Hi to all at SNB 
As you may notice I am new to this community but I have been around for some time whilst doing my research. Now I believe I am in a position to share and discuss thoughts and opinions on building a home server to cater for various needs that I have.
So lets get started.
Project Status: Under Consideration/Design Stage
Solution Objective: Whilst cost always scores heavily, my primary objective is to build a flexible base to provide a medium to long term solution whilst aiming to achieve the highest possible overall efficiency for 24/7 operation without compromising greatly in performance terms.
Primary Server Functions: File Server, Print Server, Computer(s) backup, DLNA server, scalable long term storage.
First Consideration
After alot of reading, initial thoughts and approach was based on the lowest possible power consumption solution and the smallest overall package. This lead me to look towards an M-ITX Intel D525 Atom based solution, based on the following components:
Motherboard: X7SPA-HF-D525 - Super Micro @ £192GBP (Online)
DDR3 RAM: HMT325S6BFR8C-H9 N0 - Hynix @ $30USD (Ebay - 2 x 2GB Modules + Delivery UK)
USB BOOT: PEF16GUSB - Patriot XT Boost @ $30USD (Inc. Delivery UK)
Chassis: SR10769 - Chenbro Server/Workstation @ $110USD (Inc. Delivery UK)
Hot-Swap Caddies: 84H210710-090 - Chenbro @ $90USD (Inc. Delivery UK)
PSU: CAPSTONE-450 - Rosewill @ $90USD (Inc. Delivery UK)
HDD: TBD
The above solution (Storage NOT Included) for me works out at £420GBP.
Solution Pro's: Highly Efficient PSU above 40W loads. Scope to grow up to up to 15 Hot swappable disks in same chassis. Can run OS on bootable USB direct on motherboard. Supports eSATA port multiplier. Lowest possible power consumption (subject to using efficient disks), or is it........read on.
Solution Con's: Atom D525 processor limited performance. Motherboard supports Max 6 SATA-II storage channels. M-ITX size may render the PCIe 2.0 slot unusable in chassis, therefore significantly limiting storage scaleout to eSATA port multiplier only.
Solution Conclusion: Operational efficiency objective has been met for the most part. Flexibility objective has been partially met, where the OS and the Applications of choice are plentiful, however Performance wise this subsystem may struggle to provide the resources to host multiple services. Additionally, in order to preserve embedded SATA channels for storage, a compromise to run the OS from a 16GB USB drive means that the choice of OS server solutions is now limited to perhaps only a Linux Server distro and also limiting the number of Apps. that can be hosted on the OS volume. Scaleout objective is also only partially met. A maximum of 6 SATA channels and the ? mark over the PCIe slot being able to host a HBA card in the chassis means that a potentional maximum total storage of 18TB can be attained, not including eSATA port multiplier expansion.
Second Consideration
After assesing the first consideration and looked at the overall costs, I decided to do a little more digging and look in a slightly different direction to see if I can improve the cost vs performance ratio, whilst sacrifising a little bit on efficiency. With that in mind, I moved onto reading about Atom D525 performance and efficiency figures against other processors. To my surprise, the Core i3 2100T based on some reviews is able to match the D525 in efficiency especially in idle state, but is up to 4 times more productive in computational tasks. With that in mind, I started looking at the more traditional ATX motherboards based on the H61,H67,Z68,H77,Z77 chipsets. The target in this case was to keep the overall solution cost as close as possible to the M-ITX Intel D525 solution, but gain in performance, flexibility and expandability from the aforementioned. So onto the components list:
Motherboard: Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 - Gigabyte Z77 @ £104.99 (UK Online, inc. delivery & VAT)
CPU BX80623I32100T - Intel Core i3 @ £101.86 (UK Online, inc delivery & VAT)
DDR3 RAM: TW3X4G1333C9A - Corsair XMS3 @ £22.99 (UK Online inc. delivery & VAT. 2 x 2GB Dual Channel DDR3 Modules)
OS BOOT: CSSD-F60GB3A-BK - Corsair Force3 SSD @ £69.95 (UK Online, inc. delivery & VAT)
Chassis: SR10769 - Chenbro Server/Workstation @ $110USD (Inc. Delivery UK)
Hot-Swap Caddies: 84H210710-090 - Chenbro @ $90USD (Inc. Delivery UK)
PSU: CAPSTONE-450 - Rosewill @ $90USD (Inc. Delivery UK)
DVD-ROMSH-D163C/BEBE - Samsung @ £14.99 (UK Online, inc. delivery & VAT)
HBA 46M0831 - IBM M1015 @ £126 (UK Online, inc. delivery & VAT)
HDD: TBD
The above solution (Storage NOT Included) works out at a meaty £626GBP base line, not including small ancillaries, such as HBA SATA cables, CPU heatsink, fans, etc.
Solution Pro's: Also Highly Efficient PSU above 40W loads (same PSU). Scope to grow up to up to 15 Hot swappable disks in same chassis. Moving to a HBA SATA Controller, frees up the motherboard SATA channels for other uses, including running the OS from an SSD on a 6Gbps SATA channel. The ATX motherboard provides multiple PCIE 2.0, PCI slots and other ports for system expansion. Comparably low power consumption to first solution (subject to using efficient disks). Higher level of flexibility and computing power to first solution. Higher capacity OS drive opens up Server software options somewhat.
Solution Con's: Higher cost for base build. Long term will use more power than the first solution, primarily because it can and will support more hardware components.
Solution Conclusion: Operational efficiency objective can be met with correct system configuration. Flexibility objective has been met in full, where the OS and the Applications of choice are plentiful, with the hardware subsystem being capable of supporting a more than reasonable amount of concurrent services. Scaleout objective with this setup can be met, since all components can be upgraded, plus storage expansion in this configuration is only limited by the chasis's ability to house hard disks. Total capacity capability based on 10 drives now grows to a substantial 30TB. Moving from USB to SSD for OS Boot, and adding a HBA SATA controller means that the base line cost grows by around £200, so it isn't the cheapest solution out there for a barebones without the storage. With that said, this baseline solution can now be compared on par with the QNAP TS1079 Pro 10 Drive enclosure with similar hardware specs, but at nearly 3 times the price?
The question regarding storage filesystems however is allot less clear than the above and I know its an area that requires consideration prior to committing to the hardware subsystem purchase. Any views and advice on the subject will be most welcome.
Hum
As you may notice I am new to this community but I have been around for some time whilst doing my research. Now I believe I am in a position to share and discuss thoughts and opinions on building a home server to cater for various needs that I have.
So lets get started.
Project Status: Under Consideration/Design Stage
Solution Objective: Whilst cost always scores heavily, my primary objective is to build a flexible base to provide a medium to long term solution whilst aiming to achieve the highest possible overall efficiency for 24/7 operation without compromising greatly in performance terms.
Primary Server Functions: File Server, Print Server, Computer(s) backup, DLNA server, scalable long term storage.
First Consideration
After alot of reading, initial thoughts and approach was based on the lowest possible power consumption solution and the smallest overall package. This lead me to look towards an M-ITX Intel D525 Atom based solution, based on the following components:
Motherboard: X7SPA-HF-D525 - Super Micro @ £192GBP (Online)
DDR3 RAM: HMT325S6BFR8C-H9 N0 - Hynix @ $30USD (Ebay - 2 x 2GB Modules + Delivery UK)
USB BOOT: PEF16GUSB - Patriot XT Boost @ $30USD (Inc. Delivery UK)
Chassis: SR10769 - Chenbro Server/Workstation @ $110USD (Inc. Delivery UK)
Hot-Swap Caddies: 84H210710-090 - Chenbro @ $90USD (Inc. Delivery UK)
PSU: CAPSTONE-450 - Rosewill @ $90USD (Inc. Delivery UK)
HDD: TBD
The above solution (Storage NOT Included) for me works out at £420GBP.
Solution Pro's: Highly Efficient PSU above 40W loads. Scope to grow up to up to 15 Hot swappable disks in same chassis. Can run OS on bootable USB direct on motherboard. Supports eSATA port multiplier. Lowest possible power consumption (subject to using efficient disks), or is it........read on.
Solution Con's: Atom D525 processor limited performance. Motherboard supports Max 6 SATA-II storage channels. M-ITX size may render the PCIe 2.0 slot unusable in chassis, therefore significantly limiting storage scaleout to eSATA port multiplier only.
Solution Conclusion: Operational efficiency objective has been met for the most part. Flexibility objective has been partially met, where the OS and the Applications of choice are plentiful, however Performance wise this subsystem may struggle to provide the resources to host multiple services. Additionally, in order to preserve embedded SATA channels for storage, a compromise to run the OS from a 16GB USB drive means that the choice of OS server solutions is now limited to perhaps only a Linux Server distro and also limiting the number of Apps. that can be hosted on the OS volume. Scaleout objective is also only partially met. A maximum of 6 SATA channels and the ? mark over the PCIe slot being able to host a HBA card in the chassis means that a potentional maximum total storage of 18TB can be attained, not including eSATA port multiplier expansion.
Second Consideration
After assesing the first consideration and looked at the overall costs, I decided to do a little more digging and look in a slightly different direction to see if I can improve the cost vs performance ratio, whilst sacrifising a little bit on efficiency. With that in mind, I moved onto reading about Atom D525 performance and efficiency figures against other processors. To my surprise, the Core i3 2100T based on some reviews is able to match the D525 in efficiency especially in idle state, but is up to 4 times more productive in computational tasks. With that in mind, I started looking at the more traditional ATX motherboards based on the H61,H67,Z68,H77,Z77 chipsets. The target in this case was to keep the overall solution cost as close as possible to the M-ITX Intel D525 solution, but gain in performance, flexibility and expandability from the aforementioned. So onto the components list:
Motherboard: Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 - Gigabyte Z77 @ £104.99 (UK Online, inc. delivery & VAT)
CPU BX80623I32100T - Intel Core i3 @ £101.86 (UK Online, inc delivery & VAT)
DDR3 RAM: TW3X4G1333C9A - Corsair XMS3 @ £22.99 (UK Online inc. delivery & VAT. 2 x 2GB Dual Channel DDR3 Modules)
OS BOOT: CSSD-F60GB3A-BK - Corsair Force3 SSD @ £69.95 (UK Online, inc. delivery & VAT)
Chassis: SR10769 - Chenbro Server/Workstation @ $110USD (Inc. Delivery UK)
Hot-Swap Caddies: 84H210710-090 - Chenbro @ $90USD (Inc. Delivery UK)
PSU: CAPSTONE-450 - Rosewill @ $90USD (Inc. Delivery UK)
DVD-ROMSH-D163C/BEBE - Samsung @ £14.99 (UK Online, inc. delivery & VAT)
HBA 46M0831 - IBM M1015 @ £126 (UK Online, inc. delivery & VAT)
HDD: TBD
The above solution (Storage NOT Included) works out at a meaty £626GBP base line, not including small ancillaries, such as HBA SATA cables, CPU heatsink, fans, etc.
Solution Pro's: Also Highly Efficient PSU above 40W loads (same PSU). Scope to grow up to up to 15 Hot swappable disks in same chassis. Moving to a HBA SATA Controller, frees up the motherboard SATA channels for other uses, including running the OS from an SSD on a 6Gbps SATA channel. The ATX motherboard provides multiple PCIE 2.0, PCI slots and other ports for system expansion. Comparably low power consumption to first solution (subject to using efficient disks). Higher level of flexibility and computing power to first solution. Higher capacity OS drive opens up Server software options somewhat.
Solution Con's: Higher cost for base build. Long term will use more power than the first solution, primarily because it can and will support more hardware components.
Solution Conclusion: Operational efficiency objective can be met with correct system configuration. Flexibility objective has been met in full, where the OS and the Applications of choice are plentiful, with the hardware subsystem being capable of supporting a more than reasonable amount of concurrent services. Scaleout objective with this setup can be met, since all components can be upgraded, plus storage expansion in this configuration is only limited by the chasis's ability to house hard disks. Total capacity capability based on 10 drives now grows to a substantial 30TB. Moving from USB to SSD for OS Boot, and adding a HBA SATA controller means that the base line cost grows by around £200, so it isn't the cheapest solution out there for a barebones without the storage. With that said, this baseline solution can now be compared on par with the QNAP TS1079 Pro 10 Drive enclosure with similar hardware specs, but at nearly 3 times the price?
The question regarding storage filesystems however is allot less clear than the above and I know its an area that requires consideration prior to committing to the hardware subsystem purchase. Any views and advice on the subject will be most welcome.
Hum
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