New home server

[qwerty]

Im looking at building a home server. I havent had a server before because i havent had a need for a larger backup space. (mainly because of my parents and there damn photos.....).

I figured i have to build a server for them but i dont really have any idea on what parts i should be using. I have a need for a huge amount of space after i found out that my mum has had multiple HDD's  (all segate...) die and she has lost something stupid like 8 or 9 TB of photos. My dad has a crap load of photos of freight trains as well as photos of other random stuff and hasnt had any drives die but he does have 3 2TB externals that are almost full. as well as me who has 3 2TB WD greens almost full as well as 3 2TB externals that are almost full and a spare 1 TB segate that i dont really trust anything on.

In total i would be looking at needing something stupid like 30-40 TB of space. I would like to know what you guys would reccomed for such a big amount of space. I would also be running a Minecraft server and possibly folding @ home. I would prefer if it was a xeon processor and any motherboard except MSI. Not including HDD's i want to spend about 1000-1500 AUD. I would be trying to do a daily backup of not only my machine (Win 7) but both my parents computers (MAC, Yeah i know...) as well. I want to know what CPU, Motherboard as well as what RAID i should run, and if a RAID card would be needed for that amount of data.

[WoodenMarker]

Why not MSI? They make great motherboards?

 

Are you set on making one machine or are you okay with running 2 systems since 30-40TB is quite a lot of storage?

[algoat]

9TB of photos?  Even for large photos at 4MB/photo, that's like over 2 million photos.  Wow!  But if you're looking into large storage arrays, check this thread for inspiration and ideas.

 

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/21948-ltt-10tb-storage-show-off-topic/

[qwerty]

Why not MSI? They make great motherboards?

 

Are you set on making one machine or are you okay with running 2 systems since 30-40TB is quite a lot of storage?

The reason i dont like MSI boards is because i have had a bad record with them,(almost as bad as the record i have had with segate...) I have had 3 MSI boards and all 3 DOA. After the first time i was like fair enough, it happens. But then i got a brand new one off RMA, dead as well, got a third off RMA again, also dead. I would prefer it be one big server mainly because its easier to manage and less stress on my parents who have a stoke at the thought of that much storage. Plus i want the server for a bit of 24/7 folding.

 

9TB of photos?  Even for large photos at 4MB/photo, that's like over 2 million photos.  Wow!  But if you're looking into large storage arrays, check this thread for inspiration and ideas.

 

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/21948-ltt-10tb-storage-show-off-topic/

Yeah i know its alot, but my mum shoots bands as a hobby and can take anywhere from 500-4000 photos in one night! And because they are all in .RAW format, they are massive and uncompressed. I have tried pleading with her to delete doubles but she is stubborn and i dont really want to deal with her, so this is the easier solution (plus she would be paying for it :D). Id be looking to start off at about 40TB and then upgrading probably 5-10 TB extra a year. I have also had a look at that link and i am amazed at what some people have done BUT, I wouldnt have a clue as how to setup half of what was in there. I know how to build a PC, but i dont know how to configure the network and all that other stuff so that it works without a problem. Is there anywhere you could possibly link me to tutorials on networking and servers?

 

Thank you both for the replies!

[WoodenMarker]

How big of a Minecraft server are we talking about? 

[qwerty]

How big of a Minecraft server are we talking about? 

at one point i had about 200+ plugins and about 30 - 60 players on all the time, but server bills became to much so i had to stop, so it was pretty server intensive. According to my old server company i was running on E3-1240v3 with 32GB of ram and it was pretty close to capping out the 32GB of ram at points, im thinking i might just make a dedicated server just for it but, im not to worried about it.

[WoodenMarker]

If you're really set on a xeon-like cpu: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/1eqIU

 

The motherboard has 10 native sata 6gb/s ports and supports raid 0, 1, 5, and 10 via the bios.

You should probably set the drives in up raid 5. I'm not sure how to manage the dead drive and replace it but I think FreeNAS might have a solution for that. 

You should be able to fit 10 4TB hdds in here for up to 40TB.

 

You could get this case instead for more hdd storage for when you want to add in a raid card for more hdds but it would break your budget.

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An alternative is to build one of these: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/1eqOe

You can build another NAS as you run out of space/need more storage

 

The difference with this build is that it has 8 native sata 6gb/s ports. You can put less hdds in this but it is significantly cheaper. The motherboard also sports the same raid features as the board above.

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You can simply use the shared drive/folder feature in Windows to access the drives off the network. As for backup, you should have a choice to automatically and manually backup to a network drive.

 

Edit: You might wanna tell your mum it'd be a lot cheaper if she just sorted through her photos.