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Forums › IT Pro › Recommendations wanted - Barebones MId-Tower for new Home Server


1330 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Topic # 114167 10-Feb-2013 21:10 Send private message

Ok the home server at 6+ years use is now not happy and needs replacing. Probably bad Caps, but at this age it could be anything.

Currently an AMD 3000+ CPU on an A8N-VM CSM board (Gen 1 myPVR hardware), with lots of Raid1 storage

Replacement needs
  • Good general Linux support (surprise surprise)
  • 1 x PCI Slot for an IDE Adapter (needed to access some old drives + IDE DVD+RW)
  • Gigabit ethernet
  • Case capable of handling 10-12 HDs
    • I have a 3-4 HD expander for 5 1/4 bays I can use to help with this
  • Motherboard ideally capable of atleast 16GB Ram
  • Onboard Video - VGA / DVI
  • Intel/AMD - I'm open to options
  • USB 3.0
  • Quad Core
I don't need
  • Hard Drives
  • OS
  • DVD-RW
  • floppy ;)
Nice to have
  • Quiet CPU and PSU + Case fans
  • Easy access for HD Swap outs
  • 6+ Sata ports onboard
Any recommendations on a combination, or perhaps an Auckland based supplier as for once I'd like to pickup this as a pre-configured unit and just drop my HDs into it.

Reliable at a reasonable price for 24/7 use.

Steve




Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat New Zealand as a Solution Architect for all things Linux, Virtual and of course Cloud. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

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1063 posts

Uber Geek
  Reply # 759343 11-Feb-2013 10:36 Send private message

I guess it depends what budget you're looking at... I was looking on a real budget recently and was considering the following combination. (In the end I decided I didn't need that many HDDs so went for an even cheaper case)

Case: Bitfenix Shinobi - I think with HD Expander it should house 12 or so HDDs. Apparently thermals aren't great out of the box, but toss a couple of extra fans in and it's all good.

Mobo: Asrock B75 pro3-m - 8 Sata ports, 4 Ram slots, USB 3.0 and cheap. And I knew I'd probably never want to overclock on home server and lack of RAID didn't bother me as I rely on greyhole.

CPU: I guess you'll want to go i5 for quad core but I just went with a cheap pentium G645 since I didn't need much grunt in the server.


430 posts

Ultimate Geek
  Reply # 759389 11-Feb-2013 11:44 Send private message

I have a AMD X2 3800+ CPU and a A8N-VM CSM (ver 1) motherboard at home doing nothing. Attached to it 2GB Corsair RAM, Thermaltake 80mm CPU cooler. It was all working as of July last year.

Yours for a reasonable price.

Cheers
db




Home Server: Gigabyte GA-970A-D3, AMD FX-6100, 2 x 8GB RAM, 14TB, UPS, 2 x LSI1082E 8 x Port SAS/SATA, 3 x Norco SS-500,  ESXi 5u1, WHS 2011 (12TB HDD), W2K8 R2, and XP.
Media Center: Silverstone GD01, AMD A6-3600, Asus F1A75-M PRO, 8GB G.Skill Ripjaws-X 1866, 60GB OCZ Vertex 3 + 750GB WD7500BPK HDD, APC UPS, DVB-T AVerTV TwinStar D, Blu-ray player, Windows 7, Media Center, PowerDVD, Freeview HD. Sony KDL40W4000 iDTV.
PC: Intel Core2Quad 2.5Ghz, 8GB RAM, 90GB OCZ Agility 3, 750GB WD7500BPK HDD, 23" LCD, Blu-ray drive, Windows 8.

430 posts

Ultimate Geek
  Reply # 759393 11-Feb-2013 11:49 Send private message

I went with a Gigabyte board (GA-970A-D3) and AMD 6 core CPU (6200) on a recent home server upgrade, it is running VMware ESXi 5.1 with no issues and 16GB ram.

cheers
db



1330 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
  Reply # 759548 11-Feb-2013 15:00 Send private message

sidefx: I guess it depends what budget you're looking at... I was looking on a real budget recently and was considering the following combination. (In the end I decided I didn't need that many HDDs so went for an even cheaper case)

Case: Bitfenix Shinobi - I think with HD Expander it should house 12 or so HDDs. Apparently thermals aren't great out of the box, but toss a couple of extra fans in and it's all good.

Mobo: Asrock B75 pro3-m - 8 Sata ports, 4 Ram slots, USB 3.0 and cheap. And I knew I'd probably never want to overclock on home server and lack of RAID didn't bother me as I rely on greyhole.

CPU: I guess you'll want to go i5 for quad core but I just went with a cheap pentium G645 since I didn't need much grunt in the server.



Thanks for the motherboard tip. the B75 chipset looks like quite a good bet.

Problem is finding an appropriate case as a lot of places only seem to stock fancy gamer cases.




Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat New Zealand as a Solution Architect for all things Linux, Virtual and of course Cloud. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

430 posts

Ultimate Geek
  Reply # 759566 11-Feb-2013 15:34 Send private message

http://www.nzxt.com/new/products/classic_series/source_210_elite

8 x 3.5" and 3 x 5 1/4"

and cheap at about $100 or less.



1330 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
  Reply # 759617 11-Feb-2013 16:33 Send private message

browned: http://www.nzxt.com/new/products/classic_series/source_210_elite

8 x 3.5" and 3 x 5 1/4"

and cheap at about $100 or less.


Nice.. Simple and sexy




Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat New Zealand as a Solution Architect for all things Linux, Virtual and of course Cloud. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

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