dealers here don't list motherboards as ECC capable...

[Lightning98]

OK, i still haven't got the time to build this thing, but here are the components i bought 2 weeks ago... and now i'm deciding on the CPU.

Mobo: AsRock G31M-GS (integrated VGA)
RAM: G-Skill Standard Series 1GB
HDD: WD 640AAKS
PSU: Fortron 350W

I'm kind of in between the E1400, or the E5200.
Since the 5200 works @2.5GHz, if i want even less power consumption could i just lower the multiplier to 10 and run it @2GHz?

And how much power would a configuration like this draw?

Thanx :)

[Bobsama]

Meh--too bad I didn't see this till now. I would have said go with a Seasonic SS-350ET or something better than the Fortron. Anyways--I'd say go with the E5200 if it's not killing the budget. You can even run at 1.2GHz (6x200) and lower the voltage dramatically and have plenty of speed.

[Lightning98]

Well that was the lowest wattage PSU i could find anywhere (i mean where i live :) ). The only PSU with less power was some cheap DeLux 200W mATX...

The 5200 is about 100$, while the 1400 goes for 60$....

[Humminn55]

Personally, Windows Home Server operating system is an excellent starting point to building a home server......based on Windows Server 2003 and includes 10 licenses......

The hardware requirements to run it are obscenely light.....512MB RAM, 1GHz cpu, 70GB hard drive.

You could even build with an old P4/Athlon chip and achieve very nice throughput from it. (I only know this because I just built up my first system using that OS and it runs fast on almost nothing hardware.....stuff you'd almost consider throwing away.)

And as for your power supply, have you investigated the Antec Earthwatts 350/430W power supplies? I don't know about Croatia, but here in the U.S., both go on sale all the time......Fry's sold the EA430 about a month ago for $19.99.

[AndrewL1950]

Why not use a dual core Atom CPU and a Mini ITX board?

[Lightning98]

As for the OS, i got a XP Pro i got from the company i work with, so I'll use that (since i have no intention of paying M$ for their lousy OS-es)

I thought about building it with some old components, as i have some laying around, but most of them don't have SATA, PCI-express or gigabit LAN so that's out of the qustion.
Looked around a bit, and the only Antec's i can get are the more expensive high wattage ones...

And i thought about Atom, but since its like 15$ cheaper to build i decided to go with this. This way i'll have the performance if i ever need it... and Atom really isn't that attractive to me, since the E1200 celly system draws about 20W more.

Anyways i decided to go with the E1200 or E1400, paying almost double for a E5200 i won't use much doesn't add up.

Thanx for the advice though.

[hiiyah777]

Are home server criteria typically along the same lines as HTPC criteria? You basically want something quiet, cool, and reliable while taking up minimal space? I'm not really sure what to look for when it comes to a server, but I usually think of them as pretty similar to HTPC's.

[AndrewL1950]

Are home server criteria typically along the same lines as HTPC criteria? You basically want something quiet, cool, and reliable while taking up minimal space? I'm not really sure what to look for when it comes to a server, but I usually think of them as pretty similar to HTPC's.

Something that is quiet, takes up a small amount of space and doesn't use much electricity.

That is why Atoms are perfect. It's just a home file server, it doesn't need to be powerful. People use to just scrap them together with whatever old parts were laying around the house.

[Darxide]

Why don't you just use a NAS?

I bought a NAS enclosure for £70 GBP. Neat little box, just add your own drives and connect it to your network. Mine holds 2 3.5" drives, and has options for RAID or JBOD.
I put 2 1Tb WD Cavair greens in RAID 1 mode.
Then just map it like you said.

Oh, and it handles torrents too!

[Lightning98]

Something that is quiet, takes up a small amount of space and doesn't use much electricity.

That is why Atoms are perfect. It's just a home file server, it doesn't need to be powerful. People use to just scrap them together with whatever old parts were laying around the house.

Yeah, that's about my definition of it :)

But why atom isn't really right for me is that i want to use this to keep files on it, occasionally to let it work on fluent simulation or some other programs i use in my work, so energy efficiency is important when i'm not using much of the processing power, but still it has to have some when i need it.

And if i have the additional PCI-e i can put in a RAID card if i ever turn it into a storage server.

Oh, and i meant to ask, is there any point in buying a PCI-e Gigabit LAN card, or with the PCi version do?

[hiiyah777]

Everything I've ever read anywhere says that the only hardware that uses the additional available bandwith in a PCIe slot is video cards. So far, everything else is subjectively overkill and unnecessary. PCI will do just fun. But does the board you're looking at have built-in lan? It would be good to save the heat and the slot to make sure you get a board with on-board gigabit LAN, as it would truly suffice.

[reberto]

Why not use a dual core Atom CPU and a Mini ITX board?

Because for a home file server there is little difference between a VIA C3 or C7 and the Atom in terms of performance & power consumption. And the Atom is much more expensive than either.

[Lightning98]

Everything I've ever read anywhere says that the only hardware that uses the additional available bandwith in a PCIe slot is video cards. So far, everything else is subjectively overkill and unnecessary. PCI will do just fun. But does the board you're looking at have built-in lan? It would be good to save the heat and the slot to make sure you get a board with on-board gigabit LAN, as it would truly suffice.

The board has gigabit LAN, but i need to have 2 LAN's active... And the board with dial Gigabit LAN are not in my current price range :)

[reberto]

The board has gigabit LAN, but i need to have 2 LAN's active... And the board with dial Gigabit LAN are not in my current price range :)

This isn't in your range?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813153126

[Lightning98]

Damn... that VIA board looks much better than most Atom boards, shame i can't buy it here...
It would probably be perfect for my needs, low power usage, dual LAN... oh well,