Media/torrent box/backup server

[wonSR4]

Hey guys,

I've always used an all purpose PC but now I've decided to get a laptop (13" macbook air?/15" macbook pro after refresh? - haven't decided yet) for mobility/desktop replacement and to build a mATX media/torrent box/backup server. Currently my backup is one WD 640 in a thermaltake dock that I manually back up my music, documents, and pictures too :/

As for the all purpose PC which has the following specifications, I think I'm going to give it to my dad as an upgrade from his HP A6150 minus the SSD and 2 TB hard drives.

i3-540
H55N-USB3 (might have to replace it after it fell off my desk while I was trying to install the AXP-140; stupidly had to near the edge of my desk and one corner is slightly bent - it still works but programs randomly will stall or freeze at times)
4GB XMS DDR3 ram
ST45SF
Q11B
60 GB OCZ Agility (OS)
640 GB 2.5" WD HD (music/pictures/documents)
2 TB F3 (TV Shows)
2 TF F4 (Movies)
Big Shuriken

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Most of my time spent on the computer is chatting, web browsing, listening to music, watching movies, TV shows (480p to 1080p), and occasional Photoshop (i.e. would have Photoshop open with a tv show open in the background while chatting and web browsing haha). With that said, the following build will be about the server as I can ask the guys in the Apple forum about the macbook air/pro.


1) What will you be doing with this PC?
Media server/torrent box/backup - be able to stream up to 3-4 computers (two Windows 7 desktops, one windows xp laptop, and one macbook), back them up, and of course be able to download torrents from it. I'm not opposed to having a separate monitor, keyboard, and mouse for it but I would prefer to be able to log in remotely to it. Finally, size wise I think I would prefer mATX; I don't really want to work with mITX again (had the Q08 before the Q11).

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Hmm it could be up to $1,000 but I'd rather not spend all that If there's a cheaper alternative that does a similar job, I'm all for it. I don't something as crazy as the guys have in the data storage forum, no offense!

Thanks!

3) Where do you live?
Bergen County, NJ

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget?
Case (thinking about the new SS TJ08E, cpu (i3 again? atom?), mobo, ram (4gb? might as well with the low prices no?), psu

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing?
Microsoft Arc keyboard
Logitech MX Anywhere
Logigtech MX518
2 TB F3 (TV Shows)
2 TB F4 (Movies)
AXP-140
NB-PK1

6) Will you be overclocking?
Nope

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
Currently have a LG W2452T but I'm going to give that to my brother after I purchase a 30" monitor like the U3011

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Prefer to do so as soon as possible unless waiting is a better option

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? USB 3.0 is nice but not necessary. Hopefully 6 SATA ports if not I guess I could buy a SATA card if it has 4 SATA ports or less. WIFI is probably a bad idea right?

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? I do have Windows 7 Home and Pro 64-bit.

 

[Dangman]

$105 - AMD Athlon II X2 245 CPU + Biostar A880G+ AM3 AMD 880G HDMI mATX Motherboard combo
$41 - G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-10666CL9S-4GBRL 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$64 - Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W PSU
$32 - Intel EXPI9301CTBLK 10/100/1000Mbps PRO/1000 GT PCI-E x1 NIC OEM w/ 1 x RJ45
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Total: $242 plus tax and shipping

The Intel NIC is there because of your extensive usage for this server. The onboard Realtek NIC isn't the best choice for that kind of usage. The Intel NIC is of far far better quality and offers better LAN transfers speeds than the Realtek.

 

[Ducman69]

Yes, you could build your own, or you could just buy an HP Home Server, tiny footprint, have a warranty, very low power usage (especially if you get the atom powered one like I have) and have a nice headless interface, automated backup software, and it will consolidate all of your harddrives into a single large array automatically of which you can add or subtract drives on the fly w/o having to rebuild a RAID array.

I believe Acer has a nice competitor now as well. Yup, found it:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10245933-1.html

8" x 7" x 7", ultra frugal power consumption, streams up to 7TB of data.

 

[wonSR4]

Woo thanks for your advice Danny!

I was having some thoughts on the drive home from work today. My dad's computer is more than sufficient for what he does so I may not necessarily give it to him and he's been using his current computer less and less now that he also uses my stepmom's laptop. I think I might just install Windows 7 on his computer and leave it at that. My other thought was swapping my current computer with my brother's which used to be my computer. It's definitely overkill for a server but it would serve my needs although it's ATX.

It's specifications are

E8400
Asus P5Q
G.Skill 4GB DDR2 ram
Corsair 650TX
VisionTek 4850
A05NB
CM 212+

I think I could just move the GPU over to the Q11, but would definitely have to either re-install the AXP-140 or buy a different HSF to fit. It is an ATX format but the A05NB is small enough - only 5" longer than the TJ08E I had my eyes on.
__

Ducman

Yeah I'm also thinking about those options. That HP home server is definitely an easier option to deal with.

 

[Dangman]

It's specifications are

E8400
Asus P5Q
G.Skill 4GB DDR2 ram
Corsair 650TX
VisionTek 4850
A05NB
CM 212+

I think I could just move the GPU over to the Q11, but would definitely have to either re-install the AXP-140 or buy a different HSF to fit. It is an ATX format but the A05NB is small enough - only 5" longer than the TJ08E I had my eyes on.

Do you have a spare video card? I ask because a lot of motherboard don't boot without a video card installed

 

[wonSR4]

Do you have a spare video card? I ask because a lot of motherboard don't boot without a video card installed

Yeah.. I just realized that after I posted haha. Decisions decisions.. If not that, maybe I can just sell the Q11 and go with a different route keeping the rest of the components. Although if I do keep the H55N, that NIC card you linked wouldn't work and its limited by its 4 SATA ports.. I guess I could always just buy a MATX motherboard.

As for OS, I've briefly looked over some of your posts in other threads. I can't do much with Windows 7 Pro can I?

 

[bastage]

wow.. Your usages are pretty similar to what I have my server doing.

Size wise mATX is good & Specifically I would have recommended a v354, until I got this a04 from willister.. I Dont think you can find a better case for a home server at this point given teh 7 HDD bays & way easy to work in (sides come off with 2 thumb screws thank god). But either the v354 or a04 will be great considering there relatively small sizes & lots of HDD bays.. If I was building a Do it all home server from scratch it would start with an Athalon II x4 605e or 610e 45w CPU & then a basic matx mobo (like the cheap biostar 880g board) & 4gb of ram.. Also for the OS I do like the advantages of WHS, but it is also a little bigger PITA then something like windows 7.. But in my opinion drive pooling out weighs the pita part.

 

[Ducman69]

I have 2GB of RAM in my home server box and really 1GB is enough, why would you need 4GB if its just a home server? And w/ 2x 2TB drives, and 2TB drives costing under $100 a piece w/ 3TB drives available, do you really need 7 drive bays?

14TB+ is an excessive amount of porn.

 

[Dangman]

As for OS, I've briefly looked over some of your posts in other threads. I can't do much with Windows 7 Pro can I?

Well it's largely dependent on what exactly you want the server to do and how you want your storage setup to work. For example, the backing up part? AFAIK, out of the box, Windows 7 Pro cannot do automated backups of other PCs on the network. You need to either get a special program for that or use WHS, or any other file server type OS.

If you want baremetal backup, you're looking at WHS for simplicity basically. That baremetal backup feature is a huge reason why I like my WHS in addition to the drive pool feature. .

14TB+ is an excessive amount of porn.

Well he might have to back up other people's porn

 

[bastage]

I have 2GB of RAM in my home server box and really 1GB is enough, why would you need 4GB if its just a home server? And w/ 2x 2TB drives, and 2TB drives costing under $100 a piece w/ 3TB drives available, do you really need 7 drive bays?

14TB+ is an excessive amount of porn.

Its a do it all home server & ram is bloody hell cheap, so why bother with less then 4gb ram.. not to mention that if he seeds like I do then the ram is needed (currently seeding 494 torrents) & my server does alot more. It not only backs up my other systems but I also use it to host SageTV & feed 3 remote extenders (& soon to be a 4th).. & Yes 7 bays is good. Right now I have 3 filled giving me a total of 4tb raw storage & its half full with no parody. So I am going to be buying a couple 2tb drives to go into it (next time the samsung f4 2tb drives go on sale on newegg) so that I can turn on parody & use the drive pool for what it was made for. & For the reccord I dont download porn.. I like variety so I just stream it. But I archive all my movies & TV shows for viewing later & as my archives grow in quality they also grow in size.

& Yes 3tb drives are available & someday 4, 5, & 6 tb drives will be too. There is always a need for more storage so I would rather get a case that can accommodate that rather then end up hurting for space later.

 

[wonSR4]

wow.. Your usages are pretty similar to what I have my server doing.

Size wise mATX is good & Specifically I would have recommended a v354, until I got this a04 from willister.. I Dont think you can find a better case for a home server at this point given teh 7 HDD bays & way easy to work in (sides come off with 2 thumb screws thank god). But either the v354 or a04 will be great considering there relatively small sizes & lots of HDD bays.. If I was building a Do it all home server from scratch it would start with an Athalon II x4 605e or 610e 45w CPU & then a basic matx mobo (like the cheap biostar 880g board) & 4gb of ram.. Also for the OS I do like the advantages of WHS, but it is also a little bigger PITA then something like windows 7.. But in my opinion drive pooling out weighs the pita part.

Haha we seem to unknowingly copy each other huh? I had written out another response but decided to erase it. I realized while I was showering that the ST45SF has a limited number of SATA connectors so I would have to get another PSU anyways. Also, I figured I might as well turn it into a HTPC using the 2.5" WD 640 HD plus I wouldn't necessarily have to replace the motherboard for that use since its still functional. It also beats my parents using their laptop connected to a really long VGA cable along the ground to the back of the TV. So I guess I'm back to square one with Danny's suggestions haha.

Well it's largely dependent on what exactly you want the server to do and how you want your storage setup to work. For example, the backing up part? AFAIK, out of the box, Windows 7 Pro cannot do automated backups of other PCs on the network. You need to either get a special program for that or use WHS, or any other file server type OS.

If you want baremetal backup, you're looking at WHS for simplicity basically. That baremetal backup feature is a huge reason why I like my WHS in addition to the drive pool feature. .

Yeah no doubt. It was just a thought since it would just be lying around. I guess I'll just stow it away for use some other time.

 

[bastage]

Yea we do seem to build similar systems over & over again. But for atleast the time being I am keeping my q11.

Yes the v354 is a PITA to open, just like the q11 you have now because of its side panel being part of the frame. & a Quad is probably overkill for the most part, But not for everything. For mine I have a Phenom 9150e now (65w 1.8 Ghz quad) & Would really really like to get more power out of it. 1st chance I get I will snag a 610e for the increased speed as well as the decreased power usage. That being said I also have my WHS doing more then most people with the SageTV aspect. Especially after I get ComSkip setup & Playon for NetFlix via SageTV as well. So you would most likely get along just fine with a dual core & most people would. Myself if doing it from scratch I would get the low watt CPU as overkill now & know that I am good with it later.

 

[wonSR4]

Yea we do seem to build similar systems over & over again. But for atleast the time being I am keeping my q11.

Yes the v354 is a PITA to open, just like the q11 you have now because of its side panel being part of the frame. & a Quad is probably overkill for the most part, But not for everything. For mine I have a Phenom 9150e now (65w 1.8 Ghz quad) & Would really really like to get more power out of it. 1st chance I get I will snag a 610e for the increased speed as well as the decreased power usage. That being said I also have my WHS doing more then most people with the SageTV aspect. Especially after I get ComSkip setup & Playon for NetFlix via SageTV as well. So you would most likely get along just fine with a dual core & most people would. Myself if doing it from scratch I would get the low watt CPU as overkill now & know that I am good with it later.

Yeah no doubt I want easy access to the case. I'll most likely stick with a dual core as the CPU and yeah you definitely do much more than I do so I won't need all that horsepower. Although now that I think about it, I can stop by microcenter on the way home from work and get one of the AMD bundles for cheaper than the CPU and MOBO combination that Danny linked (i.e. Athlon™ II X4 640 & ASUS M4N68T-M V2 Socket AM3 630a mATX Motherboard) for $99.35. Oh well nevermind on that for now, that II X4 is sold out.

 

[bastage]

Yeah no doubt I want easy access to the case. I'll most likely stick with a dual core as the CPU and yeah you definitely do much more than I do so I won't need all that horsepower. Although now that I think about it, I can stop by microcenter on the way home from work and get one of the AMD bundles for cheaper than the CPU and MOBO combination that Danny linked (i.e. Athlon™ II X4 640 & ASUS M4N68T-M V2 Socket AM3 630a mATX Motherboard) for $99.35.

If your going to attempt to run WHS I would avoid the nForce chip-sets. I have tried a couple times & found them to be extremely flaky under WHS. But the low end AMD chip-sets have all been great. Infact I have a 630a board sitting on my desk that I just pulled from my server last weekend when I reinstalled WHS.

 

[wonSR4]

If your going to attempt to run WHS I would avoid the nForce chip-sets. I have tried a couple times & found them to be extremely flaky under WHS. But the low end AMD chip-sets have all been great. Infact I have a 630a board sitting on my desk that I just pulled from my server last weekend when I reinstalled WHS.

Will keep that in mind! Either way it seems that X4 is out of stock at the Paterson store.

 

[Ducman69]

Just be sure to look at idle power consumption if the plan is to leave it on 24x7. Idle power consumption of my server is 27 watts, which is around $25 a year to power @ 9cents a Kwh. Pretty sweet!

My gaming rig though is hooked up to a belkin power use/cost calculator, and shows about $430 a year cost. Doh!

I have never seen high processor usage torrenting or streaming, however, it chokes with Orb, as its is required to reencode the HD footage which causes it to stutter. With Orb, 480p is the maximum it can handle.

 

[Dangman]

Yeah now that I think about it, you may have to get additional drives after all: When you add a drive to WHS' drive pool, all of the data on that drive is wiped out. So if all of your data cannot fit on, at most, three out of the four 2TB drives you have now, you may have to buy at least one more 2TB drive just to setup the initial drive pool. From there, you copy data from one of your 2TB drive at a time to the drive pool, then add that drive to the drive pool. Rinse and repeat until all four drives and their data have been copied and added to the drive pool.

 

[bastage]

Yeah now that I think about it, you may have to get additional drives after all: When you add a drive to WHS' drive pool, all of the data on that drive is wiped out. So if all of your data cannot fit on, at most, three out of the four 2TB drives you have now, you may have to buy at least one more 2TB drive just to setup the initial drive pool. From there, you copy data from one of your 2TB drive at a time to the drive pool, then add that drive to the drive pool. Rinse and repeat until all four drives and their data have been copied and added to the drive pool.

hehe, thats a PITA to do, but not a hard process.. Time consuming though. I just had to do it last weekend.

 

[wonSR4]

Haha thanks for the help guys. After thinking about it last night and today, what I'm looking for might be changing slightly. To back up the important stuff on my brother's computer and my dad's computer, I think I might just install an extra hard drive in each computer and just use the windows 7 backup for each computer. It won't be as robust and secure as WHS, but it should suffice for them especially since I'll be moving out sometime this year and would take that server with me and they're not that tech savvy.

On the other hand, once I get the 13" MBA after sandy bridge refresh (might as well wait for that now if the rumors are true), I'll probably have to look into some form of backup/media/torrent box for a mac and it would be just for me.