[Completed] Media Server with RAID 1 Array Setup

[DsoS]

The past week or two I've been researching for computer parts to build sub-$500. storage servers. I was able to succeed with the exception of the 2-TB hard drives. All hard drives are really expensive right now due to the floods in Thailand a few months ago.

If your looking to increase storage cheaply (mostly) without the need of using your space in your main computer, I'll detail it here.

My main goals for the storage servers are:

• Easy backup (automatic) of all storage drives with Multimedia using RAID 1
  
• Ability to watch/listen to Videos/Movies/Audio without sacrificing my main computer RAM and processor.
  

I'm still waiting for the case to come in, which should be here tomorrow (03/03/12). I'll update with the case and pictures of each part. I'll also post pictures while doing the build.

I received the server case today (03/03/12). Boy is it smaller than I thought, but usable (barely).

(Yeah, that is an iPhone holding up the case (5-10LBS).. yeah I despise them that much

For this system I decided to go with the following:

*I decided to link the products to the website that I use most often (95% of the time) when I buy computer parts. You may have a favorite site that you use, or one in the country that you live in. So with that said you may or may not be able to get the same products or you may wish to go with another part instead (most likely).

• Gigabyte Motherboard H61MA-D3V
  
  • I failed to notice that this motherboard only supports RAID 1 on two SATA ports instead of the 4 that I thought it did.
    
    • This means that instead of being able to do 2 storage drives (with 2 backup drives) I can only do 1 drive with 1 backup drive. This will double the overall cost of the server build because I will have to buy double the parts. I could go with another board, but this was the only sub-$100 Micro-ATX motherboard that I could find with RAID 1 ability. Remember I am going for the cheaper side of a build.

  [*] ThermalTake 430Watt Power Supply

  • This power supply will be able to support everything on this list along with 4-6 hard drives if you choose to go with that many. HOWEVER you will need Molex (4-pint connectors) to SATA adapters if you get this power supply (another thing I failed to notice before checkout). If your not too sure about power requirements I suggest at least 550watt with 4-6 SATA power connectors. I only choose the 430 watt after I received the motherboard and noticed the RAID 1 lack of ports.
  
  
  
• Intel G620 LGA1155 2.60GHz Processor
  
  • More than powerful enough for any storage system... hopefully.

  [*] G.Skill F3-10666CL9D-4GBNQ RAM 2x2GB (4GB RAM)

  • 4GB of RAM should be enough, your not gaming or doing Video/Audio editing on this system.
  
  
  
• Cheap CD/DVD-Burner
  
  • Any manufacture that you trust. I went with LG

  [*]PlinkUSA 2U Rack Mount Server Case with LCD Display (I went with a Rack Mount since I plan on building at least 6-10 of these throughout the year, if hard drive prices goes down)

  • Most people will not need a Rack Mount case, so just choose a mid-tower case that you like with enough 3.5 inch internal bays to support your hard drives and other gadgets.
  
  
  
• Old Western Digital 300GB Raptor Hard Drive
  
  • Since I had this laying around and just collecting dust, I decided to use it as the main OS drive. Its a 10,000RPM drive so its pretty fast.

I got all the parts in (with the exception of the hard drives)

I was really excited about getting the server up and running and getting an Operating System installed that I forgot about this thread. So I don't have any pictures of the individual parts being installed. (Although I don't think that I need to post that here because you can search Google and find a quadrillion results on how to build a computer.)

After everything was installed:

The LCD on the case after I booted up the computer after installing Ubuntu Linux Distro:

Until next time

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Something I might do after the server is complete, and ready for well serving files, is that I might open the power supply and remove unused wires to help with the wire clutter. I wouldn't recommend trying it if you don't know what your doing or have soldering/electronic skills. But just a note in case you notice the lack of wires later.

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Uncommon Terminology Used:

• RAID 1 - There are multiple types of RAID, but I will only go into RAID 1 since I will be using it for this build.
  
  • RAID stands for "Redundant Array of Independent Disks" RAID is also referred to as "Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks"
    
  • Minimum of 2 hard drives.
    
  • The first hard drive is "Mirrored" to the second hard drive... Basically an automatic backup. If one drive happens to fail you can swap it out for a new drive and the other drive will rebuild the new drive with all data.

  [*]Distro

  • Short for Distribution (For Linux Operating Systems) - (Taken from WikiPedia) - A Linux distribution is a member of the family of Unix-like operating systems built on top of the Linux kernel. Such distributions (often called distros for short) are operating systems including a large collection of software applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, media players, and database applications. These operating systems consist of the Linux kernel and, usually, a set of libraries and utilities from the GNU Project, with graphics support from the X Window System. Distributions optimized for size may not contain X and tend to use more compact alternatives to the GNU utilities, such as BusyBox, uClibc, or dietlibc. There are currently over six hundred Linux distributions. Over three hundred of those are in active development, constantly being revised and improved.
  
  

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Edit:

Changed the Topic name from [WIPz] to [Completed]

I still have a few things to do, but before I do those I need to make sure the server will run good.

The biggest thing I will do to the server is void the warranty on the power supply and remove all unused cables to help with air flow and cable management.

The next would be cable management AFTER the removal of unused power supply cables.

Edited May 24, 2012 by DsoS

[donnato]

...Cool Ds...This info looks like something I may have a use for sometime. Like if I add more HDDs, maybe I`d want that.

[DsoS]

Update:

• added new images
  
• fixed a few things
  
• Added a new terminology definition (Distro)
  
• Striked Out outdated entries

Edited May 24, 2012 by DsoS

[Meo]

I love this kind of thread.

for you.

[Arion]

Just out of curiousity where is the space for 4 harddrives? Looks only deep enough for maybe 3 where you have the one that is installed now. And what's in that big square box in the front left corner (in front of the PS)? Just looked closer and saw the dvd connections... Front was misleading as it didn't show where you had exterior access, Then saw later pic.

Maybe be smaller like you said than some of the ones I'm used to seeing.

Edited March 4, 2012 by Arion

[DsoS]

Just out of curiousity where is the space for 4 harddrives? Looks only deep enough for maybe 3 where you have the one that is installed now. And what's in that big square box in the front left corner (in front of the PS)? Just looked closer and saw the dvd connections... Front was misleading as it didn't show where you had exterior access, Then saw later pic.

Maybe be smaller like you said than some of the ones I'm used to seeing.

Yeah the item in front of the PSU is the DVD-Burner.

As for the hard drives the bay can hold 3 hard drives and I have 2 bays. I just didn't feel like reinstalling the other bay. Here is a shot with 3 SATA drives installed outside of the case.

Note: These hard drives are (from the Bottom to the Top) 3TB, 320GB and 320GB Western Digital drives

The bay that is currently installed will remain the same. The bay that you see in the image above will hold the other hard drives. The bottom bay will remain open for cables to go through.

The case is not made for normal sized motherboards, but Micro-ATX - The motherboard you see in the first post is less than 10"x10" in size.

Edited March 4, 2012 by DsoS

[DsoS]

I love this kind of thread.

for you.

Thank you Meo

I try to help with what I can and computer hardware is my thing

[donnato]

Yaayyy..kudos on the updates Ds..

[Meo]

Was it really cheaper than buying a out-of-the-box NAS? Im asking cause these days, even with the Thailand flood, they seem really cheap.

[DsoS]

Was it really cheaper than buying a out-of-the-box NAS? Im asking cause these days, even with the Thailand flood, they seem really cheap.

Easily put Yes and No, it all depends.

I found what I was looking for for around $300-$400 without Hard Drives so I would still have to order the Hard drives (another $300). The ones with hard drives ($500-1200+) had Seagate or Western Digital hard drives and I'm not to fond of them any more due to to the amount of failed drives that I've owned over the past 5-7 years

So at the moment, I've actually spent less so far. $398. for the case and the other parts, and once I order the hard drives another $150-300 (as I've said before I refuse to pay $150 per drive that I paid $80. for just 6-7 months prior.)

Well just have to see what next month holds (or two).

[DsoS]

Okay for a VERY VERY VERY Large update...

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I got the server up and running for the most part.

I had a few issues, listed below:

1. The rackmount case was too small
   
   • I ordered me a new case. Pictures are below.
     

[*]The power supply did not have enough SATA Power connectors.

• So I decided that I would use my old 1000 watt power supply. It was making too much noise so I decided to remove the fan and clean it out. After I cleaned it out and tested it, it was not making too much noise anymore, Afterwards I was trying to figure out the airflow my thumb hit the fan blade busting my thumb open and broke a fin or two, when it hit my thumb it fell and landed on wire cutters and broke off 4 or 5 more fins. So I was unable to use this power supply anymore.
  
• I went to Fry's Electronics to get a new 135mm fan for the power supply and they didn't have any. So I bought some SATA power cable splitters (1 --> 2). I also bought 4 - 140mm fans and 1 - 120mm fans.
  

So for the updated images and what not... They are in no certain order (AT ALL!!!) but they are in order that I took them, so basically they are in the correct order

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EDIT:

I still have to connect most of the drives. I'm currently working on backing up my old drives one drive at a time, so I can get the drives in to the RAID setup. the Backup (Mirroring) will take 2-4 days to do... Next will be getting the drives setup for RAID, then its back to off loading the drives that I backed up to on to the RAID'd drives.... if that makes any since

Edited May 20, 2012 by DsoS