Budget Build (Atom Mini ITX), thoughts?

[lannister80]

I'm attempting a "budget build" for a friend of mine who desperately needs a real media server, and I've never built anything from scratch before (although I have plenty of hardware servicing experience).  Thoughts on this build?  Anything that won't work/I'm missing?

 

UPDATED:

 

Motherboard/CPU:

Supermicro X7SPA-H-D525-O Intel Atom D525/ Intel ICH9R/ DDR3/ V&2GbE/ Mini ITX Server Motherboard  (6 SATA ports, built-in video and Atom CPU, dual GigE,  $175)

 

Memory: 4GB (2X2GB) DDR3 MEMORY RAM PC3-6400 SODIMM 204-PIN ($37)

 

PSU: SILVERSTONE SFX ST30SF 300W ATX12V / EPS12V ($55)

 

Case: Fractal Design Node 304 FD-CA-NODE-304-BL Black Aluminum / Steel Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case (6 internal 3.5" bays, $90)

 

 

Any thoughts?  Really looking for 5 of 6 drives, 4 just isn't enough for his needs.

[vl1969]

What do you mean by "Real media server" ?

 

if he needs a simple NAS type server with just a network share setup

I am sure you can get him something for a little  less.

http://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai=C_Ttd2FZVU_bMH4ugsAfmxYHYBJH868IEwbLKy5gBnoOOpd8BCAQQASC_4LADKAVQvZXvrgVgyfamjNCk5A-gAeOM4vwDyAEHqgQmT9A5Hf6PphxS7uZiaJWx1qhGOMMUmZUAMXau9ipFeIqVZGXXha2ABZBOwAUFoAYmgAeG8kyQBwPgEpH2k-HmwK2nTQ&sig=AOD64_0Z9Em_DiEY1WQdRgNY4RJWeN3zUA&ctype=5&rct=j&q=&ved=0CCsQwg8&adurl=http://pixel.everesttech.net/3807/cq%3Fev_sid%3D3%26ev_cmpid%3D%26ev_ln%3D%26ev_crx%3D40867144153%26ev_mt%3D%26ev_n%3Dg%26ev_ltx%3Dpla:Open%2BBox%2B-%2BHP%2BProLiant%2BG7%2BN54L%2BMicroServer%2BServer%2BSystem%2BAMD%2BTurion%2BII%26ev_plx%3DN82E16859107921R%26ev_ptid%3D59938931102%26ev_dvc%3Dc%26ev_dvm%3D%26url%3Dhttp%253a%252f%252fwww.newegg.com%252fProduct%252fProduct.aspx%253fItem%253dN82E16859107921R%2526nm_mc%253dKNC-GoogleAdwords%2526cm_mmc%253dKNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-Server%252b%252526%252bWorkstation%252bSystems-_-N82E16859107921R for example.

[lannister80]

What do you mean by "Real media server" ?

 

if he needs a simple NAS type server with just a network share setup

I am sure you can get him something for a little  less.

He has a large media collection that is rapidly getting out of hand.

 

He currently has 3x 3TB usb external drives, each about 50% full, that he leaves connected to his Windows PC all the time, each set up as a separate share. No backups, no parity drive, etc.  We recently had a scare where one of the drives showed up as "RAW" in Windows and I had to rescue the files via TestDisk onto separate media before sending the bad drive in for warranty replacement.

 

So 250GB is waaaaaaay too small, as he already has 4.5TB+ of media.

 

Since he already has 3x 3TB drives, I should be able to backup/de-case/insert into array/repopulate the disks one by one, plus get one extra for parity.

[vl1969]

well I mean, does he needs to stream/trans-code stuff? like Plex or similar.

if yes than I am not sure Atom CPU would be a good idea.

 

if you just want to do a simple NAS with parity protection

HP microserver can support up to 4 drives, and I have seen modes to support up to 6 drives if you remove the CD drive.

also DDR2 Ram is expensive. I am sure you can find MB with support for DDR3 for less. so is the case.

I have seen cases with 7-9 drives support for like 40$-50$ in local microcenter.

unless space is critical a micro/mini ATX case would do just fine and give you even better cooling.

I say get a 4T drive for parity, copy data from one of the 3T drives across 2 others and build a single drive+parity array.

 

move all data from single 3T onto array and add the new one to it

rinse and repeat :-)

be prepared for spending  some time on this as you need to pre-clear each drive you are adding to array(not sure if parity needs to be pre-cleared )

 

I see if I can give you some ideas when I get to my home machine.

 

 

 

 

[lannister80]

well I mean, does he needs to stream/trans-code stuff? like Plex or similar.

if yes than I am not sure Atom CPU would be a good idea.

Nah, he just uses it for a samba share to his WDTV set-top box. He does transcoding on his Windows desktop if necessary.  No media server software.

 

FYI: Part of the reason I wanted to go with an Atom board is that the CPU and on-board video are already built-in, so I don't have to buy and install those separately.

 

if you just want to do a simple NAS with parity protection

HP microserver can support up to 4 drives, and I have seen modes to support up to 6 drives if you remove the CD drive.

also DDR2 Ram is expensive. I am sure you can find MB with support for DDR3 for less. so is the case.

I have seen cases with 7-9 drives support for like 40$-50$ in local microcenter.

unless space is critical a micro/mini ATX case would do just fine and give you even better cooling.

If you can design a build for less than $350 (+ hard drives), I'm game for anything.

 

be prepared for spending  some time on this as you need to pre-clear each drive you are adding to array(not sure if parity needs to be pre-cleared )

To be clear, I do have a unRaid box at home, but it was built by someone else and I bought it on craigslist (with no drives).  So I'm 100% familiar with setting up unRaid.  It's a 3U beast with room for 12 drives; I need something smaller for him.

 

I see if I can give you some ideas when I get to my home machine.

If you want a requirements list:

 

(a) MoBo able to talk to 6 3.5" drives (preferably without extra shenanigans like PCI cards)

(b) Case that can hold 6 3.5" drives, doesn't have to be hot-swap.

© "Mini-tower" size or smaller.  Doesn't have to be tiny, but it can't be some big rack-mount beast.

(d) As cheap as possible

(e) Can run UnRaid (duh). 

 

4 drives is not enough, gotta be 6.

[vl1969]

when I get home I will try to see what I can come up with.

do you have a microcenter close by ?

I find they have some nice deals now and than. and you save on shipping too.

 

[lannister80]

when I get home I will try to see what I can come up with.

do you have a microcenter close by ?

I find they have some nice deals now and than. and you save on shipping too.

I have one "near enough" that I could make the drive (maybe 20 miles away).  I do have a TigerDirect store extremely close to me, though, so that would work even better if you can find something there.

 

I suppose having a "pre-built" server would be worth a bit of a premium, just so I don't have to build it.

 

Thanks!!

[lannister80]

What do you mean by "Real media server" ?

 

if he needs a simple NAS type server with just a network share setup

I am sure you can get him something for a little  less.

for example.

I'm an idiot, I thought that server held only a single HDD.  Now I see it can hold 4.  Duh. 

[lannister80]

when I get home I will try to see what I can come up with.

do you have a microcenter close by ?

I find they have some nice deals now and than. and you save on shipping too.

You know what?  5 drives would be enough, something like this would be acceptable:

 

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=11585.0

[garycase]

The HP Microservers are indeed very popular among UnRAID'ers who don't need more drives than they can handle.

 

As for the parts list in your original post => that would be a good system EXCEPT you should definitely use an SFX power supply ... this would be fine:    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256097

 

Also, the SuperMicro Atom board is excellent ... but use the somewhat higher-powered D525 version:  http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-X7SPA5

(I have this exact board in one of my UnRAID servers and it's excellent)

 

 

 

[garycase]

By the way, "building" a PC these days is nothing more than assembling a few parts -- especially if you use a motherboard with integrated CPU (like the Atom boards).    An experience person could "build" that system in 15 minutes ... even with zero experience you'll have it all together in less than an hour 

[vl1969]

here some idea for MB/CPU/RAM for 160$

 

the microATX case are usually cheaper than ITX as well as  PSUs

but you might be able to use yours so with no case total is 215$

I say a dissent case should be about 50$-80$ 

if you order all from newegg let say, with combined shipping it might be under 335$.

 

 

 

MB :  $44 --  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?gclid=CNCjnKup8r0CFWuhOgodBDsAzA&Item=N82E16813135349&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-AMD+Motherboards-_-N82E16813135349&ef_id=UjhkFgAABYdHuz1Z:20140421193410:s

CPU :  $40 --  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103888

RAM :  $75 -- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231308

*****************************

$160

 

 

 

[vl1969]

if you need a license as well

 

check this guy build FS

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=32181.0;topicseen

[lannister80]

if you need a license as well

 

check this guy build FS

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=32181.0;topicseen

Yeah, we could sell off the 2 Reds for about $140 for the pair, probably.  And yeah, license is important too!  Which we will need.

[vl1969]

well the guy askes 550 for the whole thing with the license

 

if you can sell off the HDD it leaves you  with 410

not sure what license he have  but let say plus(70$)

 

so that is 340$ for the whole build.