Thinking about Servers

I would be using it in conjunction with my laptops.

But I have been thinking for awhile what is the best way to store and backup data.

Then I came across these.

The Dell Poweredge R300 and the Dell Poweredge T110. Edit: or a HP MediaSmart

First off I know nothing of servers.

I would just load up a Linux OS (some 64bit server variety) and use it for local data sharing (movie streaming), back up, and maybe sell off space to the roommates. I would like to have 2TB backed up.

But I have a bunch of questions:

How much does the cpu really matter? Is this enough? Dual Core Intel® Xeon® E 3113, 3.0GHz, 6MB Cache, 1333MHz FSB

How much ram is really needed? 4GB is only $20 more than 2GB so I might as well go with that.

Does it require special HDD? I dont really care about it being hot swap able.

Can a rack server be stored as is just on a flat surface?

Is an external monitor required to set them up? And if so how does it connect?

Thank you

 

i can even use a laptop as a server...

for the specifications dont think it matters that much knowing that you'll just use it for data centre
why dont just try NAS?

 

I have not found a NAS that I like and I would have to get 2 of them for what I want and it is almost at the price of a proper server.

 

For a home data server, specs aren't all too important. Now if you were running some kind of database server, or a virtualization server or any other kind of corporate thing, it'd be another story(virtualization server at work has a CPU with 8 cores, 48Gb of RAM and 4TBs), but for home use, your designated specs will be more than enough.

HDDs can be anything in a server(for example, we have WD Caviar Blacks at work) so long as you trust it. One thing to consider might be some form of Raid setup to insure your data though.

A home server doesn't need to be anything special really, just a machine that will do its designated task; any machine will do really.

 

lol you dont need a rack mount server for home backup and storage. A NAS or small home server would do

For under 1k:

http://www.amazon.com/TS-410-Deskto...2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1267417913&sr=8-2

and 4 x 1TB 3.5" SATA drives. It even accepts 2.5" drives.

I personally just use a D-Link 2 bay NAS with 2 x 750gb WD green drives

 

If speed is not your main concern. A asus Wl520Gu router with tomato firmware + 10x1TB external hard drive will give you 10TB nas for about $500.

 

if you get the hp media smart, don't put linux on it. it has windows home server, a special windows server setup tailored for home users with quite some features no other default setup will give you (and still full win2003 server in the background for messing around with).
and it even is a special version of windows home server, with additional features (itunes sharing comes to mind, not able to tell more as there is no hp media smart in switzerland )

but yeah, you can use about anything as a server. and laptop is interesting in that it has an UPS integrated directly: it's battery.

 

lol, Just run any garden variety version of linux and use a AMD athlon x2 CPU and 2 gigs of RAM.

My home server is just that. It backs up all my laptops automatically. It also serves as a file sharing and printer sharing hub.

 

I run a Dual Processor Pentium 2 (400MHz) machine with 384MB of SD RAM and its mainly a data server and torrent box, contains 3 shared hard drives and connected to our home network, and its a headless unit running XP Pro.

If all you're doing is massive data storage, you could get away with a old Celeron on a MB that has built in RAID controllers so you could do data redundancy, just find something with lots of SATA ports. Probably not worth the cost of going wireless unless you're getting the 450Mbps Wireless N cards, Gigabit ethernet works well enough if you're doing network backups.

All you need is to find an OS to run it.

 

You can get 1 TB HDDs for less than $50 now? I thought they were still mostly around the $75-$80 mark for bare drives, more for full externals...

 

I would be also using it to stream movies (1080p) and media, most NAS drives I have found have not been fast enough.

 

Honestly any PC will work as a home server. I swap between a P4 shuttle desktop running linux, my thinkpad, my dell, and even used my acer apire one as a server when I had it. They all do media sharing, file server, print server and backup machines quite well. Its only when I get to work and have the need for multi-access over a large database dealing with large rendered files that hardware seems to make a difference. I have also toyed with syncing software when Im on the same network as my server (used offline files YUCK and MS sync with not so great success). I would love to get that system setup again but its pretty low on my list.

Honestly I would go out and find a cheap dual HDD laptop or a cheapo desktop that has the PSU to supply several HDDs with power.

 

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...2857&acd=R4CLN8-4W0KR-L9INJ46-2CCEAW-9UIPM-v1

Here u go

 

I forgot about that one, http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=437005

It is interesting. Does anyone know if it can stream 1080p video over the locakl network?

Does it max out at 2TB or can I put in 2 2TB drives?

 

really? what NAS did you use and what uPnP server

 

I have not used one but the ones I have seen (in specs) are not much faster than usb, and usb is not that fast.

I might have been reading numbers wrong though.

 

most nas tests i've seen have very low bandwidths indeed. a simple atom based intel mini-itx mainboard + a 'green' 3.5" hdd deliver constant 100MB/s over gblan. enough for streaming about 4 bluray movies in parallel.

most nas are more around 10MB/s or such, sadly. statement is based on some vague memories of tests i've read on anandtech and other sources. lets see if i find one.

actually i don't have to go that far. just look at the linked iomega storcenter review above.