Home Server/nas - Who Has One?

[iseekool]

Had an old PC given to me for FREE so I decided to turn it into a “home server” – The PC is pretty ordinary and I couldn’t find any real use for it as a daily. I also happened to have spare 256 MB RAM. All I ended up purchasing was a 1TB HDD from MSY which only set me back $105.

Originally:

IBM “Pizza Box”

2.4GHz Celeron single core

256MB RAM

40GB 5400 RPM IDE HDD

40x CD-ROM

Integrated everything including LAN

No monitor, keyboard or mouse

No software – PC was wiped before it was handed to me

Current specs:

IBM “Pizza Box”

2.4GHz Celeron single core

512MB RAM

40GB IDE HDD 5400RPM – Contains operating system and applications

1TB SATA HDD 7200RPM – Contains all my data.

500GB USB External HDD – Offline storage

(Removed) the 40x CD-ROM – due to physical space limitations inside the box.

USB Digital TV tuner card (Which I connect – if I intend to record TV)

Integrated everything including LAN

Extra cooling fan which I happened to have.

No monitor, keyboard or mouse – I setup the system so that it does not need them – I basically access the system via remote desktop to manage it – nothing more. The PC actually lives in a cupboard

Running a very stripped down version of XP Pro with SP3.

What I use it for:

Runs 24x7 – Quite happy with it – It has been running solid for the last 8 days with no issues or reboots needed.

Storage for all my music, video and data – I also stream music and movies from it to my home HTPC via a shared network drive – no lag.

Print and scan server

Internet download box

Home security – have some webcams hooked up to it to record the outside of the house.

PVR for recording free-to-air TV shows.

[R31Nismoid]

Im looking at either buying the Qnap $650 4 bay NAS

Or making my own.

The Qnap is virtually the best for the price range, makes shit VERY easy. The fact i wouldn't have to setup the RAID array etc is a godsend.

But once i get my MS technet subscription/win7 install sorted on my main PC if i have enough time i'll build a NAS box.

There are some GREAT freeware builds/linux/etc that will do it all as well and rather easy to setup. Obviously more time than a over the counter jobbie

only issue is i need gigabit lan ports are i do tend to transfer a truck load of data each month around my network so i'd need a new mobo (spare one i have wont cut it, 5yrs old)

[nicr4wks]

Currently have a c2d running debian with samba being one of its services, 2tb of storage accross 4 hdd's in hotswap bays with a unionfs mount shared to make easier browsing from the media pc, also a dedicated drive that my satellite STB records to over the network. Could use an LVM but I don't like the redundancy or expansion paths.

Currently waiting for a 4 port sata card so I can add in more hdd's, always out of space.

IMO those home NAS devices are too limited and don't offer enough flexibility for expansion and often have horrible configuration.

VMware server runs an '03 box among other things for ftp/newsgroup/torrent downloading.

Everything connected via gbit lan, 100mbit is baaaad for those blu rays =D

Anyone tried UNRAID? looks good for a pure fileserver option but won't run properly virtualised!

Edited October 7, 2009 by nicr4wks

[iseekool]

unRAID sounds pretty cool - i haven't used it myself, from what I have read it is probably best suited to lower end systems.

I thought bluray over 100mbit would "just" scrape through.

My current home 100mbit networks tops out at round 80mbit - I think it's pretty rare that anyone gets the full 100mbit.

I think bluray is 72mbit if memory serves me right. Then again it would also depend on factors such as network bottlenecks - like switch speeds, network card quality and if there is any cable quality issues.

Then again once there is any other network traffic + the bluray traffic the network will bog.

I guess gbit lan is the way to go for some sort of future proofing.

[nicr4wks]

I thought bluray over 100mbit would "just" scrape through. 

Playing isn't too bad, seeking and copying/ripping over 100mbit can be time consuming though.

Gbit network cards are cheap and reasonable 8p switches can be had for just over 100 bucks so I don't see why not.

[jrm]

I'm using a FreeBSD system in an Antec Sonata 3, but I'm currently in the middle of doing major upgrades.

Current configuration uses a 500GB sata boot disk, and 8 x 500GB sata boot disks hanging off a Highpoint RAID card (in RAID5). I'm using a Gigabyte EP45-DS4 motherboard (one of the few motherboards I could find with multiple x4 and/or x8 so I can run RAID cards). It has 4gb of RAM and an E4600 CPU. It runs really well with 3.5TB available from the 8 disks.

My current upgrade plans that are in the pipeline are to push this current machine from the Antec Sonata 3 into an Antec 1200 case with a CP-850 PSU and adding a second Highpoint RAID card, and 3 x 1.5TB disks. This will push my available storage up to 6.5TB usable over two volumes. With the online RAID5 expansion I'll be able to add more 1.5TB disks as my space requirements grow. The Antec 1200 case should give room for 15 data drives, so with 8x500GB and 7x1.5TB that's about 12.5TB (rounding close enough for disk sizing). Hopefully that should cover me for the foreseeable future.

I also have the fileserver plugged into a reasonably beefy APC UPS to avoid any issues with the RAID being shut down unexpectantly, and some external ESATA disks for backup, though I'm investigating options for a multi-lane hot-swap 4 port ESATA for dedicated backups. (Something a lot of people seem to forget with a home NAS).

My network runs on gigabit ethernet with an 8 port gigabit switch. I retired my cisco switches when I found that 100mbps wasn't really adequate for moving data around to the HTPCs in the bedroom/loungeroom.

Gawd .. I'm probably sounding awfully geeky about now.

[iseekool]

^ that's one crazy system you have there . If you don't mind me asking what would you need all that disk space for? You will be able to store lots of blueray "backups"

[jrm]

It doesn't seem like much storage at all - I've got 300GB left - which is why the plans to expand out to 6.5TB (with provision to easily and cheaply expand to a whole lot more).

It's taken up by .. backups .. of my DVDs/etc *cough* ... As everything has moved towards higher qualities, 720p/1080p has really destroyed my available space .. it's frustrating - but what can you do?

[gtr fan]

Net gear makes a decent looking 2 bay for around $335, which has an UPNP server and Bit Torrent server. I am looking to upgrade to this.

Don't by Lacie. I currently have a network harddrive with built in server and the server stuffed up some how. They replaced it with a brand new unit last week.

2 out of my 3 lacie products have been replaced without question.

[nicr4wks]

720p/1080p has really destroyed my available space .. it's frustrating - but what can you do?

Sounds strangely familiar

I've thought about moving over to FreeBSD, sort of holding back though as I'm lazy and don't want to re-learn bits and pieces, but I would be keen to give ZFS a look.

Notice you're in Adelaide, on Air-Stream by any chance?

Edited October 8, 2009 by nicr4wks

[jrm]

Unfortunately not - I'm in a location that I suspect would be very bad to get onto air-stream. Trying to engage them to investigate options seems like a headache and very difficult to get much information from - I gave up pushing much further (all too hard).

You?

[R31Nismoid]

Ye im going for at least 4 TB of space if i build one, ive filled 1.2TB in virtually 6 months, and that's without going downstairs to my mates place to get the backups of my movies that i forgot about...

[nicr4wks]

Unfortunately not - I'm in a location that I suspect would be very bad to get onto air-stream. Trying to engage them to investigate options seems like a headache and very difficult to get much information from - I gave up pushing much further (all too hard).

You?

Not from where I live, couple of mates are connected but the nearest point to me has too many trees/houses in the way and would require a very large tower to pick up. I've thought about using Adam's communitynet to route through another user on my exchange, but limited to ~50kBps isn't too appealing.

[jrm]

Ye im going for at least 4 TB of space if i build one, ive filled 1.2TB in virtually 6 months, and that's without going downstairs to my mates place to get the backups of my movies that i forgot about...

I initially built mine a little over 2 years ago with 1.5TB, and then upgraded within 12 months to 3.5TB figuring I'd get two years out of it.... Unfortunately - no - almost exactly one year after that I'm starting to worry about running out. So yeah - hopefully the next expansion to gain another 3TB will give me another year - especially given the increase in size of media files .. At least after the next upgrade it'll be a simple case of buying individual disks to get a further 1.5TB each time - which will make it more cost effective.

Not from where I live, couple of mates are connected but the nearest point to me has too many trees/houses in the way and would require a very large tower to pick up. I've thought about using Adam's communitynet to route through another user on my exchange, but limited to ~50kBps isn't too appealing.

Yeah - I'm right at the bottom of a hill with a tonne of trees all around, not a great place to be for hopping onto a community wireless network!

I have to settle on my ADSL2+ - just wish it was cheaper and let me download more!