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Building a home server. Please help, DC!

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superboyac:
You guys here at DC helped me build my new PC earlier this year (see here), and it was fabulous.  Your advice and back and forth dialogue was a great way to figure everything out.  I truly took it all to heart and it resulted in the best rig I've ever made.

Anyway, with all the talk recently of backing up, I started my setup.  I encountered a problem I had never run into earlier about almost having too many hard drives.  Mouser correctly pointed out that after a certain number, Windows and/or my hardware may have certain issues with it.  So I started thinking about what the good solution is, and I think the answer is that eventually I will need some kind of home server, and that's where all this started from.

On my current setup, I have my main hard drive, another drive for storing documents, a backup drive (internal), and another backup drive (external).  The external enclosure actually houses 2 bays, so there's another drive in there that I mess around with.  That's 5 drives.  I also have a couple of other drives lying around that I'd like to make use of.

So, my initial idea is to set up some kind of server pc running one of the Windows Server flavors (2003, Home Server, 2008, etc.).  I'll put all the drive in there except for my main and document drives, and that will be my home server.  I'll connect it to my linksys router/wifi box and there you go.

What are your initial thoughts?  I'd love to hear them.  Don't be afraid to express your honest opinion.  Some people in my previous thread thought that my system was overkill and were worried that other people were recommending pricey hardware to me.  yes, my rig was expensive, but I'm also very happy with it after almost a year.

JavaJones:
What are all the drives for? Maybe just get a large NAS and stick everything on that, then backup the NAS to an external drive. Lower power than a full system, takes up less space, possibly quieter, little or no maintenance, accessible from all systems on a network.

Total solution cost, about $800:
2.5TB (~2.3TB formatted) RAID 5 NAS - $600
http://www.adorama.com/VDLA5B5B25TB.html?searchinfo=5big

2TB single drive for backup - $140 (after rebate)
http://www.buy.com/prod/fantom-greendrive-2tb-usb-2-0-and-esata-external-hard-drive-2-year/q/loc/101/212502309.html

Just a thought. :)

- Oshyan

superboyac:
What are all the drives for? Maybe just get a large NAS and stick everything on that, then backup the NAS to an external drive. Lower power than a full system, takes up less space, possibly quieter, little or no maintenance, accessible from all systems on a network.
-JavaJones (November 30, 2009, 01:16 PM)
--- End quote ---
I considered that.  but I think I want to build my own system.  A large part of the drives are for backups.  I have a lot of files.  Each of my backup drives are already 1 TB, and they are more than 80% full already.  So I want to build a system that I can expand.  I also want to play around with a server.  I just don't like the idea of a NAS...too pre-packaged for me.  i don't really care about power consumption.  I don't mind the maintenance.  I care about quiet, but I don't see why it has to be that loud.  And I have plenty of space in my house.  I'm not trying to be an ass, I just wanted to address your concerns, which are very valid by the way.

JavaJones:
Not a problem, I totally understand your reasoning... and in that case, you could get something like ReadyNAS, with 4 or 6 bays, empty, and buy some 1-2GB drives to fill it with. It's expandable, lets you tinker and build and configure, and has all the other advantages of a NAS. ;)

e.g. http://www.amazon.com/Netgear-ReadyNAS-Diskless-Desktop-Attached/dp/B000VA3TXY/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1259609756&sr=1-4

Perhaps you could explain more specifically what you want to do with a "home server"? Backup? Media streaming? Central file repository for sharing (NAS-like)?

- Oshyan

Innuendo:
I'll also add that some NASes are not as "pre-packaged" as you might think. Some you can hack and get a full Linux distro running on them.

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