Networks Ideas for a NAS+ - suggestions more than welcome!!!

Oh where do I begin?

I have come to the conclusion that I want to have some form of NAS. In coming to that conclusion, I started shopping for an existing appliance and was surprised to find more than a few options. On the heals of this revelation I realized that an always-on computer that was able to do a bit more than serving files was a better fit.

Specifically I use both Windows XP and Mac OS X on a daily basis (one for work, one for play). I also have another laptop that will become a carputer before the end of summer. I want to add to this mayham with a 4th box with the following requirements, in order:

• Low to medium power draw
• Quiet, not silent as I know I will need to use off the shelf hard drives
• Small
• Under $1000USD
• RAID protected storage. I am no stranger to RAID setups and would prefer to run RAID-5. I know hardware RAID would be more effective, but can software RAID do the trick?
• 1000BASE-T compliant.
• bittorrent client (probably Vuze) 24/7 on this box
• Firewall

Now, I thought this might turn into a modding project, especially if I build from scratch. I don't need high-end graphics or audio but I do want as much throughput as possible (obviously). I am open to suggestions on existing appliances, barebones computers to modify and the like.

Suggestions?

 

I'm looking to build something similar myself (mainly as a file server and for streaming media).
The best I can come up with is a Chenbro ES34069 case which has four hot swappable 3.5" SATA drive bays and fitting a VIA EPIA SN 18000EG motherboard into it.
I plan on using Debian and running four 1TB Samsung Spinpoint hard drives as software RAID 5.

 

I've had the same general dilemma for years, tbh. Don't overcomplicate things - just throw a Drobo on the cheapest XP machine you can throw together and share the drive out over the LAN. That'll handle the data redundancy (it's not quite RAID... theoretically better in fact, in any case it's as safe).

OS X has no issue working with the Samba share from XP, though be warned that a few OS X apps (Aperture, and I think iPhoto) put problem characters in some filenames - @ and : to name a couple. If you could cough up extra, the base machine could be a Mac Mini and avoid that whole issue, but that's $600 for the Mini, $500 for the Drobo (the new FW800/USB ones, you can pick up the older USB-only ones for $350 while supplies last), plus hard drives. Maybe pick up a used Mini and spend the rest on drives. And of course then you have a fully usable system, but that's just as true with XP too.

Currently I don't have a Drobo in the mix but it's in the pipeline - I'm running JBOD and just running backup services for the files I'd really care about losing.

 

Bozzy34 - Wow, you and I are sympatico, those are the exact components I had thought of before I considered a custom build. The VIA board looks good, but I think I might have found something a bit better:

http://www.intel.com/products/desktop/motherboards/DG45FC/DG45FC-overview.htm

It's mini-itx, has 4 x SATAII, and GIG-E on board. Even with a Core2Duo processor on it, it would come in about the same as the VIA in price (the thermal and power considerations are certainly different)

That said, that Drobo device looks pretty cool. I don't like the idea of having the space consideration thrown out, but then, modding one of those into the front of a mini-tower might be a fun little project.

BTW, I was stoked when I saw the new Intel Atom board thinking it might be the perfect solution. If it had a better NIC, it would be, but with only one PCI slot and 2 x SATA, it can't be expanded enough for my want.

Keep em coming you guys, and thanks!

 

Celeron E1200 (makes me feel a little weird - can a Celeron function as a server?):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116064

Intel mini-itx motherboard DG45FC:
http://www.intel.com/products/desktop/motherboards/DG45FC/DG45FC-overview.htm

Note: This is a sweet little board - even has eSATA. Anything wrong with the GIG-E built-in that anyone knows about?

2GB RAM (overkill?):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231098

4x750GB HDs:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136150

So far all of that is around $700. That leaves plenty for PSU, case (custom or the chenbro) and such.

Anything wrong with this thinking?

 

Atom board, PCI RAID card (it won't be for performance unfortunately), 1GB memory (overkill), serveral large drives and a big fan.

EDIT: Ahh - GigE. Hmmm.

 

If your thinking of using the Chenbro case, remember it only has a 120W PSU. I would imagine it would struggle to power a C2D processor if you fill all the drive bays with hard drives.

 

bozzy - I hear you about the PSU - that would have to be modded and it steps on my requirements for heat/quiet/power.

Still though, it seems silly to purchase a VIA board when a (much) more capable solution exists with commodity hardware. I hadn't been think of this before, but this system could accept a TV tuner card and be handed the responsibilities of a PVR as well.

 

Watchin over this topic as I'm yet to build my own file server as well. Thanks for the info so far

 

This is for the OS you select, why not use Linux? That will save some money off the bill

 

Millusdk - Absolutely. I am no stranger to Linux having setup and run several MythTV systems in the past few years.

Still liking the Intel mobo/processor route so far, still trying to ascertain the proper components. Very likely assembling this as a software RAID (performance takes a backseat on this build to price/size).

 

Have you decided on a case yet?
I was looking for a small ITX case with three 5 1/4" bays to fit a 5 disk backplane but couldn't find anything suitable.

 

I would swap the itx board for mini atx board, the abit f190hd is cheap and has gigabit nic and passive cooling and 4 sata2 ports and lower the ram to 2*512. use the money for a e2180, this will get you dual core very useful for servers. dont go cheap on the psu, a reliable power source is essential.

 

If you go for a micro-atx why not a AMD system?

With a (for example) M3A78-EMH HDMI (the one i use in my media center) + AM2 CPU.

Stable, good performance for the price, cheap(considering the other options), low power consuming(most of amd cpu's have a TDP of 65 Watts, and there are some 45 Watts choices too).

Just a opinion, take care ^^


AND... you have 6 SataII ports and gigabit lan too.

 

Thanks for the specific hardware suggestions everyone. I really want to capitalize on the smaller size of the mini-itx mainboards. I have used microATX sized boards before and I think they are too large for what I want to achieve.

Here is a custom project similar to what I mean:

http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/tera-itx/

Now, I am pretty sure I don't want to do the exact same thing if I decided to custom build. If I go with an off the shelf system, I will likely go with the Chenbro case mentioned above and upgrade the PSU if I need to.

If I custom build I might use something like a Pelican shipping case for a cool, theme looking build. I say might as I am not sure how much time I can devote to this.

More as I can think about it. Thanks again everyone!

 

The CPU and RAM for a server doesn't need to be huge, you can do it on 256MB and a duron processor, I would go for a Hardware RAID card just for the safety. If you use software RAID on the motherboard and the board dies, you have to get the exact same board (difficult if it's several years old when it fails) and sometimes the same BIOS revision too. With the hardware RAID if the card dies you can just replace it with the same card (sometimes different but same brand) and it should be able to recover it.

 

If you've got a need for decent network performance, don't skimp too much on the CPU/RAM. Believe it or not, it can take a decent amount of power to get the most out of a Gig-E port. You certainly don't need something high-end by any stretch of the imagination, but you can expect some level of performance difference between a Via board and some old P4 hardware. Just something to keep in mind, especially if you're doing anything more than just serving files.

 

VIA Nano board

29th June *cough*

 

You talking about this?:
http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=153632

Tiny! Not sure it would meet my needs, but....tiny!


Sigh - OK, it seems popular demand dictates a hardware RAID card. Anyone have suggestions on a 4-port SATAII card that won't kill the budget?

 

bozzy-

I found another bookmark I had saved awhile back. This guy stuck one of the 3 x5.25" to 5 x hard drive bays in a mini-itx breadbox style box:

http://www.mashie.org/casemods/udat1.html

Not exactly what I was looking for, but something similar may fit your needs - of course, it will require modding.