Fileserver config question

[happyd]

Hi,

I am planning to build a pc to act as fileserver. I want it to be on all the time - therefore very stable - therefore Linux. I'll probably also bung a webserver on it as well but just so I can read my email anywhere! I want about 1TB of disk space so I'm going for 5x300GB hard disks (probably Maxtor Maxline III 300Gb S150) configured RAID5 (Linux sofware raid).

I'll put the operating system and misc stuff on an 80GB IDE hard disk and save all the big drives for data. (Western Digital Caviar 80.0GB UDMA100)

I also want a 1GB ethernet connection.

I was thinking of the Asustek A8N-SLI Deluxe Socket 939 nForce 4 SLI PCI-E ATX mobo. I know I don't need the SLI stuff, but it has room for an IDE drive and 8 sata drives and GB ethernet. Does anyone know of an alternative? I guess the only thing it doesn't have is build in graphics. I don't need much for this - anyone have a graphics card suggestion at all pls?

What processor? 3000+ should be more than enough I think?

How much memory do I need? I was thinknig Crucial 2x512MB 184Pin DIMM PC3200 Unbuffered Non-ECC

Many thanks everyone.
happyd

[faulkner132]

For a file sharing server and a small webserver, what you have spec'ed is overkill. You won't need a lot of processing power at all. I would find a good all-in-one board and get an Intel Gb PCI card and a SATA PCI card with raid 5 capability.

glc would be the resident expert on this configuration... he helped me when I built a server similar to what you are doing.

[happyd]

Thanks for that.

One of the killer things about the asus a8n-sli delux is its price. (about 105 pounds here in england)

Do you know if I can can get a different mobo+pci 1GB card +8 sata pci ports for anything like the cost of the asus a8n-sli delux?

Also, looking a reviews of sata pci cards, they don't seem to be very reliable at all.

[faulkner132]

Wow, I actually just looked at the specs on the MB and I had no idea it came with so much. I guess I should have looked first .

I'm not sure about the reliablity of placing SATA150 and SATAII in the same raid array, but definitely go with the hardware raid your MB offers. It will offer you a significant improvement in performance. If you have an old PCI VGA card, you could use that instead of getting a PCI-E card and that will save some money. 1 Gig should be plenty of RAM.

Also, looking a reviews of sata pci cards, they don't seem to be very reliable at all.

Look into Adaptec if you want to use a PCI SATA card. I would stick with a 4x300 GB SATA-150 for right now (raid 5 for 900GB) and expand as needed.