Building a file server for home

[Olivier Gautherot]

On Thu, Feb 11, 2010 at 12:45 PM, Dan Langille <dan at langille.org> wrote:

>
> On Thu, February 11, 2010 10:24 am, patpro wrote:
> >
> > by the way, more things to say:
> >
> > On Thu, 11 Feb 2010 07:30:41 -0500, Dan Langille <dan at langille.org>
> wrote:
> >
> >>> I would probably go for a SuperWorkstation (www.supermicro.com), like
> >>> this one for example:
> >>> http://www.supermicro.nl/products/system/4U/7046/SYS-7046A-6.cfm
> >>> It's more expensive, for sure, than a combo of Athena case / MSI board,
> >>> but it surely rocks.
> >>
> >>  From Newegg, it's $900 :
> >> http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16816101241
> >
> > that's not the same. NewEgg's one is the 7046A-T
> > http://www.supermicro.nl/products/system/4U/7046/SYS-7046A-T.cfm
> >
> >
> >>> As a cheaper alternative, you might want to consider buying a
> > SuperMicro
> >>> (or Tyan) motherboard to put into your Athena case.
> >>
> >> That may be an option, but if I did that, I don't think I'd be buying
> >> the above board.
> >
> > and going for the athena case allows you to chose a quiet PSU... I've no
> > idea about the real noise produced by SuperMicro workstation. I just know
> > you surely don't want one of their 1U superserver in your house.
>
> Definitely not! Even though it'll be in the basement, it would still be
> heard on the ground floor.
>
> FWIW, Supermicro markets this the SYS-5046A-XB as "Whisper Quiet
> Workstation (27dB) with nVidia® SLI™ and ATI® CrossfireX ™ Technology
> Support"


As a cheap alternative, I have an Atom 330 motherboard which works great -
and would certainly be sufficient for a home server. FreeBSD sees is as a
4-processor motherboard. Its low power consumption is a good candidate for a
quiet case. You can get them for less than USD 100,- with processor in the
USA (tax included). You just need to add memory and a disk for a complete
system.

For my benchmark: it compiles Openoffice in 6 to 7 hours :-) Not bad for a
20W motherboard...


Cheers
--
Olivier Gautherot
olivier at gautherot.net
Cel:+56 98 730 9361
www.gautherot.net
http://www.linkedin.com/in/ogautherot