Re: Network Attached Storage (NAT) vs Server for SOHO
Quick update. Ended up going with a real server over a NAS (network attached Storage) box because the NAS just could not put out the KB/ps that a server can without spending twice the price of a server.
This is my build as of Feb, 2011:
Put together a server based on some specs I found on various Server websites. This is as performance oriented as I could get for the (low) budget of the project. The hardware ran a about $300, plus another $100 for the Windows Home Server o/s. Total order including $21 shipping was $432. Everything was ordered from directron.com.
- One OEM copy of WHS Power Pack 3.
- Case: Black. Broadway Com Corp 943 Steel m-ATX , w/ 500W PSU and Card Reader, P/N: 943PK-CardRead
- CPU: AMD Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0GHz 4000MHz Socket AM3 Dual-Core 45nm Processor ADX250OCGMBOX, Retail Box (with heat sink , grease & fan)
- Motherboard: ASUS M4N68T-M V2 Socket AM3 uATX Motherboard, NVIDIA nForce 630a Chipset, Supports AMD Socket AM3 CPUs, Dual DDR3 1800(O.C.), SATA 3Gb/s RAID, PCIe 2.0 x16, Onboard Video and Sound, Gigabit LAN
- Memory: Kingston ValueRAM 2GB DDR3 1333 System Memory, 240-pin DIMM, CL9, Non-ECC, Unbuffered. Model: KVR1333D3N9/2G
- HDD:Two Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C 3.5in 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive HDS721010CLA332 (0F10383), 7200RPM, 32MB Cache. OEM
- Additional Cooling: Two Masscool 120mm Case Fans, Ball bearing, 3 / 4 Pin, Wire Coating, Model: FD12025B1L34. (One blows out the side of case, the other draws across the HDD's and blows out the case front.)
- Cables: IDE (round), SATA, (for future drives) Molex to SATA power adapters(PSU only had one SATA power connector, the rest are molex).
- Optical Drive: Spare DVD burner salvaged from another PC. (free)
It was an easy build, the case is really nice, although very light weight (didn't know steel could be rolled that thin!), but that is what I wanted; small and light. No sharp edges, space for 6 HDD, plus more if the 5.25" bays are used. The only problem I ran into was the Asus driver disk auto install program would not run because it said WHS was not supported. So I just ran each individual install program by itself. Everything loaded up fine. The DVD drive was connected to the IDE port, and the two 1TB drives were each connected to a SATA port. The MB supports 10 USB2 connections. So there are plenty of USB ports on the back and on the front, plus a few pin heads if I want to add more. The USB's on the front will come in handy for connecting external drives.
The 3.0 dual core AMD is probably overkill, and the machine just loafs along. Have never heard the CPU fan run up due to load, its always running a low speed. I run the case fans at 5V to keep the speed and therefore the noise down, but those big fans still move a lot of air. Added some 3/8" sound deadener to the inside of the side panel, bottom and top of the case. The server is now practically silent, which is important because the server is in the guest bedroom. The fan in the power supply was replaced because it rivaled the DB ratings of a 747 Jumbo Jet on takeoff. I guess the server does not pull many amps, because the power supply is always blowing just slightly warm air.
Added the following free software addins that help manage the machine, or at least give more info on what is going on:
- Advanced Admin Console: WHSAdminInstaller052.msi
- Duplicate File Info: DuplicationInfo-1.2.0.0.msi
- DVD Manager: DVD Manager.msi
Also plan on adding the following purchase addins:
- Remote Notification: Receive email notification of problems with the server.
- Disk Management for WHS: designed for users who need more detail about their server's storage status than what the standard Server Storage interface provides.
So far the server runs just as it should. Never seems to be under stress, data is retrieved as fast as its needed. High bandwidth files like 1080p HD MOV files play on the wire perfectly using Nikon software (requires Quicktime to be installed too). Never had to reset or reboot due to errors, crash, freezing, etc. The server priority was a fairly low budget build with emphasis on big busses and Terabyte high speed drives.
After loading up the server with home video from DV camcorders, photos, and music, a good quality Media Player was added to the system to complete the whole project. Took a few weeks to copy 40+ DV video tapes from the camcorder to the server. Roxio was used to capture and convert the DV tape to MPEG2 format to save space over the default AVI. Space savings is about 3:1 AVI:MPEG. Higher ratio compression MPEG encoders are available, but the picture quality degrades accordingly. The Roxio product (video wave 8) worked the BEST of the capture and encode products I tried. Seperate capture with seperate secondary encoding processes are reported to be even better, but they turn a 1 hour capture into 3-6 hours per DV tape.
I chose the WD TV Live Plus media player because of its consistent high reviews. Once connected and configured properly with my network, it plays the 1 hour plus long home videos perfectly. The media player input to the 47" Vizio LCD TV via HDMI cable looks BETTER than the video would play on the LCD desk top screens. Amazing. I have to admit that this low cost (about $89 at amazon) kicks some butt.
So that completes my Server, Home Network, Media Player project. It is worth the few extra bucks to buy quality components, and I strongly suggest getting Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 over the soon to be released Windows Home Server 2011. 2011 is a new animal, and got horrible reviews across the board. Not for what it does, but for what the took out. It is now more of an office server product, and doesn't mirror data on unique drives to preserve all your data in case of a drive crash.
And the 3.0Ghz dual core processor is serious over-kill on this project. An even lower cost processor will probably do just as well, but it will run hotter. JMHO.
Regards,
Mark.
