Planning a server

[Crunchy Dragon]

Hello,

 

I'm planning a file/media server and was wondering what kind of case I should get. I haven't seen a lot of mid-tower cases that can hold over 2-3 HDDs, and I want this to last a good few years before needing to be upgraded. What cases would you guys recommend if I'm looking for lots of storage?

 

I briefly entertained a rackmount storinator or something similar, but that would just be way overkill for my needs.

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

Under $100, sorted by most 3,5" bays. Node 804 looks like a good option.

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/case/#sort=-int350&page=1&X=0,10312

[tikker]

I've been eyeing the silverstone DS380 for a while now: http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=452&area=en

It's ITX though.

[Crunchy Dragon]

Just now, tikker said:

I've been eyeing the silverstone DS380 for a while now: http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=452&area=en

It's ITX though.

The board I'm planning is an mATX. Thanks for the suggestion though

[TheGlenlivet]

That's a lot of black rectangles.

Fractal R5 is not bad... as black rectangles go.

[Crunchy Dragon]

3 minutes ago, orbitalbuzzsaw said:

Under $100, sorted by most 3,5" bays. Node 804 looks like a good option.

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/case/#sort=-int350&page=1&X=0,10312

Thinking of the NZXT Tempest 210, would you recommend that one at all? Aesthetics don't matter too much, I don't need anything flashy or brightly colored.

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

Just now, Crunchy Dragon said:

Thinking of the NZXT Tempest 210, would you recommend that one at all? Aesthetics don't matter too much, I don't need anything flashy or brightly colored.

It'll be fine, but I'd reccomend the Node 804. Smaller, more HDDs supported, better lookin imo

[NTDaws]

Budget? And do you want file access out of house.

[Crunchy Dragon]

2 minutes ago, orbitalbuzzsaw said:

It'll be fine, but I'd reccomend the Node 804. Smaller, more HDDs supported, better lookin imo

Fractal's website says:

Quote

8 - 3.5″       HDD positions

2 - 2.5″       dedicated SSD unit positions

2 - Extra positions for either 3,5″ or 2,5″ drives

Does that mean up to 10 HDDs?

 

1 minute ago, Being Delirious said:

Budget? And do you want file access out of house.

I don't want to spend more than $100 on a case. External file access would be nice to have, but not an absolute requirement. The server will mostly be used for storing media such as music, pictures, movies, and backing up data from all of the devices in my house.

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

Just now, Crunchy Dragon said:

Fractal's website says:

Does that mean up to 10 HDDs?

 

-snip-

Yup.

[Crunchy Dragon]

Just now, orbitalbuzzsaw said:

Yup.

Great, thanks!

[NTDaws]

Just now, Crunchy Dragon said:

Fractal's website says:

Does that mean up to 10 HDDs?

 

I don't want to spend more than $100 on a case. External file access would be nice to have, but not an absolute requirement. The server will mostly be used for storing media such as music, pictures, movies, and backing up data from all of the devices in my house.

Can I design a full build which will last a long ass time., and do you require RAID or do you prefer separate drives.

[Crunchy Dragon]

1 minute ago, Being Delirious said:

Can I design a full build which will last a long ass time., and do you require RAID or do you prefer separate drives.

I'm currently planning on two 4Tb drives, haven't fully decided between RAID 0 or 1. I might just go ham and get 4x4Tb in RAID 5.

[TheGlenlivet]

10 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

Thinking of the NZXT Tempest 210, would you recommend that one at all? Aesthetics don't matter too much, I don't need anything flashy or brightly colored.

OOOOH, side mounted fan support!

Honestly, at this point it's up to your personal taste as much as anything.  Any of these will do the job.

[NTDaws]

3 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

I'm currently planning on two 4Tb drives, haven't fully decided between RAID 0 or 1. I might just go ham and get 4x4Tb in RAID 5.

Would you prefer to run a Windows Server Version, or Mainstream? Or even Linux, FreeNAS doesn't have file sharing over the internet.

[Crunchy Dragon]

So this is what I've got on my list currently: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/YGsTHh

I will be picking up an optical drive as well, just haven't decided which one.

Anything else you guys would change? I know the PSU is a bit overkill, but I need it to support up to 8 drives before needing an upgrade(unless it blows itself, but that isn't too likely).

 

2 minutes ago, Being Delirious said:

Would you prefer to run a Windows Server Version, or Mainstream? Or even Linux, FreeNAS doesn't have file sharing over the internet.

Does it really not? That's disappointing. Which would you recommend? Linux would be the easiest, but I've heard it's picky about movies.

 

-Moved to New Builds and Planning-

#whenyoucanfinallymoveyourownthreads

[NTDaws]

2 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

So this is what I've got on my list currently: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/YGsTHh

I will be picking up an optical drive as well, just haven't decided which one.

Anything else you guys would change? I know the PSU is a bit overkill, but I need it to support up to 8 drives before needing an upgrade(unless it blows itself, but that isn't too likely).

 

Does it really not? That's disappointing. Which would you recommend? Linux would be the easiest, but I've heard it's picky about movies.

 

-Moved to New Builds and Planning-

#whenyoucanfinallymoveyourownthreads

I would use Ubuntu Server, there are guides online on how to set it up.

[NTDaws]

I would not advise NFS or Samba over the internet.

[tikker]

1 minute ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

So this is what I've got on my list currently: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/YGsTHh

I will be picking up an optical drive as well, just haven't decided which one.

Anything else you guys would change? I know the PSU is a bit overkill, but I need it to support up to 8 drives before needing an upgrade(unless it blows itself, but that isn't too likely).

 

Does it really not? That's disappointing. Which would you recommend? Linux would be the easiest, but I've heard it's picky about movies.

 

-Moved to New Builds and Planning-

#whenyoucanfinallymoveyourownthreads

I'm currently running Ubuntu as my server. Currently there's no RAID and I'm just running separate disks dedicated to various types of storage, but it's working fine. For my movie media I have Plex running and the rest I have accessible to my home network through a Samba share.

[Crunchy Dragon]

Just now, Being Delirious said:

I would not advise NFS or Samba over the internet.

Refresh my memory, what are those?

[Crunchy Dragon]

Just now, tikker said:

I'm currently running Ubuntu as my server. Currently there's no RAID and I'm just running separate disks dedicated to various types of storage, but it's working fine. For my movie media I have Plex running and the rest I have accessible to my home network through a Samba share.

I was also thinking of having independent disks, but I felt like RAID would be nice for redundancy.

 

Would it be possible to install 4 drives, and only have 2 of them in RAID?(never set up a RAID array, only read about the benefits and requirements of each type).

[NTDaws]

1 minute ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

Refresh my memory, what are those?

It is used to that Linux operating systems can communicate with Windows computers like a native application.

[NTDaws]

NFS is just network file sharing

[Crunchy Dragon]

Just now, Being Delirious said:

It is used to that Linux operating systems can communicate with Windows computers like a native application.

Ah. My family has a mix of operating systems, we've practically got it all: macOS, Windows 7, Windows 10, iOS, Android, and Linux.

 

All of these would have to be able to communicate with the server.

[NTDaws]

1 minute ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

Ah. My family has a mix of operating systems, we've practically got it all: macOS, Windows 7, Windows 10, iOS, Android, and Linux.

 

All of these would have to be able to communicate with the server.

It can work. You would probably be using FTP anyways. Which works on all those clients.