I am hoping that someone can point me in a direction for Mobo selection, or at least suggest a few key criteria I should be looking for.  I am indifferent between AMD and Intel CPUs, it's more affordability for this build.  What I have so far is:

 

Norco Case: 4220

Drives: Will be starting with around 10-12 drives (mostly 5400/green), but looking for the ability to easily upgrade.

SATA Expansion Cards:  Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8 8-Port SAS/SATA Add-on Card

 

The primary purpose of the server will be for storage, and then to play DVD / BluRay movies (ripped).  Any suggestions would be appreciated.  The majority of the build threads for this type of setup seem to be from 2-3+ years ago, and the boards no longer seem to be available. 

 

Thanks!

The primary purpose of the server will be for storage, and then to play DVD / BluRay movies (ripped).  Any suggestions would be appreciated.  The majority of the build threads for this type of setup seem to be from 2-3+ years ago, and the boards no longer seem to be available. 

 

....playing or just serving the data?

For serving, not transcoding, you can start on a very low budget and upgrade later.

Also, as others mentioned quite frequently, upgrading the drives instead of the mobo/controllers is always an option nowadays.

 

So, what is your budget?

 

Two suggestions for this:

- low budget: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138393&cm_re=1037u-_-13-138-393-_-Product

Good for 12 Drives with one controller-card..you can even add an expander later

- server: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=x10sl7-f&N=-1&isNodeId=1

It comes with a LSI 2308 on-board...you can fully utilize your 4220 with the card you have...add a s1150 celeron an ECC RAM and you have a real server

Ahh, sorry I need to check back more often!  The server would primarily just be serving data, whatever device that is viewing the data would be responsible for any transcoding, if necessary.

 

As far as budget, ideally I would like to be < $160, or at least pretty close.  The plan is to allow for future expansion, so the plan was to have two AOC-SASLP-MV8, although having the on-board 2308 is intriguing as it would allow me to skip them for now.  I am not crazy about having to use sata cables for the drives as the wiring won't be as clean, but I should have plenty of room in the case with such a small board!

 

Thanks!