Best server setups

[stevej696]

Hi guys,

Just done a upgrade to the hardware on my server. Its running 2gb memory and a celeron d from a packard bell system. Now that the hardware is sorted im looking for the best setup for a wireless fileserving network between my packard bell desktop and my laptop with a sky broadband router. Im currently running windows 7 starter on packard bell and windows 7 home premium on the laptop and connected them in a homegroup which works fine but im getting a 1.5mb upload speed rate and wondered if there is anything i could do to help boost this as it takes years for me to send large files and i always send upwards of 6gb data at a time to the packard server.

Is there any setups that i could do to help increase the speed i.e. software programmes etc?? Hardware is possible if its cheap as limited on a budget.

Is windows homegroup the bottleneck??

Would linux help increase the speeds??

cheers in advance

 

[stevej696]

On another note my upload speed is 760kb sec/ and download is 4081kb sec.

The server is used for basic fileserving, storage and media streaming =)

 

[tinytomlogan]

Only getting a faster wireless set up.

 

[hmmblah]

You really need to ditch the wireless and go wired. A gigabit switch is cheap these days as well as the cabling. If you rent, it can be tricky though.

 

[stevej696]

Ye that was my intital thought tbh. O well theres an excuse for a homeplug setup i think =)

Would you recommend 150mb or 300mb/s homeplugs though??

Also is there any type of programme like teracopy i could use with the wired setup to speed up transfer even faster??

Cheers for fast replies

 

[hmmblah]

The faster the better. Is normal wiring not an option? A gigabit network will be cheaper and more than 3 times faster than a 300mbps homeplug setup.

 

[tinytomlogan]

They do Gigabit homeplugs now, thats still only 120KB/s (ish) and thats on a normal wired line with homeplugs it will be less.

 

[dugdiamond]

not to have a dig at sky broadband, but it is sh!t

copper cables cannot carry the bandwitdh, and worse than that.... if your modem is a long distance from the incoming socket on the wall then you are lose-lose.

fibre optics (virgin) are the way to go if they are in your area.

servers haven't been on copper since the 80s

it doesn't matter how fast your PC is, if it is hanging around waiting for the next packet to arrive via the Net.

 

[GuyIncognito]

Hi guys,

Just done a upgrade to the hardware on my server. Its running 2gb memory and a celeron d from a packard bell system. Now that the hardware is sorted im looking for the best setup for a wireless fileserving network between my packard bell desktop and my laptop with a sky broadband router. Im currently running windows 7 starter on packard bell and windows 7 home premium on the laptop and connected them in a homegroup which works fine but im getting a 1.5mb upload speed rate and wondered if there is anything i could do to help boost this as it takes years for me to send large files and i always send upwards of 6gb data at a time to the packard server.

Is there any setups that i could do to help increase the speed i.e. software programmes etc?? Hardware is possible if its cheap as limited on a budget.

Is windows homegroup the bottleneck??

Would linux help increase the speeds??

cheers in advance

*Everything* is wrong about your setup. Just going wired and getting a 1gbit switch should boost your speeds significantly. The celeron doesn't look great. I've only used FreeBSD and Linux at work for the last ten years (I've set up file servers that are being used by ~100 workers...), so I can't comment on the OS. Although, if it wasn't for video games, I wouldn't use windows for anything.

 

[stevej696]

Ok so made some changes last night, swapped the cpu to a e2160 and what a difference in speed and running temps and also downloaded a copy of ubuntu server LTS v10. Looks pretty simple to use so far and looks perfect with the samba for my windows pc compatability.

Had a bit of an experiment with the cable setup and seen an increase from 1.5mbs to 6mb/s which is massive (400%!!!)compared with what i was getting so its staying as its running now

.

Is it worth using my 7200rpm 20gb IDE drive i have for the Ubuntu server and using the 160GB sata along with my other 1tb drive do u reckon or keep the sata 160gb as the main system drive??

Would 20gb be enough for the OS plus any other packages/ updates it will gain over the next few years????

 

[dugdiamond]

it does matter what drive you use... IDE is a snail compared to SATA.

TBH - get a new PC mate

 

[stevej696]

Ye am thinking that mite jus change the mobo, hdd and get a raid card i think

Suppose even a £100 new build would put this to shame lol

 

[GuyIncognito]

Ye am thinking that mite jus change the mobo, hdd and get a raid card i think

Suppose even a £100 new build would put this to shame lol

If you do buy a RAID card, perhaps, look at a *real* raid card, unless it's beyond your budget. Several years ago, we once ended up trying (and returning) a half-software raid mutant, reminiscent of a winmodem.... At work we have HP Proliant Linux servers running HP's own *real* RAID SAS controllers, and the FreeBSD servers we have been building for years, all have 3ware *real* RAID cards in them.

 

[stevej696]

Is the easiest way to conect my server to the pc in the following config?

Pc Connected to gigabit switch then server connected to gigabit switch

would this allow me to see the server and then add more computers if needed to the same network

?

cheers

 

[tinytomlogan]

Is the easiest way to conect my server to the pc in the following config?

Pc Connected to gigabit switch then server connected to gigabit switch

would this allow me to see the server and then add more computers if needed to the same network

?

cheers

As long as sharing and discovery is enabled yes mate. Its idiot proof in Windows 7 if you know how to use google.

 

[dugdiamond]

As long as sharing and discovery is enabled yes mate. Its idiot proof in Windows 7 if you know how to use google.

and don't use win7's homegroup functionality - it is terrible

• create a new user on both machines
  
• create a folder (directory) on the server - anything copied into this (subfolders to this will also be shared)
  
• share this folder with the new users (admin will automatically get rights too - but it makes it more convenient)
  

 

[stevej696]

I have a spare sky broadband router from last year that has 5 gigabit ports, could i use that as a switch mainly to connect the pc's together?

Just to use up old equipment?

 

[Grizzly]

Some of them can be used as a switch if set up correctly.

On the router you'll need to turn off DHCP and assign it an IP address manually.

Then plug an ethernet cable from your desired connection to any of the ethernet ports on the router.

 

[stevej696]

Ok just a short update, the psu packed up yesterday completely blowing the motherboard with it!

So great time to upgrade, fortunatly the hdd were ok which is a relief.

So which direction now?? Well after long thought ive decided to get a mini itx, Intel D410PT which cost £42 from ebuyer, bargain!

Ok so not the most powerful but all the pc is used for now is for general internet use when needed and basic file serving and storage. Also should see a good energy bill decrease also. The only thing im confused about is what psu to get?

Lets face it a mini itx with the atom processor and 4 1tb WD Green drives are going to use no more than say 45watts at full load, so am i better getting a cheap 250w psu or something like a corsair cx400??

Am i right to think that to get 80% power efficiency out of certified psu they have to be used at a certain load??

Thinking of modding this http://www.ebuyer.com/product/166838 maybe with 4 x 2.5" 1tb hard drives!

Any help would be appreciated

 

[sg12004]

one of my servers is mini itx i desided to go with 400w corsare psu as it was the lowest watt one i could find and as it would be on most of the time it is a relly good dosnt use much of the power and runs smoothly and quitly and you are guarinteed with a realy good power supply