dikkiedirk Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 I was asked to built a small and silent server, that will hold 4 disks to start with, for audio files only. It will go in a listening room. I already suggested to put it in another room, but that would mean drilling and more cables (there is a wife involved, who is not a aficionado of this stuff) Do you have any suggestions for silent components including disks, case , psu (passive?), mobo ( that can go to sleep when not used and WOL) CPU with silent cooler and others. Quote Link to comment
mr-hexen Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 check my signature for a link to my build. I believe it checks all the boxes for you. Quote Link to comment
garycase Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 The Q25B is indeed an excellent choice for a case (used in mr-hexen's build). I'd make the following changes from his build ... => Use the Silverstone ST30SF unit instead of the 450w unit he used. 300w is PLENTY for your build; and this PSU does not run the fan at all unless the temps exceed a certain threshold. I've used it for several builds, and it NEVER runs the fan unless I run a CPU-intensive benchmark that forces high power draws. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256097 => Update to a next gen motherboard with the x97 chipset (H97 or Z97). Asus makes a couple of nice mini-ITX boards that would work well ... I've used both the Z97I-Plus and the H97I-Plus. Another nice board I recently used for a friend who wanted to keep things as low-cost as possible was the AsRock H97M-ITX/ac ... I was impressed with the features on this board for such a low cost [5 SATA ports, built-in WiFi and Bluetooth, etc.]. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157526 Another alternative for the motherboard/CPU is to use an Atom-based board with one of the new Avoton units. This excellent board has 6 SATA ports and an 8-core Avoton, which has an amazing amount of CPU "horsepower" for its very tiny power consumption [PassMark of 3929, max power 20w]. Since it's so low-power, the heatsink is passive (i.e. totally silent since there's no fan). http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182851 With a system using that Avoton board and the 300w Silverstone power supply, I doubt you could even tell it was on without looking at the power LED [and you could not connect that LED and have a completely "stealth" system ]. Quote Link to comment
garycase Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 After posting the above, I just noticed the title of this question ... "... 8 drive server" The Q25B will only hold 7 drives !! And the motherboards I mentioned (and that mr hexen used) don't support even those 7 drives. The extra SATA ports are simple: just add a PCIe x1 expansion card to add a couple SATA ports. As for supporting 8 drives ... I'd recommend you simply convince your friend that 7 drives is plenty -- just use higher-capacity drives than he might have had in mind [e.g. 6TB drives]. But if you really need 8 drives, then I'd step up to a micro-ATX case and look at the Fractal Design Mini http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352011&cm_re=Fractal_Design_Mini-_-11-352-011-_-Product This is another amazingly quiet case, and has 6 internal drive bays plus 2 5.25" bays you could use for the last 2 drives. It's every bit as quiet as the Q25B -- and you could still use the mini-ITX motherboard and power supply I suggested earlier (or you could look at other micro-ATX options if you want more expandability). The only downside is it's a larger case. Quote Link to comment
WeeboTech Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 The fractal mini supports 6 drives on those trays, the define R5 supports 8. At a slightly larger footprint. Granted you could use the top 5.25 bays for a 4x3 or 2 other drives, however I usually go for consistency in maintenance. My top 2 bays use the Icy Dock removable for maintaining or swapping drives. However they tend to run slightly hotter. I can't even hear my Fractal Define R4 With 8 drives cooled by 2 140MM fans. Quote Link to comment
mr-hexen Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 I'd be more inclined to stick with fewer hard drives and increase size as you go because, as you stated this is a music server, and the rate at which your storage needs are likely to increase you can just swap to 8TB drives instead of 4TB is a few years. @Garycase, the Q25 will support >7 drives. You can get 9 in there if you use that PCIe adapter i found a while back that adds a couple ports and a single 2.5" slot. Only thing is that drive #8 and #9 will have to be 2.5" drives. Might make the perfect SSD Cache Quote Link to comment
dalben Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Depending on the space you have to play with, a more cubed type casing might suit. This baby will be my next build Fractal Design Node 804 Key features Highly effective dual chamber case layout for best possible cooling. Minimalistic design with an elegant brushed aluminum front panel Unique hard drive mounting system, fitting up to 8 x 3.5?, 4 x 2.5” or up to 10 x 3.5”, 2 x 2.5? drives HDD/SSD Three Fractal Design Silent Series R2 fans included with the case and space for an additional 7 fans. Excellent water cooling support with space for up to 4 radiators simultaneously. All intakes feature removable dust filters providing a dust-free interior. Featuring a window side panel to show off your set up in style. Additional space in the front to mount a slim slot-in ODD, optical bay drive, and 2 x 2.5? drives. Fan controller included. Five expansion slots that allows for multiple GPU setups. Quote Link to comment
trurl Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 I'd be more inclined to stick with fewer hard drives and increase size as you go because, as you stated this is a music server, and the rate at which your storage needs are likely to increase you can just swap to 8TB drives instead of 4TB is a few years. @Garycase, the Q25 will support >7 drives. You can get 9 in there if you use that PCIe adapter i found a while back that adds a couple ports and a single 2.5" slot. Only thing is that drive #8 and #9 will have to be 2.5" drives. Might make the perfect SSD Cache I have 8 in mine. 5 array data drives in the hotswap cage, parity in the bottom, 2 SSDs in the bottom as btrfs cache pool. Since my MB only has 6 ports I have RC-218 which gives me 2 more internal ports and 2 eSATA ports. Can also be configured as 4 internal. Unfortunately seems to be difficult to find now but has served me well. Quote Link to comment
garycase Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Yes, I know you can go beyond 7 with 2.5" drives -- the bottom tray will hold 2 3.5" drives plus one 2.5" drive; and you can also use one of the add-in cards that will hold two 2.5" drives, for a total of 10 drives. I was referring strictly to 3.5" drives, since that's generally what folks are going to use for array drives (and parity). My Q25B has parity on the bottom tray and 5 data drives in the hot-swap with no other drives. Quote Link to comment
garycase Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 The fractal mini supports 6 drives on those trays, the define R5 supports 8. At a slightly larger footprint. Granted you could use the top 5.25 bays for a 4x3 or 2 other drives, however I usually go for consistency in maintenance. My top 2 bays use the Icy Dock removable for maintaining or swapping drives. However they tend to run slightly hotter. I can't even hear my Fractal Define R4 With 8 drives cooled by 2 140MM fans. Good point. I definitely agree that the Fractal cases are virtually inaudible -- I can't hear the Mini or the Define R4 (don't have an R5, but I'm sure it's just as good). Quote Link to comment
dikkiedirk Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 After discussing these options, my collegue said that 5 array drives would be sufficient. He asked about a mobo with IPMI though. The only add-ons he will be using are nzbget or sabnzbd and probably apcupsd. Quote Link to comment
WeeboTech Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 I don't know about itx boards these days. However I believe this is what limetech is using. SUPERMICRO MBD-X10SL7-F-O uATX Server Motherboard LGA 1150 Intel C222 DDR3 1600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182821 It's more then what's needed, but it's also all that is needed other then ram and cpu. This itx board looks nice for an atom, but then again, that price. SUPERMICRO MBD-A1SRi-2758F-O Mini ITX Server Motherboard DDR3 1600/1333 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182855 Just add ram and mix.. There seems to be a combo price for a iStar itx case which seems pretty inviting. Save USD $100 w/ NAS combo purchase, limited time offer iStarUSA S-35-DE5BL Black Aluminum / Steel Tower Compact Stylish 5x 3.5" Hotswap Trayless mini-ITX Tower - Blue HDD Handle http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811165600 I'm really digging that lil case and trayless sata setup. If I didn't have my HP microservers, I would get one of these lil bad boys for testing/developing and preclearing. (cheese and crackers, I'm going through UCD again) Quote Link to comment
dikkiedirk Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 I don't know about itx boards these days. However I believe this is what limetech is using. SUPERMICRO MBD-X10SL7-F-O uATX Server Motherboard LGA 1150 Intel C222 DDR3 1600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182821 It's more then what's needed, but it's also all that is needed other then ram and cpu. This itx board looks nice for an atom, but then again, that price. SUPERMICRO MBD-A1SRi-2758F-O Mini ITX Server Motherboard DDR3 1600/1333 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182855 Just add ram and mix.. There seems to be a combo price for a iStar itx case which seems pretty inviting. Save USD $100 w/ NAS combo purchase, limited time offer iStarUSA S-35-DE5BL Black Aluminum / Steel Tower Compact Stylish 5x 3.5" Hotswap Trayless mini-ITX Tower - Blue HDD Handle http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811165600 I'm really digging that lil case and trayless sata setup. If I didn't have my HP microservers, I would get one of these lil bad boys for testing/developing and preclearing. (cheese and crackers, I'm going through UCD again) The Asrock mobo in my sig has IPMI, how stupid of me! Don't know if it fits in a Q25 and which CPUs are supported that would run sabnzbd. Quote Link to comment
WeeboTech Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 I don't know about itx boards these days. However I believe this is what limetech is using. SUPERMICRO MBD-X10SL7-F-O uATX Server Motherboard LGA 1150 Intel C222 DDR3 1600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182821 It's more then what's needed, but it's also all that is needed other then ram and cpu. This itx board looks nice for an atom, but then again, that price. SUPERMICRO MBD-A1SRi-2758F-O Mini ITX Server Motherboard DDR3 1600/1333 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182855 Just add ram and mix.. There seems to be a combo price for a iStar itx case which seems pretty inviting. Save USD $100 w/ NAS combo purchase, limited time offer iStarUSA S-35-DE5BL Black Aluminum / Steel Tower Compact Stylish 5x 3.5" Hotswap Trayless mini-ITX Tower - Blue HDD Handle http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811165600 I'm really digging that lil case and trayless sata setup. If I didn't have my HP microservers, I would get one of these lil bad boys for testing/developing and preclearing. (cheese and crackers, I'm going through UCD again) The Asrock mobo in my sig has IPMI, how stupid of me! Don't know if it fits in a Q25 and which CPUs are supported that would run sabnzbd. That Asrock mobo looks sweet for a mini server with ESX. Quote Link to comment
dikkiedirk Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 I don't know about itx boards these days. However I believe this is what limetech is using. SUPERMICRO MBD-X10SL7-F-O uATX Server Motherboard LGA 1150 Intel C222 DDR3 1600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182821 It's more then what's needed, but it's also all that is needed other then ram and cpu. This itx board looks nice for an atom, but then again, that price. SUPERMICRO MBD-A1SRi-2758F-O Mini ITX Server Motherboard DDR3 1600/1333 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182855 Just add ram and mix.. There seems to be a combo price for a iStar itx case which seems pretty inviting. Save USD $100 w/ NAS combo purchase, limited time offer iStarUSA S-35-DE5BL Black Aluminum / Steel Tower Compact Stylish 5x 3.5" Hotswap Trayless mini-ITX Tower - Blue HDD Handle http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811165600 I'm really digging that lil case and trayless sata setup. If I didn't have my HP microservers, I would get one of these lil bad boys for testing/developing and preclearing. (cheese and crackers, I'm going through UCD again) That iStar case looks nice but I cant obtain it because I live in the Netherlands. Quote Link to comment
garycase Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 That little AsRock board in your sig looks perfect for what you want to build here. ... mini-ITX (fits nicely in a Q25B); has IPMI; and supports 6 SATA ports. Any 4th gen (v3) Xeon E3-1200 series CPU will have plenty of "horsepower" for what your friend wants to do. That will make a very nice system -- E3-1200v3 series CPU, ECC RAM, and a very nice virtually silent little case. Quote Link to comment
mr-hexen Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Gary, a Xeon seems way overkill, heck a celeron or regular pentium would handle what he's looking for. For ECC support, if a must, an i3 should do the trick, no? Quote Link to comment
Whatever Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 That iStar case looks nice but I cant obtain it because I live in the Netherlands. Actually, they do seem to ship to the Netherlands as well. You would have to pay for VAT and Customs on arrival though. Quote Link to comment
garycase Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 A Haswell i3 with ECC support would be okay ... I'm just not much of a believer in going for the low-end, so I'd definitely use a Xeon. The low-end of the E3-1200v3 series would be fine (i.e. a 1220v3). Personally, I only use Core i7-4790's in desktops, and E3-1270v3 series in server boards. Quote Link to comment
WeeboTech Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 A Haswell i3 with ECC support would be okay ... I'm just not much of a believer in going for the low-end, so I'd definitely use a Xeon. The low-end of the E3-1200v3 series would be fine (i.e. a 1220v3). Personally, I only use Core i7-4790's in desktops, and E3-1270v3 series in server boards. Check eBay, they often have the 1220L's which are low voltage for a reasonable rate. Personally, I don't usually get such high end CPU's in my builds as they are mostly idle except for machines I virtualize on. I usually go for the largest cache, with 4 cores & hyperthreading, but usually the lowest model in that range. It all depends on what you do with it. If I were gaming, it would be a different story. Quote Link to comment
garycase Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 I've built a fair number of systems for others using lower-end CPUs, but when I'm doing them for myself (whether mine, wife's, an HTPC, or whatever) I prefer to have the higher horsepower "in reserve" -- even if it never gets used. Especially with Haswell based CPUs, it costs nothing in terms of energy to do that ... my wife's i7-4790 system idles at ~ 30 watts INCLUDING a 23" touch screen monitor. But when it needs some serious "horsepower", it has it !! [she uses Dragon a lot, and Dragon works REALLY well with the i7] The only real cost is an extra $100 or so to get the high end CPU ... and considering how much I'm usually spending that's an incidental cost that simply doesn't matter. Quote Link to comment
dikkiedirk Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 A Haswell i3 with ECC support would be okay ... I'm just not much of a believer in going for the low-end, so I'd definitely use a Xeon. The low-end of the E3-1200v3 series would be fine (i.e. a 1220v3). Personally, I only use Core i7-4790's in desktops, and E3-1270v3 series in server boards. An i7-4790 is yesterdays news already, you need a 5960x nowadays. And that one is old already to Intel at least. For my collegues intentions, simple hd flac serving and occasional downloads, a Pentium will suffice. No need for a powerhouse. A nice quiet CPU cooler would be a Noctua I guess? Quote Link to comment
dikkiedirk Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 We are probably gonna go with the C224 flavor of the Asrock board. My collegue can get one with a G1820 CPU from an auction site for 80 Euro. There is a difference in the number of SATA 3 ports nothing earth-shattering I believe Quote Link to comment
mr-hexen Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Sata3 makes no difference for spinners. Quote Link to comment
garycase Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 A Haswell i3 with ECC support would be okay ... I'm just not much of a believer in going for the low-end, so I'd definitely use a Xeon. The low-end of the E3-1200v3 series would be fine (i.e. a 1220v3). Personally, I only use Core i7-4790's in desktops, and E3-1270v3 series in server boards. An i7-4790 is yesterdays news already, you need a 5960x nowadays. And that one is old already to Intel at least. For my collegues intentions, simple hd flac serving and occasional downloads, a Pentium will suffice. No need for a powerhouse. A nice quiet CPU cooler would be a Noctua I guess? 140w socket 2011 CPU's are hardly something you'd want to use in a "small footprint, silent" system I built an i7-5930k system for a friend a couple months ago ... with a pair of GTX-980's. Needless to say, this wasn't for an UnRAID system [He's a serious gamer] Definitely a nice system ... but also definitely NOT small and NOT silent Quote Link to comment
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