Building a file server for home

[Dan Langille]

Dan Langille wrote:
> This is a continuation of a post I started in -stable. 
> http://marc.info/?t=126560537900002&r=1&w=2
> 
> I'm going to be running FreeBSD 8.x with RAIDZ.  Most of what I've 
> decided upon / has been suggested is at 
> http://dan.langille.org/2010/02/10/the-file-server/
> 
> In short, I'm pretty much decided upon this case:
> 
> * Athena Power CA-SWH01BH8 Pedestal case
>  * http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811192058
>  * contains 2 SATAx4 Hot-Swap HDD bays
>  * sounds like good value for a case with hot swap
>  * got a better case?
> 
> Various suggestions have been made for the motherboard and HDD.  I'm 
> asking you folks for suggestions based on what you know.
> 
> Here's the list of items to be selected, but feel free to suggest stuff 
> not listed:
> 
>  * mother board
>  * power supply
>  * hard drives
>  * RAM
>  * perhaps a caching SSD
> 
> If the motherboard lacks the SATA connections, I'm probably going to use 
> the Syba PCI Express SATA II 4 x Ports RAID Controller Card SY-PEX40008:
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Syba-Express-Ports-Controller-SY-PEX40008/dp/B002R0DZWQ/ref=sr_1_22?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1258452902&sr=1-22 

I recently posted the following to the thread in -stable:

I was recently told about Lian Lia cases, which I think are great.  As a 
result, I've gone with a tower case without hot-swap.  The parts are 
listed at and reproduced below:

   http://dan.langille.org/2010/02/15/a-full-tower-case/

    1. LIAN LI PC-A71F Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case $240 
(from mwave)
    2. Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W PSU $80
    3. Samsung SATA CD/DVD Burner $20 (+ $8 shipping)
    4. Intel S3200SHV LGA 775 Intel 3200 m/b $200
    5. Intel Core2 Quad Q9400 CPU $190
    6. SATA cables $22
    7. Supermicro LSI MegaRAID 8 Port SAS RAID Controller $118
    8. Kingston ValueRAM 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM ECC $97

Total cost is about $1020 with shipping.  Plus HDD.

No purchases yet, but the above is what appeals to me now.