looking to build a storage server!

[kinkywink]

hey guys im looking to build a cheapish (excluding harddrives) media center for my mum so she can put all her downloads on it ^^ nothing fancy, it wont need raid, maybe a ssd or something as a boot drive.

any suggestions are welcome

prices in nzd would be appreciated

[Guest]

Does it need to be small?

I prefer the Arc Mini R2.

[kinkywink]

Does it need to be small?

I prefer the Arc Mini R2.

as long as it has heaps of space for hdds or custom mounted hdds then its fine, i can see it leaning towards a raid card for more sata ports and amd for there cheaper integrated graphics on there cpus which is fine as well

[Vitalius]

The Fractal Node 304 has space for 6 HDDs and it can fit normal ATX PSUs. Plus it's M-ITX.

I recommend using FreeNAS on a 4GB USB Flash Drive. 

[kinkywink]

The Fractal Node 304 has space for 6 HDDs and it can fit normal ATX PSUs. Plus it's M-ITX.

I recommend using FreeNAS on a 4GB USB Flash Drive. 

is freeNAS able to connect to a playstation?

[Vitalius]

is freeNAS able to connect to a playstation?

Hmm, it can. It just depends how much you want to learn and work you want to do to get it to work. 

If you just want it to work out of the box, then don't use FreeNAS. It's almost that easy, but not quite that easy.

[kinkywink]

Hmm, it can. It just depends how much you want to learn and work you want to do to get it to work. 

If you just want it to work out of the box, then don't use FreeNAS. It's almost that easy, but not quite that easy.

^^ yeah, if it was my computer and my server then i would totally do that but it needs to be simple since its for my mum and im moving out next year

[foxhound590]

if your going for software raid then its relativity cheep and a card like thiss will help
http://www.mwave.com.au/product/intel-24port-sas-expander-card-pcie-x4-connector-lp-aa20991

if your going for hardware raid do not be shocked when you see prices  of 500-1300 for raid cards 

 

as for cases look at nortec for server style cases. you can theoretically get 24 3.5 drives in a deep silence 6

 

you coud also look at prebuilt
http://www.mwave.com.au/networking-wired/nas-network-attached-storage

[kinkywink]

if your going for software raid then its relativity cheep and a card like thiss will help

http://www.mwave.com.au/product/intel-24port-sas-expander-card-pcie-x4-connector-lp-aa20991

if your going for hardware raid do not be shocked when you see prices  of 500-1300 for raid cards 

 

as for cases look at nortec for server style cases. you can theoretically get  24 3.5 drives in a deep silence 6

well dang.. the only reason for the raid card would be for more sata ports so i wouldnt spend that much

 

like this http://www.amazon.com/Vantec-4-Channel-HyperDuo-Technology-UGT-ST644R/dp/B00EA0WMOS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1400046837&sr=8-2&keywords=raid+card+6+sata+6gb

[MrBucket101]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($116.98 @ Newegg)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H81M-H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($44.99 @ Newegg)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($45.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($104.98 @ OutletPC)

Case: Silverstone ML04B HTPC Case ($74.99 @ Amazon)

Power Supply: Corsair CSM 450W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($74.99 @ Amazon)

Optical Drive: LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($49.99 @ Mwave)

Total: $512.91

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-14 01:58 EDT-0400)

Edit: I put this together as a cheap HTPC, because that's what the first post seemed like what you wanted. I have no clue why your mom would need a RAID array. Do what I do and keep everything at your house and give your mom a mirror of the data. My mom personally doesn't do anything but hit the power button and then use xbmc which it auto boots into.

[kinkywink]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($116.98 @ Newegg)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H81M-H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($44.99 @ Newegg)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($45.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($104.98 @ OutletPC)

Case: Silverstone ML04B HTPC Case ($74.99 @ Amazon)

Power Supply: Corsair CSM 450W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($74.99 @ Amazon)

Optical Drive: LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($49.99 @ Mwave)

Total: $512.91

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-14 01:58 EDT-0400)

cheers will compare with mine once i get it sorted

[foxhound590]

you can get port expander cards that are alot cheaper then raid cards but they can still get expencive  but 
 

16 port card  can be found around 250
 

[MrBucket101]

cheers will compare with mine once i get it sorted

Ah yeah, my mistake I forgot to check your location.

All in all I got the cheapest i3, and mATX mobo I could find, that still had HDMI output. The rest was just picking a case and a PSU to fit. The ml04B needs a power supply to be 140mm or less. If you want more drives, silver stone has better more expensive htpc enclosures.

Oh and don't forget to invest in a cheap $15 rosewill MCE remote. Even if you it's the remote like I did, I still use the receiver with my Logitech harmony remote

[kinkywink]

Ah yeah, my mistake I forgot to check your location.

All in all I got the cheapest i3, and mATX mobo I could find, that still had HDMI output. The rest was just picking a case and a PSU to fit. The ml04B needs a power supply to be 140mm or less. If you want more drives, silver stone has better more expensive htpc enclosures.

Oh and don't forget to invest in a cheap $15 rosewill MCE remote. Even if you it's the remote like I did, I still use the receiver with my Logitech harmony remote

what do you mean remote? what does it do and algoods i appreciate the help

[kinkywink]

you can get port expander cards that are alot cheaper then raid cards but they can still get expencive  but 

 

16 port card  can be found around 250

 

well dang, probably would need up to 10 drives in total, ill take a look

[MrBucket101]

well dang, probably would need up to 10 drives in total, ill take a look

Holy cow lol

I misunderstood your direction with this build. You must love your mom to build her a server like that.

Haf stacker is a cheap case with LOTS of HDD storage. It'll hold something like 15 drives without an expansion.

With 10 drives you're looking a needing a single SAS port RAID card, and an additional SAS expander. Decent cards are ~300-400 and a 24 port expander will cost ~200

Then add in the cost of the drives, ~100 each. And you're looking at a $1500 build before you even buy the case, and components. Not to mention I would recommend a Xeon CPU to go along with everything.

[kinkywink]

Holy cow lol

I misunderstood your direction with this build. You must love your mom to build her a server like that.

Haf stacker is a cheap case with LOTS of HDD storage. It'll hold something like 15 drives without an expansion.

With 10 drives you're looking a needing a single SAS port RAID card, and an additional SAS expander. Decent cards are ~300-400 and a 24 port expander will cost ~200

Then add in the cost of the drives, ~100 each. And you're looking at a $1500 build before you even buy the case, and components. Not to mention I would recommend a Xeon CPU to go along with everything.

not that hard core, its just that she keeps buying 140 dollar 2 tb external hdds when a 3tb one is 156 NZD price. and ontop of that she never uses the ones she fills up so they just sit there

i need enough ports for 10-15 drives but i was going to mod the case to support more hdds, probably just connect 4 or so hdds to a 4port expander and then the rest on the motherboard

[kinkywink]

you can get port expander cards that are alot cheaper then raid cards but they can still get expencive  but 

 

16 port card  can be found around 250

 

 

 

Holy cow lol

 

how does this look? its only got one hard drive as they are 150-160 each!

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  AMD A10-6790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($176.05 @ Aquila Technology) 

Motherboard:  ASRock FM2A88M EXTREME4+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($114.00 @ Paradigm PCs) 

Memory:  Kingston 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($73.00 @ Paradigm PCs) 

Storage:  Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($159.84 @ PB Technologies) 

Power Supply:  Antec High Current Gamer 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($118.11 @ Aquila Technology) 

Optical Drive:  LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer  ($40.24 @ PB Technologies) 

Other: case - node 304 fractial design ($179.00)

Other: sata card 4 int 2 ext ($109.00)

Total: $969.24

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-14 19:37 NZST+1200)

[MrBucket101]

 

 

 

 

how does this look? its only got one hard drive as they are 150-160 each!

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  AMD A10-6790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($176.05 @ Aquila Technology) 

Motherboard:  ASRock FM2A88M EXTREME4+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($114.00 @ Paradigm PCs) 

Memory:  Kingston 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($73.00 @ Paradigm PCs) 

Storage:  Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($159.84 @ PB Technologies) 

Power Supply:  Antec High Current Gamer 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($118.11 @ Aquila Technology) 

Optical Drive:  LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer  ($40.24 @ PB Technologies) 

Other: case - node 304 fractial design ($179.00)

Other: sata card 4 int 2 ext ($109.00)

Total: $969.24

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-14 19:37 NZST+1200)

 

Only thing that stood out to me, would be the single 4GB stick of RAM, it's best to buy your RAM in pairs. They perform better that way.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($159.00 @ PC Force) 

Motherboard:  Asus H87M-E Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($145.00 @ PC Force) 

Memory:  Kingston HyperX T1 Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($65.70 @ Aquila Technology) 

Storage:  Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($159.84 @ PB Technologies) 

Case:  BitFenix Prodigy M Midnight MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($119.00 @ Paradigm PCs) 

Power Supply:  SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($151.00 @ Paradigm PCs) 

Other: Rosewill RHRC-11002 ($20.00)

Total: $819.54

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-14 20:43 NZST+1200)

No optical drive because Bluray readers in your country are upwards of $140. The drive you picked out was DVD read only. I chose to exclude it based on price, blurays are more prevalent, and nowadays a single dvdrip is at most 1.4GB. You could rip the movie and transfer the file via USB or over the network. Personal preference, your call in the end.

 

I'm an intel guy, so I'll always try to use the intel equivalents when possible. If all this PC is going to do is play media content and or streaming, an A10 APU is a bit overkill. Yes you get more performance from your 4GHz quad core, but the only difference you will notice in the end is your wallet in the price difference.

 

I prefer Corsair/Seasonic PSU's. I opted for a semi-modular one to ease on the clutter inside the tiny case.

 

Aesthetically I like the prodigy, and its pretty spacious inside for how compact it is. The Prodigy M can hold 4 3.5" drives, and the mobo I picked out has 6 SATA ports. 

Our builds are pretty much the same though, bar some branding.

[kinkywink]

 

Only thing that stood out to me, would be the single 4GB stick of RAM, it's best to buy your RAM in pairs. They perform better that way.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($159.00 @ PC Force) 

Motherboard:  Asus H87M-E Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($145.00 @ PC Force) 

Memory:  Kingston HyperX T1 Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($65.70 @ Aquila Technology) 

Storage:  Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($159.84 @ PB Technologies) 

Case:  BitFenix Prodigy M Midnight MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($119.00 @ Paradigm PCs) 

Power Supply:  SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($151.00 @ Paradigm PCs) 

Other: Rosewill RHRC-11002 ($20.00)

Total: $819.54

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-14 20:43 NZST+1200)

 

hmm yeah good point, im not really an intel nor a amd guy, i just feel the amd integrated graphics would be a bit better long term, theres a few cheaper options over the cpu anyhow, as with the dvd drive, i was only thinking of read not write, the computer would only really need it for the o/s install so yeah a usb would do just fine, i like the node 304 just because of how it holds the hard drives  but yes, they are very similar i was pretty unsure about the ram as i didnt know if itd need much or anything so yeeeeaahhh

[kinkywink]

i didnt realise the node304 is mini itx and the motherboard i picked was micro

[MrBucket101]

hmm yeah good point, im not really an intel nor a amd guy, i just feel the amd integrated graphics would be a bit better long term, theres a few cheaper options over the cpu anyhow, as with the dvd drive, i was only thinking of read not write, the computer would only really need it for the o/s install so yeah a usb would do just fine, i like the node 304 just because of how it holds the hard drives  but yes, they are very similar i was pretty unsure about the ram as i didnt know if itd need much or anything so yeeeeaahhh

The docs on the i3 say that the integrated graphics support up to 4k resolution. Not that it matters though, no content is available in 4K.

If you were playing games on this rig, then the APU integrated GPU would have more longevity, but I believe we'll be stuck with 1080p content for many years to come.

It's all personal, you seem to have a good idea now about what you need/want. Just do ur research

[kinkywink]

The docs on the i3 say that the integrated graphics support up to 4k resolution. Not that it matters though, no content is available in 4K.

If you were playing games on this rig, then the APU integrated GPU would have more longevity, but I believe we'll be stuck with 1080p content for many years to come.

It's all personal, you seem to have a good idea now about what you need/want. Just do ur research

sweeeeeet as, i mean, at the most the computer will be connected to via team viewer for me to do a lil bit of updating on it here and there, make sure its running fine and connected to the playstation! otherwise itd be a bit pointless :L but yeah thanks for the help