Scalable and Feature Rich SoHo Server

treodeo · February 17, 2013

Hey guys!

I'm looking to upgrade and make use of some really cool tech that I can easily scale as parts become cheaper and more reasonable to do for it's return.

I built a WHS 2011 server using:

Mobo = Intel DH67CF

Processor = Intel Core i5-2300 @ 2.8GHz (4 core)

RAM = 2 * 4 GB Corsair RAM

PSU = DiabloTek random PSU ( don't worry about it)

OS storage = Seagate 1.5 TB HDD

RAID Card = 2720SGL Rocket Raid

Data Storage = 5 * 2TB Black WD

Chassis = LIAN LI PC-Q25B

This system worked really well, but I like to tinker with computers and have some computer builds under my belt and I'm training in IT. I already have my CompTIA A+ and working on Net+. I did have some caveats with WHS 2011 being a 2008 server with a Dashboard slapped on and I broke the web pages for remote access in IIS so I decided to upgrade to WS 2012 Standard with WS Essentials since I have MS Technet and because I can :D .

My family and I are almost running out of space with our RAID 5 storage system. I also started planning on upgrading the server to be much cooler and possibly do VM's,mail server, web server, file sharing ( across WAN and LAN) ,storage hosting. I'd also like to migrate my family to not having local storage except for software applications as well as OS.

With scalability in mind, and Linus's awesome vids. I pulled the trigger on the Norco 4224 chassis. I basically transferred all the hardware components except for the PSU for a Corsair HX750 Watt and swapped the OS storage for an Apple 120 GB SSD which is blazing fast.

My problem is that I don't really know how to design my build for these kinds of features, and compare motherboards and raid cards for these applications for the computer.

I did however narrow my choices of RAID cards. Here's the list:

I like the MegaRAID because other forums say that LSI knows how to RAID plus, the 8088 allows for scalable storage in case my porn collection VM collection. I dislike the RocketRAID because forums say the RocketRAID's make cheap cards and sometimes are software raids. Although, it's the cheaper card I probably don't need the fancy features of MegaRAID and Adaptec. Maybe, I don't need no fancy RAID card and can plop in Sata cards into a computer and use reverse-breakout cables to the SAS 8087 ports in the norco chassis. What do you guys think? The budget for the RAID card is under $1200, unless you think it would be the end-all RAID card of choice. Also, I'm looking at doing a RAID 6 setup instead of RAID 10 even though consumer drives have terrible reputations for failing.

I haven't looked into motherboards at all. I have heard that Intel makes good server grade boards and might be worth it instead of other brand boards. I also trust Asus very much, and I did some research their boards, but they looked mainly geared for 3D artist workstations. I'd like the idea of plopping in a couple sticks of RAM and being able to scale up to 128GB of DDR3 RAM or some insane amount for VM's or for ramdisk. If possible or if reasonable, be able to go with a low end CPU and end up with a higher end one once I have saved up for some more money for this long-term project. Keep the board + CPU under $500 please. *crosses fingers*.

If possible, I could probably scrap together other parts. My current gaming machine has an

Before you ask me to do FreeNAS or Ubuntu server. I have loaded up Ubuntu Server, I couldn't setup the server at all. FreeNAS... I should probably revisit that OS again. But I really do like the closed source Microsoft Server 2012 standard/essentials. Plus, my dad really likes the remote access web page we get with Essentials so.... that is why I have a VM of 2012 Essentials within Standard.

Any other questions? Hopefully, you guys can help. Thank you for helping, me help you, help us all.

AidanJMessenger · March 12, 2013

The system you have now already sounds amazing! If you aren't actually using the system for any transcoding, or intensive tasks other than basically data storage.... then why spend so much money wanting to upgrade?

However if you were wanting to upgrade, I don't normally EVER recommend this but, how about waiting for the next generation of CPUs? If you're looking to do this upgrade for the sake of future upgradeability, then I don't see why you would want to stick with a generation that is almost come to an end. They aren't far away seemingly, and if you needed storage quickly, you could always buy the raid card and drives now, set up the raid and then when you want to build the new system just take the raid card and drives to the new one and boom you've migrated. That's the beauty of raid cards, you can move it to a new system and keep everything in tact.

Like you said, it's a long term project, so why not wait for the CPU etc anyway, and upgrade the other parts now. If you do want to get a lower end CPU like an i3 and then upgrade at a later stage then that's a good idea. At present, the CPU is really going to waste though since it's just data storage. You could get away with a pentium like me :D

Also, what's your network looking like?

If you have an amazingly fast raid setup, you should have a network that can support it. 10GBPS networks aren't TOO expensive I suppose. But even just getting managed switches and teaming ports for 2 or 3GBPS access times would also be a great idea. I mean, if you're going to have all this speed then you should be able to access it that fast!

Anyway, I'm not really sure what you're wanting answers or suggestions for, so if you could be specific with exactly what you want to know... maybe I can help :)

March 12, 2013

I don't see why you can't just get a new raid card and add more drives. If you're feeling you're lacking in performance you may want to go to a basic Xeon E3 like the 1230 V2. It really just depends on what exactly you're going to do on it.Virtual machines could be as simple as a mail server or as complex as a dedicated gaming server.