P4 Motherboard for a NAS

[ptruzzi]

I need a motherboard suggestion. I've a Pentium 4 / 2.4C GHz 800MHz CPU sitting aorund and want to build a Network Attached Storage (NAS) server using a SATA RAID. I've already got the 4 x WD SATA 250 GB drives, a nice 3Ware Escalade 9500S-4LP controller and a beautiful Chenbro RM311 case.

Motherboard Requirements
Must Have:
- Stable
- On board SATA (Don't need RAID I have a real harware card for that). I'm going to run the OS off a 36 G raptor.
- USB2 ports
- 64 bit PCI slot (for the RAID card)
- Stable
Nice to have:
- 1 Gb LAN

I thought a nice Inter server board would fit the bill. But couldn't belive the prices for them. The S875WP1-E is $200. I'm looking for a nice stable system, what do these boards have that my Abit IC7-MAX3 don't?

As for slots, I don't need a lot many PCI. I need one for the RAID card, and two others for LAN cards (even if the Motherbaord has built in NICs I've had them die). So what Motherboard do you suggest?

 

[Skud]

I'd like some recommendations as well. I'm going to be building a similar system.

One board which I've found is the gigabyte 8KNXP-Ultra 64
http://www.giga-byte.com/Motherboard/Products/Products_GA-8KNXP Ultra-64.htm

It looks promising, bit it's more board than what I need.

Riley

 

[Skud]

I searched a little bit more and it looks like supermicro has some interesting boards as well..

http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/P4/875/P4SCT+II.cfm
http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/P4/875/P4SCT.cfm

There are a few boards out there that support both the P4 and have PCI-X slots, however only a handful of these boards have AGP slots. Just one thing to watch out for..

Riley

 

[ptruzzi]

AGP slots aren't something I really need as my server will probably be headless. I took a quick look at the P4SCT and P4SC+II specs and it looks like the main difference is the +II has support for 6 SATA drives via both a Intel (2) and a Marvell (4) chip. Since I'm just using the SATA to load the OS and the storage will be on the 3Ware card I think 2 SATA is enough.

I really like that SuperMicro comes out and states that they support Operating Systems other than Windows. I will be loading Fedora Core 2 (well probably 3). Linux is pretty good about eventually supporting most all chips, but it is better when the vendor states up front they are compatible. [It looks like SuperMicro's support for Linux is only partial. The P4SCT+ and P4SCT+II use a Marvell SATA controller for four of the six ports which does have a GNU license - pst 11/08]

However, it looks like the board is ~$220. Ouch! Now I think the Intel S875WP1 for $200 looks pretty good. But then again it only has three 32-bit/33MHz PCI slots <sigh>.

Paul