1st home server

I am running out of space on my current desktop and instead of buying another HDD I was thinking about getting a server for file sharing.

Should I buy a manufactured one or build one from scratch?

I have\ experience in building a desktop but not much in actual networking. My budget is about $400-500.

 

If you can build a PC you can build a windows home server, there is no networking involved that would not be part of setting up a prebuild unit.

You really do not need much power for a server, most of the pre-builts are ultra low power using Intel Atom chips and 1GB of RAM.

I would build mine only because almost all the pre-builts are ultra small and hold 2-4 drives. I want to build one that holds 6-8 drives and has a more beefy power supply and more ram and a slightly better cpu. This way I can run some addons if needed and my system will be ready for the new version of WHS when it comes out if there is a reason to upgrade.

 

very few people legitimately need a 'home server'. Many more people need a raid1-capable home NAS machine.

 

I thought that, too, until I noticed my D-Link DNS-321 was bottlenecking at the hardware level. Could barely stream 720p wirelessly.

Anyhow, I took bits and pieces and built a new computer, which I honestly think I overpowered. However, I also use the "server" as a P2P machine and FTP server in addition to storing/streaming from it, so I guess the 45W Athlon II X2 Regor and 2GB DDR3 are put to use.


But in any case, I do recommend building your own.

 

Really depends on your needs n budget, but its going to be tight to get a custom build for $500, i would go with a prebuild, HP has a very good line of WHS, i personally went with Acer Aspire easyStore AH342-U2T2H Home Server, and havent had a single issue (i did uninstall macfee upon first boot per them abandoning support for it). Probably my next WHS will be custom build though, but for the money i find the acer gets the job done. I kinda want to expand it though, so im planing on buying Mediasonic 3.5-Inch USB 2.0 and eSATA Pro Box 4-Bay Enclosure HF2-SU2S2 and connect it with eSata for another 4 drive pool, this would give me a lot of space with 1.5 or 2tb drives, and allow to have folder duplication for important stuff.

There are a lot of other solutions though, like Netgear NAS, QNAP, Synology, etc that have some Linux based NAS, and also Drogbo with their propietary, etc. Just check what would work better for your needs.

I dont think even N wifi is reliable enough to go toward 1080p, most that stream this high go wired. Netgear is coming with a new tech specially oriented for this, in case you are interested here a link, 3DHD Wireless: WiFi Technology for HD and 3DHD Delivery

 

Well, with the DNS-321 I was averaging 3 MB/S on file transfers and, like I said, I stuttered when streaming 720p. With the server that I built I'm hitting 9+ MB/S and I can stream 1080p .mkv without issue. Same router, same laptop wifi card.

 

Don't judge the capabilities of NAS machines by what your low-end (regardless of price) Dlink is giving you.

A good NAS isn't cheap.

 

A NAS is about as much as a WHS without most of the features. Id just get WHS and not think twice.

Also I am using a regualr USB 2.0 Wireless G adapter for my WDTV Live and can stream 720p without issues.

1080P no-way but even some Wireless N networks have issues with 1080p depending on the bitrate and how strong/close the signal is.

 

The point was that I was hardware bottlenecked, and I also wanted to do more with the machine besides simply storing stuff on it.

Concerning the 1080p steaming, I'm reasonably close to the router, so that could be it.

 

What about this guy.

May be basic but it seems good for the price...

Buy.com - Pogoplug Pro File Sharing Solution - Black

 

It really depends on on your needs, i see mix reviews about the PogoPlug. In NAS there are a lot of options, from prebuilt 1hdd setups like Western Digital My Book or Iomega Home Media 1 TB NAS to custom build that could allow almost any setups. I would recommend to check synology they have very good rep with NAS, their entry lvl is Synology DS110j (sometimes I seen it for $129) or the DS210j if you want to have the option of adding another drive in the future, this are entry lvl their speed is not the best but it works, they have higher end line with better cpu and more memory that have better transfer rates and more options for expanding in the future, like Synology DS411+ or DS1010+

 

Uncompressed 1080p (Blu-ray) can range from 95-237 MB/s. Even HD Football channels are usually broadcast in 1080i and not 1080p. So, a home network with wireless-N will most likely struggle with streaming uncompressed 1080p.

However, 1080p .mkv is a highly compressed video format and streaming it smoothly highly depends on the total bitrate output (audio + video). It shouldn't be a problem for most wireless networks.

 

When it comes to streaming HD, as mentioned, trying to do it wireless is questionable at best. Some have pulled it off, many have failed, regardless of skillset with networking. It gets even harder when you add other traffic as well. Keep that in mind before you go dumping a bunch of money into a wireless system you think will do it.


As for the $500 server, that should be doable, I did it for far less than that, it's not like you need an I-5 to do it.
Start with a mini-ITX or matx AMD board and chip and a gig or two of ram. Make sure it has gigabit lan, many itx do not. You can get the board and chip for under $100 if you research. Who says it has to run WHS, why not a copy of XP (used?), or an OEM Win7, or better yet, why not Linux? Software can be the most expensive or cheapest part of the project. You don't need a huge power supply, at least not right away, particularly if you pick a 45watt AMD cpu, which also lowers the heat sink size and fan needed, 250 watts can run this even with several drives.

There is an even cheaper alternative though. Look for places with used computers for sale, Craigslist, computer shops, many towns even have a place that only caters to used systems. About a year ago I picked up an HP P4 SFF with 2gigs of ram, PCI-e, gigabit and a fresh XP install (with disk) for $100. I tossed in a pair of 1tb drives (it has 3 bays) and I was off and running. I could do it again today for under $200 for everything.

With 2 drives, it runs at about 35 watts, which is not much more than the D-Link 321, but quite and bit more than the WD Mybook My World NAS (it uses 9), but I can do much more than either of them since it is a full computer I use it to pull backups from my other systems and customer systems, as well as media server, file downloading, webcam streaming, etc...

 

Full Server $165.00

ASUS Mini SOHO Atom 1.66GHz Server for $165 after rebate + free shipping

Thats basically $65.00 for all the hardware since WHS is close to $100

 

Thats a pretty good deal, that was the one i was considering before going with the acer, the only downside of that server is only 2 drives fit, but more than enough for the average user.

 

2 Internal Drives

However it has E-SATA and many USB ports allowing external drives to be used as well.

If you go for 2TB drives I think that 4-8TB is more than enough for most people. (2x 2TB internal 2x2TB E-SATA)

With 6 USB ports you can of course get 6 more 2TB drives for .... 20TB of storage

I think its pretty rare those who would need more than 2 internal drives actually, though I myself am one of the odd ones out I plan to build my own and use 8x2TB drives internally in Raid 1

 

Would be interseting if the eSata of the Asus soho can support multi-lane, that way you could add extra storage with an enclosure like Mediasonic HF2-SU2S2.

For WHS i think its best just to enable duplication, while this isnt as reliable as higher end raids, i think its enough unless dual hard drive failure.

 

OP: When I was recently in your same situation I bought a D-Link DNS-321 for $99 CDN on a sale from Dell. The D-LINK NAS boxes (321, 323) are often recommended on account of their low price, but only about 6 months later I am looking for a new NAS. Here's why.

I had no problem streaming 720p MKVs on the 321. But the device is very old now (4+ years?) and firmware updates/support from D-Link is basically dead. That is a problem only because the device's interface is very limited in its abilities and there are a few reamining bugs. It works OK for simply storing data - but it is very slow. I get a consistent 7MB/s.

Now I'm looking at a Synology DS211j (just released - the 2011 model of the DS210j). The interface looks amazing and the support from the company looks excellent. There is an active community forum. These alone are worth the extra ~$100 over a D-Link 321 for me. But the device is also loads faster than the 321/323 (around 30 - 50MB/s transfers IIRC) and also has a 2-year warranty.

I looked at the Asus WHS that has been discussed above, but I can't bring myself to buy another ASUS product after experiencing their awful support. I also hate rebates. Plus, Synology's software (called DSM 3.0) looks like a better user experience to me compared to WHS. I think WHS is very powerful and tweakable, but Synology's DSM has more cool features out of the box without fussing around: IP Camera support, accepts USB sound cards or speakers to turn it into a headless music player, torrent client...

 

If you do buy a NAS, do a LOT of research on their problems before you buy. Look into problems, support forums, and throughput tests (Smallnetbuilder is a good place to start). Cheap ones have lots of issues and limitations. More expensive ones are better, but still come with many limitations. Regardless, all are easy to outgrow. Every few weeks I find something else I can offload onto my little server instead of tying up my desktop. Many of which a NAS can't do. And there is no reason to use WHS, any OS can handle the duties of file serving and more than just WHS can handle media serving. Linux even has easy to use, purpose built distros for media and file servers.

If I had to do it all again, I would go the same route I did.
In fact, I'm looking for more speed, I would love to top out the gigabit connection (current saturation is only at about 70%, most cheap NAS only use about 15%). It's fast enough to act as a local drive, but faster would be nice.


Jackboot,
Look up DNS-321 Linux hacking. Many have put together patches to greatly extend the 321's capabilities, though nothing will fix the slow transfer rates.