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Help with my Server Build

post #1 of 33
8/20/12 at 8:24am
Thread Starter 
I'm planning an upcoming server build for my home. I don't need anything too extreme, and I'd like the build to be rather affordable. I don't plan on purchasing a separate RAID controller, but will be using the onboard controller from the motherboard.

I don't have my heart set on a mobo yet, but one that seems to meet my needs would be the MSI 970A-G46
(http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130637)

Basically what I'm looking for is a build that will support RAID 5 on SATA 3. I plan on using 4 Western Digital Caviar Green drives for storage and a separate smaller drive for the OS.

I'm an Intel guy, but as I won't really be spending that much time on this machine, I couldn't care less whether it's Intel or AMD (thus my original choice of motherboard). I just want something reliable, cheepish, and low maintenance.

As this is my first server build, I'm looking to learn as much as I can before I go at it, and I would love your input/comments/criticisms. Feel free to make your recommendations for hardware if you have any.

Thanks in advance.
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Crucial M4 64GB SSD Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB Noctua NH-D14 Windows 7 Professional 
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post #2 of 33
8/20/12 at 8:44am
Well, question number one: What kind of server?

Will this be a Storage server, DNS, DHCP, Domain...?

2: Power consumption?

3: Budget?
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RAMHard DriveHard DriveHard Drive
G.Skill 4x8GB 1600 8-9-8-21 1T Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB Hitachi 750GB Samsung 830 256GB 
Optical DriveCoolingCoolingOS
Lite-On DVD Burner Raystorm 750 RX360 Windows 8 Enterprise x64 
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AudioAudioAudioOther
Sound Blaster Tactic 3D Sigma Fisher STV-758 Dayton SUB-1200 CH Fighterstick USB 
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Phenom II X4 970BE @4.3Ghz 1.55v Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3 Gigabyte HD 7870 2GB Corsair Vengance 4x4GB 1800 10-10-10 
Hard DriveHard DriveHard DriveOptical Drive
WesternDigital Caviar Blue 320GB WesternDigital Caviar Blue 500GB Crucial M4 64GB Lite-On DVD Burner 
CoolingCoolingOSMonitor
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Wireless Logitech CM GX750 CM HAF XM Wireless Logitech 
Mouse PadAudio
The Desk Onboard Realtek 
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post #3 of 33
8/20/12 at 8:49am
Thread Starter 
Sorry, I should have given these details.

1. Storage Server
2. The lower the better. Electricity is super cheap where I live, so this isn't of primary concern.
3. I'd like to stay under $800 if possible. However, there's ALWAYS room to move with this.
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Crucial M4 64GB SSD Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB Noctua NH-D14 Windows 7 Professional 
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Crucial M4 64GB SSD Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB Noctua NH-D14 Windows 7 Professional 
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Samsung P2370 PC Power & Cooling Silencer MKII 950W Bitfenix Shinobi XL White Yamaha 5.1 (not sure model #'s) 
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post #4 of 33
8/20/12 at 8:53am
I would recommend intel. Why? Beacause lower power consumption, especially of i3 and other dual core processors (around 40W or even less, if you underwolt it). For few watts less, wait for Ivy Bridge i3s and Pentiums.

For extra quietnes you can buy a heavy tower cooler, and after underwolting try it without fan.

CPU's - you don't have to buy an low power (620T) procesor to have low power consuption, because with undervolting sandy bridge pulls around 10W per core. I recommend Intel pentium G530, very cheapish, fast as any AMD dual core, i3-2100 for extra performance, or single core Celeron G4x0 for (~)10W power consuption after undervolting.

MBD - A micro ATX B75 or H77 board.

RAM - Single module 8 or 4GB, 1.25 or 1.35V, if possible.

PSU: If you have money: Seasonic SS-400FL or SS-460FL, if you don't - any ~400W (even 200W would be more than enough) quality PSU Seasonic/Corsair/Antec.

CASE: A micro ATX case like TJ08-E, PS07, Fractal Design Core 1000, Arc Mini... (check if it have space for enough 3.5'' drives), if you can find mesh (Core 1000 is partially mesh) design for complete fanles operation, with Seasonic FL.
Edited by thebluephoenix - 8/20/12 at 8:56am
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post #5 of 33
8/20/12 at 8:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by googleberry View Post

I'm planning an upcoming server build for my home. I don't need anything too extreme, and I'd like the build to be rather affordable. I don't plan on purchasing a separate RAID controller, but will be using the onboard controller from the motherboard.
I don't have my heart set on a mobo yet, but one that seems to meet my needs would be the MSI 970A-G46
(http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130637)
Basically what I'm looking for is a build that will support RAID 5 on SATA 3. I plan on using 4 Western Digital Caviar Green drives for storage and a separate smaller drive for the OS.
I'm an Intel guy, but as I won't really be spending that much time on this machine, I couldn't care less whether it's Intel or AMD (thus my original choice of motherboard). I just want something reliable, cheepish, and low maintenance.
As this is my first server build, I'm looking to learn as much as I can before I go at it, and I would love your input/comments/criticisms. Feel free to make your recommendations for hardware if you have any.
Thanks in advance.

Why does SATA 6Gb/s matter? Your network will bottleneck even SATA 1.5Gb/s.


I would just grab any mATX/mITX motherboard and any dual-core CPU within the last 4 years.
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post #6 of 33
8/20/12 at 9:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DuckieHo View Post

Why does SATA 6Gb/s matter? Your network will bottleneck even SATA 1.5Gb/s.

Agreed.
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post #7 of 33
8/20/12 at 9:02am
Thread Starter 
The problem I'm finding with Intel is the motherboards just don't have enough SATA 3 ports that are in RAID. There's plenty out there with 4 to 6 SATA 3 ports, but next to none have 4 in RAID 5. The ones that do tend to be outrageously expensive in contrast to my original mobo which is priced at $85...

I agree with you about going with Intel for low temps and low power consumption. They definitely take the cake there, but like I said above, finding an appropriate mobo seems to be the bigger problem.

Thanks for the suggestion on the PSU. Having a good, reliable PSU is pretty important on a server.

If you know of any Intel boards that have at least 4 SATA 3 ports in RAID together for a reasonable price, please let me know as I'm not finding much.

EDIT: I just read your post DuckieHo. I think I just realized you're right... It's going to come down to the router/switch correct, which is a 10/100/1000 Router? So the data transfer rates will be bottle necked by this. I feel dumb right now haha :S
Edited by googleberry - 8/20/12 at 9:11am
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Crucial M4 64GB SSD Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB Noctua NH-D14 Windows 7 Professional 
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post #8 of 33
8/20/12 at 9:07am
SATA 2 is compatible with SATA3. There is no difference in performance whether using SATA2 or SATA3 ports, with hard drives, especially low performance ones like WD Green.
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post #9 of 33
8/20/12 at 9:13am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by thebluephoenix View Post

SATA 2 is compatible with SATA3. There is no difference in performance whether using SATA2 or SATA3 ports, with hard drives, especially low performance ones like WD Green.

Okay, would you have any other recommendations for good 24/7 storage drives?
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Crucial M4 64GB SSD Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB Noctua NH-D14 Windows 7 Professional 
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post #10 of 33
8/20/12 at 9:28am
WD Green is good. Anyway if you need fast read/write performance Seagate's 2TB (I presume you planing usin 2TB drives) 7k drive is good chice http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&safe=off&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&biw=1280&bih=806&q=seagate+2tb&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=5226738400751812310&sa=X&ei=4WQyUPb-C4nEsga02YEI&ved=0CHoQ5Q0wAA Again, 3Gb/s is more than enough.

Also, WD Red drives are optimised for NAS http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=wd+red&hl=en&safe=off&prmd=imvns&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&biw=1280&bih=806&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=5983945496190503302&sa=X&ei=1mYyUKONCcvFtAaA-oC4Bw&ved=0CKwBEPMCMAk, http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&sugexp=cfrsh&tok=ZcH0cjPNRRvssogY4ntAvw&ds=sh&pq=wd+red&cp=8&gs_id=2yr&xhr=t&q=wd+red+2tb&safe=off&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&biw=1280&bih=806&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=14970409213535861113&sa=X&ei=M2cyUL_jLZH0sgbE2oCYCQ&sqi=2&ved=0CFgQ8wIwAA, although, they're a bit pricier.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6157/western-digital-red-review-are-nasoptimized-hdds-worth-the-premium/5
Edited by thebluephoenix - 8/20/12 at 9:37am
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