Author Topic: Building a NAS server.  (Read 12956 times)

Dougie085

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Building a NAS server.
« on: May 04, 2008, 11:49:19 AM »
I want to build a server to use with FreeNAS and just haven't done much of this so looking for advice on parts. I currently have a motherboard thats socket A with an AMD Athlon XP 2000+ that I could use. The problem with that is I would have to get a SATA Raid card separately and it would be PCI which would kind of be a waste of SATA if I understand it correctly as PCI just doesn't allow enough bandwidth especially if I'm running 6 hard drives off it. How quiet the system is is not important at all as it's going in my laundry room. I'd like to only spend maybe 300 at the most not including the hard drives. If I don't use the stuff I have right now then I need new motherboard cpu and what not. Motherboard should have onboard video as it just doesn't matter.

Dougie085

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Re: Building a NAS server.
« Reply #1 on: May 05, 2008, 10:36:17 AM »
Well I won this server on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=110249206796

The guy selling it lives close and is just going to bring it by my place for 25 bucks instead of shipping it. Also going to get an Adaptec SATA Raid card off ebay that is 64bit PCI-X and has 6 connections for hard drives. Then I'll just get 3 640gb hard drives and add my 500 gig and have 4 drives for now and later I can add 2 more. Raid 5 of course and I should be set. I think this server should be able to keep up with my needs. I still have to decide on weather to use a Server OS or just use FreeNAS though.

ik632

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Re: Building a NAS server.
« Reply #2 on: May 05, 2008, 11:10:25 AM »
I'm a big FreeNAS fan and with that hardware it should be more than stout enough. The only thing I'd check is that the RAID card you are getting is supported by whichever FreeBSD kernel the version of FreeNAS you are going to use has. I think the newest FreeNAS upgraded kernels but the one I'm using has an older Kernel.

One of the nice things it that you can do your full FreeNAS install to a USB stick (or HDD) then store configuration settings on another USB stick. This makes it handy in the event that you need to rebuild the system it's already configured. The web interface is very slick for FreeNAS and it has little overhead. I run a software RAID and I'm more than happy with the performance. It outperforms my Linksys NAS device every time.

Dougie085

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Re: Building a NAS server.
« Reply #3 on: May 05, 2008, 07:48:22 PM »
It's an Adaptec I'm pretty sure all linux and unix based OS's support it. I may just install FreeBSD though.

ik632

  • Guest
Re: Building a NAS server.
« Reply #4 on: May 06, 2008, 05:42:46 AM »
I just noticed the finishing price on that auction, sweet deal you got there. I'm jealous now  :shock:

I wonder if I could convince the wife that I need to replace my 2 existing servers with one of those... hmm...

Dougie085

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Re: Building a NAS server.
« Reply #5 on: May 06, 2008, 06:53:32 AM »
Yeah and the guy is just delivering it to my house on Thursday so I am ditching that shipping charge. Things are heavy :) He's charging me 25 bucks to drop it off though. I think its worth it though. 127.50 for the server, 120 for the NAS card, and I found 3 500gig SATA drives for just under 200 bucks. So I'm at about 450 for a 2TB server.

ik632

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Re: Building a NAS server.
« Reply #6 on: May 06, 2008, 04:08:12 PM »
If you run across another one of those I'd love to pick one up. Good deal definitely.

Dougie085

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Re: Building a NAS server.
« Reply #7 on: May 06, 2008, 05:04:55 PM »
There are lots on ebay. Just search for PowerEdge 2600.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-PowerEdge-2600-Server-VG-to-Mint-Shape-FAST_W0QQitemZ300221417352QQihZ020QQcategoryZ51215QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

There were more the other day I guess just keep an eye out for it. Doesn't Ebay do RSS feeds now? So you could do an RSS feed for PowerEdge 2600 and it will send you an email everytime something gets added with that. Just an idea...I believe they do that anyways. Unfortunately if you have to ship it its going to cost as they weight like 90lbs. Very nice though the PSU is a 730 watt and what not. I may upgrade the CPU's in mine a little later as the ones in there are dual 2.2ghz with only 512kb of cache and you can get some with up to 4mb of L3 cache. I found some 3.0ghz ones that would work in it with 4mb of cache but I don't think I want to spend money on the processors right now.

ik632

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Re: Building a NAS server.
« Reply #8 on: May 07, 2008, 01:47:35 PM »
Just created a subscription for that. You can have it send you an e-mail based on specific search criteria. Thanks.

Offline Carlman

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Re: Building a NAS server.
« Reply #9 on: May 07, 2008, 02:22:58 PM »
How loud is that 2600?  10,k scsi drives generate heat.. as does quad processing...
I really enjoy listening to music.

Dougie085

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Re: Building a NAS server.
« Reply #10 on: May 07, 2008, 03:48:32 PM »
Well its not quad just dual. I'm sure its not completely quiet which is the reason its going in my laundry room. I will have it tomorrow so I can tell you for sure how loud it is then. But servers are usually designed quite well so they aren't horribly loud.

Dougie085

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Re: Building a NAS server.
« Reply #11 on: May 07, 2008, 03:49:50 PM »
Also those drives are 15k RPM lol.

Dougie085

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Re: Building a NAS server.
« Reply #12 on: May 08, 2008, 09:42:12 PM »
Well I got the server and it does make some noise. Doesn't really matter as I'm going to put it in my laundry room so it won't bother us much. The SCSI drives don't make so much noise after initial startup. The fans are rather loud though. It's quite a but larger then I was expecting :) It's very deep.