ok, im looking to build a file server (for some wierd reason) my dad is thinking SFF, but im not, so... here the deal, - its only going to serve the two other PCs in the house, and one day a third. - is got to me up 24/7 - so it has to be lowish power (keep the elecy bill down!!) - im planning to have it as a domain server, so users can log into eather mechine downstair and get there desktop/user space etc - and finally, its [/b]got to be under £250[/b] (just for the PC, i got a moniter etc) Surely i can get a faster PC for the same price, if it doesnt have to be SFF? daniel
You can definately build a decent file server for under £250. A home file server doesn't need to be super fast. The storage should cost the most, because you'll want a lot . You could buy a SFF server on ebay for pretty cheap.
i wouldn't even think about putting a fileserver in a sff not enough space for drives... full tower, set it up then hide it ina corner somewhere thats what im planning todo gonna get like a cheap SoA cpu, ~512mb ram and as much as i can on a raid card/hard drives (got mobo/case/psu already) if all it has to do is serve files you really dont need a powerful system
yeah, i dont see the point in having it SFF, you could, but i would have though it would costmore/be more work - can its going in the atic !!! - so i can be 4foot squire and i could still hide it - main thing im wondering is cheap MOBOs, what im i looking at, on-board video sensable??? - SATA/RAID etc worth it (for serving two PCs!!) thanks daniel
depends how many drives he needs? You could get a cheap, but reliable skt A board and duron processor, then whack in a PCI IDE card and your sorted. Wouldnt bother with raid - too much hassle for too little get back.
my plan is to end up with a 1tb raid 5 array, worth it imo with a sff you can fit what 2 drive? 3 at hte most? so you're going to end up with like a max of 6-700gig if you boot off storage drives and use a controller card probably plenty for most people but doesnt give you any upgrade options really
why the PCI IDE card? - wont there be one on the board, and im only planing on have one 120gig HDD and 1 CD ROM drive - would it be cheapest to unboard video? (it only geting a 15" crt, and 99% of the time that will be off and i'll be remote admining it
if all you want is 120gig of storage then you could well do it with a SFF, but you wont be able to increase your storage much 120gig is nothing now
I hope this is ok to do. Provided u don't mind using amd in a server: AMD DURON 1600 266FSB CPU - OEM - £21.99 Pcchips KT266A SKT A DDR AGP Sound LAN USB 2.0 Retail Box - £12.99 256MB DDR266 PC2100 Extra Value RAM - £18.56 JNC 4JA 54 ATX Midi Tower Case with 300watt PSU - £9.99 2 x Western Digital Caviar SE 160GB UIDE 100 7200rpm 8mb Cache - OEM - £108.90 (£54.45 each) Benq 52x Internal IDE CD-ROM Drive - OEM - £7.44 Speeze Ee427b0 Thundercombi Universal Heat Sink And Fan - £6.23 PCI ATA133 RAID Controller Card W/Cable - Retail Box - £7.99 Sony OEM 3.5 Floppy Drive - £3.75 Total: £197.84 SubTotal: £201.83 VAT: £35.36 Total: £237.19 All taken from a site we all know very well Im sure. Pretty close to your max budget, if u wanted to hit the 250 dead on u could probably go for a writer in there for backups or some more ram. 160gb with Raid mirroring should keep all your files pretty safe. No need for anything more than onboard graphics, your never gonna use it, sound is mute (literally) onboard lan should keep u rolling. Please excuse me if ive forgotton ne thing, feel free to call me an idiot, im pretty tired The only thing I havnt included is OS, I presume u will b going some sort of linux route?
Fair point sir, I never thought of that. Although you can never have enough redundancy imo, and your other pc's may not have a huge amount of storage, I dont kow. A central back up point may be handy. (edited cos im to tired to see whom I replying to)
one think i think you've missed it adding the cost of the two drives!!! and then i think that should be sub total £310.8, ex VAT!!! - but, other than that, look sweet, doing a little digging my self, and i got a simluar set up, and i might be able to get the 2nd HDD, for redudently and then just raid 0 them - as for OS's, im not quite sure yeah, i had though of win2k AS, beacuse i have it and it easy (im a littly my noobie when it comes to linux ) - but what ever i use, it doesnt has to be bugjeted for here!!
I use MS SBS 2003 at work and its bloody good imo, probs overkill for what u want tho, and not cheap. Maybe Server 2003 Ill get my calculator out and try again... Edit: Sorry my calculator comes out at 197.84, then add delivery and VAT to get my final total... maybe Im missing somthing that I'll work out in the morning? Also win2k AS would be fine, as u already have it (didnt read that bit) I don't like the thingy in it for remote desktoping as I recall but it should b nice and stable.
yeah, but, as always i've thought of that!!, first off out atic isnt to bad, and secondly, we have a ventlaition unit that cycals air to ever roon in the house, so im going to take a duct off the the PC, so it will get fresh (filltered) air - and i'll have MBM and shutdown on it
Code: £15.27 Pcchips KT266A SKT A DDR AGP Sound LAN USB 2.0 Retail Box £21.99 AMD DURON 1600 266FSB CPU - OEM £37.12 x2 256MB DDR266 PC2100 Extra Value RAM £11.74 JNC 4JA 54 ATX Midi Tower Case with 300watt PSU £95.98 x2 Seagate 7200 HD120GB £8.81 CTX 56x Internal IDE CD-ROM Drive - Retail Box £8.74 Amd Xp3200+ Air Cool Copper Base + 3 Point Clip £4.41 CoolerMaster 80mm Fan Pack SAF-B83 £204.06 total (all inc VAT) - that what i've come up with - so, i think where think paralell thought - CHEAPNESS!!!
hehehe, one thing tho, does that board have IDE RAID onboard? If not don't forget to add the PCI RAID card @ £7 if u want to mirror
No no no no! NOT a pc chips mobo! If you want something uber reliable get a decent brand. Same goes for the ram - you dont have to spend much more but itll give you less chance of hassle with it. Im not saying these setups cant be reliable, but its less likely to be. 1600 duron is an overkill - go for the cheapest one. You dont need any extra cooling fans to begin with, just see how you go. OEM CDROMs are cheaper than retail. £8 for HSF? Pff go for a £3 one - itll cool a duron!
Thats the slowest one I've found otherwise I woulda reliability? I think he wants them for the duct in his attic? Just have to say I have used those cheapy Pc chips boards and there fine, reliable, didnt throw up ne problems... there just not that quick, and the only problem I have with cheap ram is compatibility... but Ive used the a 256 stick and that pc chips mobo without a problem in a setup b4.
