I just purchased a file server. Before I get into the specs, this is why I purchased it.
- I wanted a backup solution. Taking a cue from Scott Hanselman (here and more recently here), I needed a Family Backup Strategy. I really hate the idea of all of my personal information stored on a single hard drive that can fail at any time. I’ve heard too many horror stories. This backup server will be in addition to an off-site backup of my most important data (via Mozy).
- I wanted a central media server. I’m playing around with Vista Media Center, and I really like it. It’s every bit as good as Tivo, plus the flexibility of a full PC. However, it’s currently limited to a single machine. This is especially bad when I Tivo a show in the bedroom, but want to watch it in the living room. I want a central server that contains all of my media, and have satellite clients spread throughout the house that can access that content.
- I wanted more hard drive space. Nobody can have enough hard drive space. Pictures, home movies, games, downloads … it all adds up! Plus, I wanted it in a centralized location so that everything can be accessed from one machine.
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I had a few options to weigh before purchase time. The most important option had to do with the case:
- My initial thought was to go whole-hog and buy the rackmount case w/ redundant power supplies (for example here). This is the ultimate piece-of-mind, both in terms of redundancy, and scalability. Even if the power supply dies (which usually is the first to go), the second power supply will keep it going. And with that many drive bays, it can handle upgrading whenever the need arises.
- I also considered the Dell approach. Dell’s servers are way too expensive, and their desktop cases don’t have room for a RAID storage solution. But I did vow to myself that I would never build a PC ever again. It’s always easier to just get a Dell.
- My final choice was a regular PC case and build it from scratch. I had to find a case that had enough drive bays, and not frustrate me completely when it came down to building it (poorly designed cases usually makes building a PC the worst chore).
I choose building the PC from scratch. I did this for two reasons. The server will have to live in our bedroom for some time while I figure out how to make a server closet. So a relatively quiet PC is preferred. This rules out the rackmount. Also, I’d prefer to keep the price down as much as possible. I definitely don’t want to go cheap since reliability is my #1 concern, however the rackmount prices were starting to get excessive.
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How much storage should I buy?
This was an interesting excersize. How do you balance the price versus how many terabytes do you need? Notice I say the word “need”. If it was how much I “want,” that’s a completely different question! Probably the most important thing to note, is that with a RAID 5 setup, 6 x 500gb drives is both cheaper and offers more storage than 4 x 750gb drives (~$720 vs ~$850, Raid Calculator). The trade off here is more physical drives equals more noise and more chance for failure. And at the time of this writing, 1tb drives are just now appearing, and priced way above normal.
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Requirements
These were my own requirements for the file server that I created:
- Intel quad core
- Gigabit ethernet
- Dedicated RAID 5 card (no motherboard solutions)
- At least 4 drives
- Seperate boot drive
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Purchasing
I took a lot of ideas from Jeff Atwood’s series where he custom built Scott Hanselman’s PC. This post has links to the entire series. In fact, I really liked the case he chose. It offered both relatively quiet operation, plus room for all the hard drives I wanted to put in it. In fact, the main hard drive bay contained room for 4 drives in a little pull out cage. So everything’s nice and together. Neat!
For the RAID, I’m fond of 3Ware’s cards, and since the case can hold 4 drives (plus boot), I’m going with the 9650SE-4LPML. I’ve heard too many horror stories about motherboard or software raid, etc. I want reliability, and from what I can tell these cards are the ones to get.
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Here’s the entire parts list:
- (amazon) Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 quad-core
- (newegg) EVGA 122-CK-NF63-TR LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
- (newegg) Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
- (newegg) BIOSTAR V8402GL26 GeForce 8400GS 256MB
- (newegg) Antec P182 Gun Metal Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
- (newegg) Antec True Power Trio TP3-550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply
- (newegg) Sony NEC Optiarc 18X DVD±R DVD Burner
- (newegg) Western Digital Raptor WD360ADFD 36GB 10,000 RPM
- (amazon) 3WARE Pci-e Sataraid 9650SE-4LPML
- (amazon) 4 x Seagate Barracuda ST3750640AS 750GB 7200 RPM
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Putting it together was fairly easy. Granted, it’s been years since I actually built my own PC. Coding Horror’s step-by-step pictures were a lot of help. It’s always nice to have someone show you how to do it, rather than blazing a trail yourself. The typical stuff was always a pain … installing the CPU heatsink, cable lengths that are almost too short, hooking up all the LEDs and USB headers to the motherboard, trying not to lose any motherboard screws underneath the motherboard, etc. And all without accidently short circuiting or breaking off anything.
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Looking back at the purchase, I have a tinge of buyer’s remorse. In the end, I got a really fast PC, with about 2.5tb of storage for about $2000+. What’s the alternative here? Well, the obvious thing is an external hard drive. Yes, there are 2TB external hard drives available (essentially 2 x 1TB drives mashed together). But, I wouldn’t trust this solution as a primary back up solution. The drives themselves are just as reliable as the desktop counterparts. However, I worry about the cheap controllers and connectors they attach too. If that connector breaks, access to your data is no longer possible, even if the drive itself is working just fine.
But what about other solutions? After buying the machine, I was wondering about buying *2* external hard drives. 2 x 2tb external hard drives is still cheaper than the machine I bought. Wouldn’t the reliability concerns be moot, considering that the data is being copied to both external drives? I suppose that I wouldn’t get anywhere near the performance throughput out of those external drives, plus I would still need a machine to plug them in to. But I suppose it is a valid alternative, and probably one I should have considered.
Oh well, I can enjoy my server now. Now, I just have to find a place to put it!