New Storage System - Any Thoughts/Feedback?

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Dark_Falcon

Weaksauce
Joined
Dec 30, 2006
Messages
67
I have built several systems over the years. However, this will be my first 'actual' storage system.
'm planning on purchasing everything in about 3 weeks or so and it's a 'chunk of change'. Therefore, I would like to get any feedback possible from the experts here.

Any thoughts? Anything I'm missing? I think this actually includes everything (right down to the misc. cables :)). If you think I missed something (even obvious stuff) please advise...Thanks.

Note: I did not include the Harddrives because I already have a bunch that I will be using and I will add more as I get them.

Case - Norco 4220 = 317.38

PSU - Corsair HX750W = 139.97

Mobo - ASUS P5BV-C/4L LGA 775 Intel 3200 ATX Intel Xeon Server Motherboard = 189.99

CPU - Intel Core2 Quad Q9400 2.66GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor = 189.99

RAM - (x2) - CORSAIR 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model VS2GB800D2 G - Retail = 39.99ea.

Controller Cards - (x2) - SATA Controller Cards: Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8 = 106.05ea.

ODD - Sony AD7590S slim DVD RW Drive = 38.11

System Drive - Kingston SSDNow V Series 128 GB SSD (SNV125-S2BD/128GB) = 249.99

OS - Windows Home Server = 99.99

Misc Cables - (x4) - Startec 50 cm MiniSAS sff-8087 to sff-8087) = 26.63ea.

Misc Cables - 3ware CBL-SFF8087OCR-06M SFF-8087 - 4 Sata breakout cable, reverse = 11.00

Fans - (x4) - SFF80D Fans (Replace stock fans) = 12.99ea.

Rack - Startech 25U Adjustable Server Rack (4POSTRACK25) = 258.43

Rack Rails - Gruber Rack Rails (34-102100) = 27.74

Actual Total is about $2k (without Drives). This is right around the price point I was looking for (actually $2500.00 or under). However, I want to make sure that I shouldn't 'need' (want is a different matter :)) to upgrade in the next year or two. Therefore, if there are any suggestions for upgrades/changes that don't break the budget, all the better.
Thanks!
 
No reason for a Q9400 with WHS, pick up a cheap low power E5200 or something similar. Might also consider the/a fan mod for the 4220.
 
Are you sure you don't want something like ZFS to store your data? You're going for a dedicated and expensive NAS and then just put WHS on it? Do you know the differences between traditional file systems and ZFS and its core advantages?
 
Looks like any other of the gazillion whs boxes in a norco 4u around here.

Unless you plan on populating ALL the drives at once, you don't need to buy both sata controllers/all cables/etc.
 
Is it really worth putting down $250 on a 128GB SSD (not even the best SSD out there...) for a WHS box? How much can WHS itself really benefit from the SSD when all storage is still gonna happen on slower/larger drives...
 
Two things. First, I would skip the Core 2 Quad for a WHS. The i3's and new i5's are plenty to run WHS and the new WHS V2. Fast, come with integrated graphics, and use WAY less power.

GigE NIC(s): Get an Intel NIC or two.

Just to give you an idea I tried a setup- 4GB DDR3, 3 GigE NIC, i5-650 board with 41 SATA ports. ~70 Kill-A-Watt watts (KAWw) at idle. You'd probably want to swap out the Adaptec 5805 for an Areca SAS raid controller as it works better with the HP SAS Expander (i.e. works with v2.02 firmware). Pic here: http://www.servethehome.com/?p=308

You could also use the 2x Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8 cards on that board w/ 2 Intel Pro/1000 GT's + the onboard SATA and hook up 20 hotswap norco drives + 1 extra drive (since you'd have 21 internal SATA ports).

Just a thought.
 
I appreciate all the input. Based upon the input, I have a couple of comments, changes and/or justification (such as they are). If these don't look logical/feasible, please feel free to comment. I still have a couple of weeks to pull this all together.

Once again, thanks for the feedback. It's nice to know this community is here to help people not throw away their hard earned money :).

I decided to go with a Quad core with a little more power requirements etc., in case I wanted to do any encoding / conversion of Video etc.. I am also planning on using this box as a media server (sorry I forgot to include in my original post) and there are cases where it will need to do transcoding 'on the fly' for PS3, XBox etc..

I decided to go with an SSD for similar reasons as those stated for the CPU. On the possibility that I needed to utilize the box for actual processing, transcoding, I thought it would be a good idea to have the SSD in place to handle any memory swaps to HD etc.. I figured if it swapped out to the 'drive pool' it would be much slower. Plus, I just thought it would be nice to have it boot up fast :). However, based upon some of the other posts I've seen recently, I will probably change this to a different SSD.

I wanted to get all the controllers/cables 'up front' so that I could just add drives as needed without having to worry about getting new cards cables.

Although I'm not familiar with ZFS vs. 'traditional storage systems', I figured (based upon other posts in these forums) that using WHS would be extremely simple to implement and utilize over the long haul rather than other solutions that I've seen.

Changes I will definitely be making:
Change the SSD - Any recommendations?
Adding 1-2 Gigabyte Nic cards

Considering:
The Fan Mod, but may implement 'as is' first and base my decision on actual temps etc.
 
I would get this Supermicro Mobo because it uses onboard dual Intel Nics, has onboard video, and ECC memory.
I would also get an i5 CPU because it will give you more power and use less electricity. You can also turn cores off in the SM bios to save even more electricity if you choose.
You can also get an i7 for about the same $$ as your Q9400 and have way more horsepower.

ECC memory is more expensive, and you can use desktop memory if you want but for a server ECC is worth it IMO.

Also contact Cavediver and buy one his Fanboard, and use 120mm fans :)
 
For like $35 more AR you can get a 120GB OCZ Solid 2 drive I think (Newegg)... Much nicer drive imo. It's equivalent to the Falcon II in Anandtech's recent article (about the Vertex LE). Or for roughly the same price or a lil' less you can get an 80GB X25-M G2. The Solid 2 uses the same controller as the Vertex/Agility, just different flash (34nm Intel/Micro flash), should actually be equivalent to the Agility at 'least.

If you can go smaller then a 60GB Solid 2 or Agility will only run ya $130-150. I dunno what kinda space requirements WHS has; and what kinda space requirements you'd need to add on top of that for video transcoding, etc. (I've no clue how the OS or encoding program would handle where it does that, etc., I'm more familiar w/SSD than WHS :p )
 
So...

Based off the latest recommendations...how about this...

Changed:

SSD System Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227476&cm_re=120GB_OCZ_Solid_2-_-20-227-476-_-Product

Hopefully that's the 'better' drive for similar $$.

ECC Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_re=ecc_memory_ddr2-_-20-134-881-_-Product

Add:

Nic Cards: (x2) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106036&cm_re=intel_gigabit_nic-_-33-106-036-_-Product

Input Required:

I've been out of the loop on the newer processors. Therefore, I don't know exactly which I7's would be good or bad for this purpose (I assume the I7's will work with this board). Can anyone tell me what would be equivalent or better than the Q9400 for about the same money?
 
i would use a i3 or i5 unless you are loading up on VMs and having WHS as a guest OS.

the i3 and i5 variants will save you in energy cost and heat with the system and still be overkill for WHS or WHS2 (most likely)

I would not spend $2k w/o drives...... there is a lot of $$$ to be saved there. the SAS cables can be found for $10 a piece or get them from someone here for even less..

I got mine with my SASLP card for $80 total..... also i would add a nice UPS for the system.

the motherboard seems expensive for what it is.... i would get a i3 or i5 + H55 motherboard. will be better performance for less $$ and less heat.

also ECC memory is not going to work with out a Xeon CPU, intel does not support it.

i agree with intel nics.... i want them now too.... I want a dual in my WHS and team them and then have singles in all my clients (htpc and such)

transfering BD rips with crappy NICs sucks
 
Another vote on the Socket 1156.

If I was building my WHS today I would go for this board:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182211
- 2x Intel NIC, 2x PCIe x8, 1x PCIe x4 (allows for 2x SASLP + extra dual intel NIC if you need 4 ports total)

this CPU:
http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=43233
- 45w TDP, quad core, hyper threading, more than fast enough for WHS

or this CPU:
http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=42928
- quad core, hyper threading, cheap compared to above

On the NIC, check Amazon, I just picked up two of those for less than the $45 shipped (each) that newegg wants.
 
Last edited:
Still an expensive rig for just a simple WHS-server without ZFS.
If i were you, i would dive into ZFS first and see if that's for you. Right now if you build this box, it wouldnt be much good for ZFS.
 
I just ordered a SM X8SIL-F, 2x2gb ECC unreg'd memory, and a Pentium G6950. Total, $420 or so.

The G6950 is cheap, fast enough for file serving in a small environment (hell, an Atom is fast enough for everything except ZFS), and supports ECC. The X8SIL-F also has an onboard KVM-over-IP.

I'd replace your motherboard/CPU/RAM with this. Its a much better deal.
 
lizardking009 said:
I just ordered a SM X8SIL-F, 2x2gb ECC unreg'd memory, and a Pentium G6950. Total, $420 or so.

The G6950 is cheap, fast enough for file serving in a small environment (hell, an Atom is fast enough for everything except ZFS), and supports ECC. The X8SIL-F also has an onboard KVM-over-IP.

I'd replace your motherboard/CPU/RAM with this. Its a much better deal.
Click to expand...

what is the make / part number for the memory you ordered?

do you have the ability to measure the wall-plug power draw?
 
sub.mesa said:
Still an expensive rig for just a simple WHS-server without ZFS.
If i were you, i would dive into ZFS first and see if that's for you. Right now if you build this box, it wouldnt be much good for ZFS.
Click to expand...

Why would he want to run Solaris w/ ZFS?
Yeah its a more modern FS, but its taking a simple task of setting up fileshares for a windows network and making it more complicated.
Plus currently you cannot expand a ZFS pool. Kind of the major advantage WHS has over any other FS.
 
nitrobass24 said:
Why would he want to run Solaris w/ ZFS?
Yeah its a more modern FS, but its taking a simple task of setting up fileshares for a windows network and making it more complicated.
Plus currently you cannot expand a ZFS pool. Kind of the major advantage WHS has over any other FS.
Click to expand...

I have to agree with this one. Played again with FreeNAS, Openfiler, unRaid, EON (OpenSolaris), Ubuntu, and such over the weekend. There really is no comparison to the ease of use of WHS.
 
One thing to note is the performance with software raid under windows is pretty bad. The reason for this is it forces flushes way to fast causing most writes to require a read first.

However if you are using a device as a NAS ... you will be limited by the speed of the gigabit network before being limited to the raid performance.
 
Hey,

I have been looking at a home server for almost 2 + months now.

Here is a parts list of what i am buying in the next day or 2 and from where i can get the best price / shipping included etc.
I think this is fairly close to what you would want to buy.

I have 9x 1TB green drives ready to get installed.

I though about SSd for the system but in the end i will just use a green 1tb drive for boot.

motherboard:
Super MicroX8SIL-F
Price 185
place of purchase:ewiz

cpu:
Intel Core i3-530
Price 120
place of purchase:egg

memory:
KVR1333D3E9SK2/4G
Price 129
place of purchase:egg

case:
NORCO RPC-4220
price 320
place of purchase:mwave

controller:
AOC-SASLP-MV8
price 101
place of purchase:ewiz

controller:
AOC-SASLP-MV8
price 101
place of purchase:ewiz

power supply:
price 125
CMPSU-650HX
place of purchase:zzf

cables:
sff-8087 to sff-8087
price 30
place of purchase: provantage

cables:
sff-8087 to sff-8087
price 30
place of purchase : provantage

cables:
sff-8087 to sff-8087
price 30
place of purchase : provantage

cables:
sff-8087 to sff-8087
price 30
place of purchase: provantage

cables:
CBL-SFF8087OCR-10M
price 13
place of purchase: provantage

fans;
panaflo 80mm
price 10
place of purchase: sidewinder

fans:
panaflo 80mm
price 10
place of purchase: sidewinder

fans:
SY1225SL12H
price 10
place of purchase: sidewinder

fans;
SY1225SL12H
price 10
place of purchase: sidewinder

fans:
SY1225SL12H
price 10
place of purchase: sidewinder

hsf:
ARCTIC COOLI 7 Pro r2
price 28
place of purchase: ewiz

artic silver:
Arctic Silver 5
price 10
place of purchase: egg

Software:
WHS
price 95
place of purchase: ewiz

120mm fan cage:Custom
price 65
place of purchase: cavediver

cost 1462 shipped
 
mobilecommand said:
Hey,

I have been looking at a home server for almost 2 + months now.

Here is a parts list of what i am buying in the next day or 2 and from where i can get the best price / shipping included etc.
I think this is fairly close to what you would want to buy.

I have 9x 1TB green drives ready to get installed.

I though about SSd for the system but in the end i will just use a green 1tb drive for boot.

motherboard:
Super MicroX8SIL-F
Price 185
place of purchase:ewiz

cpu:
Intel Core i3-530
Price 120
place of purchase:egg

memory:
KVR1333D3E9SK2/4G
Price 129
place of purchase:egg

case:
NORCO RPC-4220
price 320
place of purchase:mwave

controller:
AOC-SASLP-MV8
price 101
place of purchase:ewiz

controller:
AOC-SASLP-MV8
price 101
place of purchase:ewiz

power supply:
price 125
CMPSU-650HX
place of purchase:zzf

cables:
sff-8087 to sff-8087
price 30
place of purchase: provantage

cables:
sff-8087 to sff-8087
price 30
place of purchase : provantage

cables:
sff-8087 to sff-8087
price 30
place of purchase : provantage

cables:
sff-8087 to sff-8087
price 30
place of purchase: provantage

cables:
CBL-SFF8087OCR-10M
price 13
place of purchase: provantage

fans;
panaflo 80mm
price 10
place of purchase: sidewinder

fans:
panaflo 80mm
price 10
place of purchase: sidewinder

fans:
SY1225SL12H
price 10
place of purchase: sidewinder

fans;
SY1225SL12H
price 10
place of purchase: sidewinder

fans:
SY1225SL12H
price 10
place of purchase: sidewinder

hsf:
ARCTIC COOLI 7 Pro r2
price 28
place of purchase: ewiz

artic silver:
Arctic Silver 5
price 10
place of purchase: egg

Software:
WHS
price 95
place of purchase: ewiz

120mm fan cage:Custom
price 65
place of purchase: cavediver

cost 1462 shipped
Click to expand...

Thanks Mobilecommand. That does indeed look close to what I posted with the appropriate revisions to what I researched several months ago. Plus it saves me a couple 100 bucks (I still have to include the rack etc). Now I can get a couple more HD's :). I assume that the I3-530 will have more than enough power to handle the transcoding etc. that I may want to utilize this box for?

Thanks to all that posted about WHS being an easy solution. I was beginning to worry that I was missing something.

2 more weeks and I'll finally have my file server:D
 
I do transcoding on a core 2 duo and on my media center with a amd 5050e with 0 issues.

The i3 530 is next gen and also has HT which actually works. This chip will be completely fine for whs and transcodeing.. It would even work for encoding as well.. would not be as fast as a quad core or i7 but between my gaming rig, lapper, test lab server, new whs, media center pc, and everything else i got in my house i have more then enough cpu to do what ever i need.
 
Thanks again all.
Mobilcommand, since you will be getting this setup before I do, if you could update with any challenges/issues it would be appreciated. I think I am planning on getting a very similar setup (with only minor modifications).
 
According to that link it looks like Supermicro isn't even expected to get the latest Rev until sometime in March. Any ideas on how to make sure you get the latest before you actually receive the board?
 
Dark_Falcon said:
According to that link it looks like Supermicro isn't even expected to get the latest Rev until sometime in March. Any ideas on how to make sure you get the latest before you actually receive the board?
Click to expand...

nope, sorry

I live in the UK and my board is a special order from the USA

I asked my reseller to specifically request the rev1.02 board

the reseller is still awaiting delivery info from supermicro

that said, I may use a xeon X3440 or a G6950

i will update as and when i find out any info
 
Damn. If I don't get rev 1.02, I'll have to get an X3440 overnighted since I already took Friday off for the build. I wish SM hadn't updated their webpage with the G6950... I'd have held off!
 
as per ewiz they seem to have the 1.02 board.

Mfr Part Number: X8SIL-F-O VER 1.02 PCB

and i called kingston and double checked the memory and said it was compatible.

so i can only do so much.

worse case if it does not work i can either return the memory or rma the board for the right one.

i waited this long and a few more weeks wont make a difference. if that ends up being the case i will prob spend the time making custom cables like cavediver did on his build.
 
i waited this long and a few more weeks wont make a difference. if that ends up being the case i will prob spend the time making custom cables like cavediver did on his build.
Click to expand...

Do you have a link to cavediver's customizations. I did a search and couldn't track them down. Although, I'm fairly certain I have seen the post your referring to, I've been doing so much reading/searching, I'm not even sure if it was on another site or somewhere here?
 
lizardking009 said:
Damn. If I don't get rev 1.02, I'll have to get an X3440 overnighted since I already took Friday off for the build. I wish SM hadn't updated their webpage with the G6950... I'd have held off!
Click to expand...

Got a Rev 1.01. A Xeon X3430 will be here tomorrow and the G6950 is going back. A quad 2.4ghz is a waste for a Linux iSCSI target box, but this is the currently the lowest price point for IPMI and ECC on the same board. Oh well.
 
Dark_Falcon said:
Do you have a link to cavediver's customizations. I did a search and couldn't track them down. Although, I'm fairly certain I have seen the post your referring to, I've been doing so much reading/searching, I'm not even sure if it was on another site or somewhere here?
Click to expand...

Photos of the custom cables are here posted on July 13, 2009.
 
so i got my MB in today.

I got pcb v 1.01.

I opened a RMA with Super Micro and they will cross ship me a new 1.02 mb nextweek.

Iike i said i don't mind waiting since i dont even have all the parts and pieces yet as they are being shipped and not worth me spending a ton more money on a xeon proc when the I3 is all i need.

the only other issue will be memory.

I wont be 100 percent sure on it until i see the system post.
 
Hey mobilecommand,

Please let us know how it all works out. I'll be placing my order in a week or so. If I can avoid any potholes in the road it would be nice. That is if you don't mind playing guinea pig of course :)).
 
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