Hi. First post and I apologise in advance for my lack of techy knowledge as everyone here seems to be operating on a different plane to me. I've read a few pieces  including the recommended build but I'm not sure they're still in date or suitable for a UK build.

 

I'll just start by saying that I've never built a PC or server before and I also know very little about networks. What I do know is that building my own server is the only affordable way to get what I need so I'm hoping some of you will take me under your wings and help me through this.

 

I'm in the UK. I'm looking to build a relatively quiet, green but more importantly simple build with 12-15 bays with perhaps 6 or 8TB at first. I do like to share a lot of files so a build that could run Bittorrent would be desirable but that's it really. This will be to store my rips of DVDs, Blurays and CDs. I'm not sure how much I'm willing to spend but £500-£800 is a rough estimate. I quite like the look of this but it's quite expensive. I'm wondering how much it would cost to put something like that together?

 

I really have little idea what I'm doing but can follow instructions and am willing to learn so if someone can recommend a simple build, components and help me assemble I'd be very grateful. Alternatively, if anyone in the UK has recently built and I can follow and copy theirs that would be equally good.

 

Please feel free to advise, criticise and suggest. I eagerly await all responses.

Hello, and welcome!  The most difficult part of building your own server is researching and choosing the components, because the market changes very quickly.  Your first stop should be the Greenleaf Prototypes Blog (click the link in my signature at the bottom of this post).  All of those parts are sourced in the US, but this thread lists some good vendors in the UK.  You might also want to look at the Old Components section of my Prototypes blog, as some of the parts that are no longer available in the US are still available in the UK.  There's nothing wrong with using older parts in your server.  Unlike gaming and other types of computers, you want a server to be reliable first-and-foremost, which in some cases means using tried-and-true parts as opposed to the newest and fasted parts.

Thanks. I'll see if I can source the components and then list them here to see if they're OK.

Don't worry about trying to match the parts that others have used exactly.  For most things unRAID is very flexible in terms of what will work.  But to be safe, post here as you say and we can review your list before you start buying.

I've managed to source most of the components from Greenleaf's 15 Drive Budget Box. I'm not sure if the prices are any good. i know those enclosures are very expensive. The case is different being U01 rather than U02 but I don't know what that means. I also have no idea where to find "0.5m 30AWG Internal Mini SAS 36pin (SFF-8087) Male w/ Latch to SATA 7pin Female (x4) Forward Breakout Cable - Black" so a link would be great for that.

 

Other than that how is it? Also, this isn't as cheap as I thought it might be. Compared to the ready made server I linked to earlier in the OP would this be any better?

 

 

AMD SDX145HBGMBOX Sempron 145 Single-Core Energy Efficient Processor (2.80 GHz, 1MB Cache, Socket AM3, 45W, 3 Year Warranty, Retail Boxed)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0040BPHJO/ref=ox_sc_act_title_8?ie=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

£32

 

Asus M4A78LT-M Motherboard

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0034U7EHU/ref=ox_sc_act_title_7?ie=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

£52

 

Cremax ICY DOCK, MB455SPF-B 5 Hot Swap SATA 2 HDD in 3 X 5.25 Drive Bay Aluminum Rack W/ Swappable Fan - Black

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000L6KJ04/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

£145 x3 = £435

 

Corsair CMPSU-500CXV2UK Builder Series CX500V2 - 80 Plus Certified Power Supply

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005851O16/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?ie=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

£49

 

Xigmatek CPC-T90DB-U01 Utgard Chassis

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00365EKKC/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?ie=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

£70

 

Kingston ValueRAM 2GB 1333Mz DDR3 Non-ECC DIMM Memory

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0019MI1CW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&m=A38UDII8M9Z5GS

£6

 

PCIE to SATA II and eSATA CONTROLLER CARD - 2 + 2 PORTS - PCI EXPRESS 1x - CHIPSET : SILICON IMAGE SIL3132 - RAID 0, 1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002VAA6C4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&m=AT0LZKUUT30A0

£23

 

Wired--up 2 x SATA Data Cable, Serial ATA 45 cm Lead

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0011YNWYA/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&m=A18EJPA5VS8652 £1 x5 = £5

 

Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8, 8-Port SAS/SATA Card

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/supermicro-aoc-saslp-mv8-8-port-sas-sata-300mb-s-pci-e-controller-card?utm_source=google+shopping&utm_medium=google+shopping

£84

 

Total so far not including drives = £756

Sorry for my late response.  Feel free to PM or email me in the future if I take a while getting back to you.

 

Those parts all look fine.  It is true that the same parts available here in the US are far more expensive in the UK, that's just the reality of it.  A few thoughts:

 

Re: PCIE to SATA II and eSATA CONTROLLER CARD

This one should work, but the eSATA ports are unnecessary.  If you can find one that just has the internal SATA ports without the eSATA ports, you might be able to save a bit of money.  However, if you have an eSATA external hard drive, then the eSATA ports might come in handy for mass data transfers.

 

Re: Xigmatek CPC-T90DB-U01 Utgard Chassis

This case is fine.  Don't worry about the U01 vs U02 distinction.  The U02 version is the same thing but it has a side window (see U01 vs U02).  I personally would prefer the U01 as the lack of a side window will likely make the case a bit quieter.  Also keep in mind that you will need to flatten the tabs between each 5.25" drive bay.  This is true of any case you buy.  I use a deep C-clamp, like this.

 

Sorry, I don't have a UK vendor link for the forward breakout cables.  The key in searching for breakout cables is to search the phrase '8087'.  Once you find a bunch of SFF-8087 cables, look for ones identified as 'forward breakout' or ones that have a letter 'f' in their model number.  If you are unsure of any, post a link here and we'll try to help you decipher them.  I know it can be difficult to find them, they aren't terribly common in the consumer electronics market.

 

I think this server will end up being much nicer than the one you linked to in the first post in this thread simply because it will support have 15 hot swap bays, instead of a bunch of internal bays.  This will make server management and maintenance far simpler.

Sorry, I don't have a UK vendor link for the forward breakout cables.  The key in searching for breakout cables is to search the phrase '8087'.  Once you find a bunch of SFF-8087 cables, look for ones identified as 'forward breakout' or ones that have a letter 'f' in their model number.  If you are unsure of any, post a link here and we'll try to help you decipher them.  I know it can be difficult to find them, they aren't terribly common in the consumer electronics market.

 

I cannot speak from experience since I don't use them, but Scan (www.scan.co.uk) sell a number of cables of this type (they are also a Supermicro reseller).