Storage/File Server

[kyle9600]

Hi

Recently i have found myself with a hell of a lot of media but unfortunately they are only on my External HDD's which i watch on my WDTV media player.

As its becoming a pain to add stuff, move delete etc everything on 3 different HDD's. I want to build a Storage/File server to keep all my data on and the external drives then become a backup. Meaning the File server will also be used to stream 1080p movies, HD TV and music.

There are currently 3 x 2TB external drives and each are almost full and the collection is growing rapidly.

I need some help building a storage server with ~ 12-20TB storage for as cheap as possible. I will either be using Server 2008, WHS or Win 7 as the OS, but unsure as to the advantages and disadvantages at the current time. It will be using RAID 5 or 6 depending on the price of a RAID card if i do go down the path of building one myself

I have been out of the loop for hardware for a while now and am totally clueless as to what i need to get this going. Can anybody help me out and put together a base system where i can then work of that. I have been looking at some cheap (shouldnt really say cheap) NAS setups and discovered this

http://www.altech.com.au/productinfo.aspx?id=27050

RRP 1599 but can get for approx $1100

of course a NAS will be ready done for me and simple and of course use less power but i have a feeling i can build a File server for approx the same price but with much more storage :S

I don't need anything special just something that can store and stream my media and a power scheduler like NAS drives have

Thanks for your help

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated

 

[MDZ]

Well to stick 12-20tb into that NAS your looking at close to $2000, building a storage server will be much cheaper, for example all you need is something along these lines:

AMD Phenom II X4 840

ASUS M5A88-M Motherboard (onboard vid)

HighPoint RocketRAID 2720 SAS/SATA RAID Controller ( 8 port )

Corsair CMV4GX3M2A1333C9 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3

8x Western Digital Green 2TB WD20EARX ( TOTAL of 16Tb)

Corsair CX-600 V2 Power Supply

Microsoft Windows Home Server 2011 64bit OEM

Fractal Design Define R3 ( lots of HDD space and quiet )

Thanks all you need, and you can get that stuff together for $1500 or less if you shop around. I wouldnt go any cheaper than that to be honest. ( best bang for buck in my opinion for storage, i run somethin very similar)

You'll have alot more flexability with an actual storage server than a Nas.

 

[kyle9600]

Well to stick 12-20tb into that NAS your looking at close to $2000, building a storage server will be much cheaper, for example all you need is something along these lines:

AMD Phenom II X4 840

ASUS M5A88-M Motherboard (onboard vid)

HighPoint RocketRAID 2720 SAS/SATA RAID Controller ( 8 port )

Corsair CMV4GX3M2A1333C9 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3

8x Western Digital Green 2TB WD20EARX ( TOTAL of 16Tb)

Corsair CX-600 V2 Power Supply

Microsoft Windows Home Server 2011 64bit OEM

Fractal Design Define R3 ( lots of HDD space and quiet )

Thanks all you need, and you can get that stuff together for $1500 or less if you shop around. I wouldnt go any cheaper than that to be honest. ( best bang for buck in my opinion for storage, i run somethin very similar)

You'll have alot more flexability with an actual storage server than a Nas.

would i be able to cut the RAID controller down a bit to something like this

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=210_385

And as they are SAS/SATA what sort of cable do i need to be able to use those SATA HDD's? i heard those cables can be up to $80 a pop, also do i really need a CPU that powerful? And i also discovered FreeNAS OS, could that be a viable option and it been linux would i be able to drop the specs of the CPU and motherboard back a little to save on some costs?

I'm in Australia so everything is a little bit more expensive

 

[sg12004]

well if it is only going to be used for storage server (nas) then a chep dual core cpu will be fine and a chep motherboard with 6 sata ports plus get an some 4 port pci sata cards for extra storage when needed

plus you can get the windows home server 2011 for £36.99 wich is exilent price

 

[kyle9600]

Ok this is what i have come up with

AMD Phenom II X4 840 $104 -could lower if i decide to run linux

Asus M4A88TD-M-EVO-USB3 $109 -can probably go a cheaper

4GB (2Gx2) 1333 G.Skill Ripjaws-X $36

Fractal Design Define R3 Black / $142

Samsung 2TB $83 x 8 = $664

Corsair TX650 $113

RAID Controller and CABLES : NEED RECCOMENDATIONS PLEASE

HighPoint RocketRAID 2680 SAS/SATA RAID Controller

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=210_385&products_id=15511

Cables

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-Mini...02320865?pt=AU_Components&hash=item2a12b298e1 x2

Those cables dont have the 2680 in the Compatible Products: but they use the same connecter type? will they work thanks

What you all think?