hello folks, I'm after a bit of advice on whats best for me to get for building a home server computer. I've been looking round, but ive been out of the computer game for a good 18 months, and it seems strange and unusual. I used to have a Q6600 g0 powered monster, but all that techno is old hat now..... so back on thread, the function of my home server is to primarily be a downloads server, with media streaming capabilities. My network is very capable as its hard wired with no less than cat6 wiring (its mainly cat7 as its under floors) I dont need it to be a powerhouse, but at the same time, it needs to be able to cope with a bit of stick, and whilst I'm no eco warrior, summat green would be ideal. I've got a 4 wd hard drives, which ill use, like wise ive got a silverstone psu which will be more than capable of powering a small system. I'd want to be looking at intel cpu's, as ive never really liked amd's offerings The main concern ive got is which skt do i go for, as 1156 seems to have a good range of cheap processors, but 1366 offers more capable cpus for not that much more. So thats the demand list, hope my wish list can be met regards tunedude
why not use the Q6600 no real need to go higher for a server if you have one going spare heck for a downloads / media streaming comp get a atom based (or celeron) chipset. why do you feel it necessary for a i based setup
Silence is also a critical factor with a 24/7 server as well - my 24/7 home server about 15 years ago was so noisy I ran power and network up into the loft to hide it there, yet the blighter could still be heard as it vibrated the rafters! With that in mind have you considered a quality NAS box? After the favourable CPC review I bought a Synology 210j and dropped two Samsung F3 1TB drives in it in RAID 1 - total cost at the time £250. As well as providing the usual file server options there are a bunch of other "applications" you can enable on it, such as: Download server (torrents, FTP, HTTP, eMule etc) Full DNLA Media Server iTunes Server Photo Station (makes your digital photos available on the web arranged in albums) Web Server (with php and MySQL database) Backup Server (provides software for windows clients, and supports Time Machine for Macs) I've got mine set up to further backup all the important stuff onto a portable hard drive that's plugged into its USB socket. I think the 210j has now been superseded by the 211j - info here. There are plenty of other NAS manufacturers and options of course, but given their low power consumption, quietness, and cheap costs (compared to buying new PC hardware) I'd definitely recommend giving them a serious look
If it's downloading and media streaming you need next to no CPU performance: what you need is a solid storage array and network performance. If it's transcoding video, that's another factor entirely where you will need CPU. I agree with =DJ= - if you're going to put the money into it consider Synology or QNAP: both have excellent software.
basically, the computer would be a storage box, so basically, it downloads summat, then its able to send it to one of the computers in the house. Ive not got the q6600 setup anymore, that went to the big computer skip in the sky after a psu went supernova I was considering an atom based setup, embedded and perhaps on a mini itx board, but i didnt know whether the atom cpus would be up2 it, as i know my eee's cpu cant multitask without throwing a wobbler, hence me considering getting a clarkdale i3 or the like how easy is nas software to use, as i kno my uncles setup for his business took quite a bit of fiddling about with regards tuney
Not sure about the QNAP stuff but there is an online demo for the Synology web interface here. (Link takes you to a page with a further link plus username & password login details) Synology's web interface is identical across all their devices, and they have mocked it up to look like the desktop of an OS. Once you have logged in, click on the arrow at the top left of the "desktop" - that is the equivalent of the Windows "Start" button and takes you to further options. Like anything new it takes a little while to get your head around their approach, but personally I found it pretty intuitive and was up and running in no time...
The QNAP interface is awesome, easily as good as Synology imo. The only downside is that their hardware is expensive and imo, a bit underpowered.
