Building a file server for my house...

Ya, im gonna build a file server for my house, for movies, music, more movies.... And i was wondering what i would need...

1. Would it be just a computer?
2. Could i do a shuttle?
3. Can i watch TV shows from it on a Wireless LAN?
4. Intel or AMD?
5. Cheap parts?
6. Do i need a video card?
7. 512Mb or 1Gb of RAM?

sorry for all the questions .... thanks for the replies in advance

1 yes
2 yes
3 maybe, probiably not live, but recorded would be fine. Depends mostly on bandwidth
4 either
5 absolutly
6 not really
7 the more the better,

I built a file server out of spare parts and it worked great until i got greedy with drive space. The server was an old dell 450mhz p3 system with 256 of ram and a 3dfx video card. I used scsi drives in a raid 0 (jbod) and all was great. Speed isnt really an issue for a home server, all you really need is drive space and a fast network connection.

I agree with everything matttaylor said except 6. You will probably need a video card just to set it up. A cheapie will work. The performance of the computer is probably not much of an issue. Hard disk space and a way to back up the computer are the biggest issues. I would use multiple hard drives and have one very large hard drive to back up everything else using Norton Ghost.

would this ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16856150027 ) be overkill, going with a s939? also, if i were to buy a barebones system (which would probably be easier) it doesnt come witha anything except a case and a mobo?

grab a cheap opteron barebone, throw in as much hdd, memory you can afford, grab a x800 All In Wonder for tv recording and anything else

How many people will be using the file server? If only a few then yes that is overkill. You dont really need much in the way of processing power just HDD and some memory will be your concerns.

FireMogle said:

How many people will be using the file server.......

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Mostly me, and maybe my dad. So what about one of the old socket (478?) Intel mobo&chip ? and I'm guessing i should go AGP for this one..lol does the X800 all in wonder come in AGP? i don't know Intel, and i dont know ATi

X800 would be WAAAY overkill for just a file server. If you want AGP, go with something like a Radeon 9000. They're fairly cheap now (about $50 off of newegg), and they also work for movies and most games if you don't need fancy stuff like AA. As for the AMD vs. Intel issue, either an Athlon XP (I'd recommend a Barton core, just b/c ) or a P4 s478.

Wow. An Opteron server for two PC users. That's like buying a Lamborghini so you can get to Starbucks faster.



With just two people I'd get the cheapest P4 system you can, a gig of ram, onboard video and a very good TV tuner card. Yes, you could do a Shuttle, do any of those form factor motherboards offer onboard video? The problem with Shuttle is they don't offer a whole lot of space, I don't know much about them, but if you can only fit 1 HDD and 1 optical, you might be in trouble, you'd probably have to get a 400GB drive and then if it fills up, you're kind of screwed, I like the idea of going with a full tower, this way you can buy cheap IDE drives used, like 80GB and stuff and just throw them in there.

I think your best bet for the TV would be to use the TV tuner card, set it up to record at XX time and then you can watch it on your computer, I have no idea how you would stream a cable TV signal via computer(though I would really like to know.)

Mobo
wireless router
1GB ram
processor
--This is one of the few times where I'll actually recommend two optical drives, I'd consider this a media PC, you want to be able to copy disks, I'd say a DVD-Rom and a DVD burner
Very good TV tuner card
Tons upon tons of storage. I don't know what you're planning this for, but if you want people to watch DVDs from a wireless computer, well a shrinked DVD is 4.5GB and if you want a reasonable selection it's easlily 2-500GB. Plus any shows You'd like to keep. If it comes to that you could buy a bunch of 400GB drives and mirror stuff to protect your library --- if it comes to that.
Case(you can buy cheap steel full tower cases and mod them to your tastes.)

If it's a question of a P4 or an XP, I'd say go Intel, it's not a gaming computer, and back then Intel was definitely better at that kind of stuff.

If you are building it from new parts, I'd actually recomend a Sempron socket 754, and undervolt it down to like... .9v? Maybe underclock it a bit. Get it running passively.

I think as far as motherboards go, you want something with onboard SATA, if you plan on buying some new drives for it. Maybe go with one of these? They all have onboard video:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813152048

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813123240

This one looks very good:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813157084

Yuriman said:

and undervolt it down to like... .9v? Maybe underclock it a bit. Get it running passively.

Click to expand...

For what reason?

Yuriman said:

...This one looks very good:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813157084

Click to expand...

so a micro ATX mobo will fit in a shuttle case? if so, then im gonna buy all new stuff... thanks for the s748 info. Sempron you say? i can just pick the cheapest Sempron and be ok? I would think that this thing needs a monitor and keyboard & mouse?

If this is a media computer I would make sure a tuner card has a hardware encoder on it, and if you plan on making anything viewable to the TV make sure you have a way of doing so. If you do not have onboard vid either get a PCI or a cheap AGP card with TV-out, you really don't need much from the card.

for mobo/CPU find the least expensive stuff you can.
->I would even consider PIII/Athlon stuff to save cash in this area
Add 512-1024MB memory
->if you get PIII/Athlon SDR is less expensive than DDR
Grab a nice TV tuner + (optional)Vid card for TV out
Get the nic for your network
(G for wireless or at least 10/100 wired)
Case & PSU
Throw the rest into storage

As far as monitor/kb/mouse I would VNC into the machine and do anything using that. Just set up the basics borrowing another set and then controll the system from yours.

I agree, P3 is a reasonable solution, but if you don't already have the stuff it may be not much more expensive for a P4, with a much larger performance gain.

1twelve2 said:

so a micro ATX mobo will fit in a shuttle case? if so, then im gonna buy all new stuff... thanks for the s748 info. Sempron you say? i can just pick the cheapest Sempron and be ok? I would think that this thing needs a monitor and keyboard & mouse?

Click to expand...

No, Shuttle barebones come with their own motherboards, cases and power supplies.

Socket 754.

Make sure the Sempron you buy is socket 754, they come in both socket 462 (socket A) and 754.

It all it does is host files, it does not need a monitor/keyboard/mouse, except maybe to but up, but you can just unplug those from your pc, use them to boot the server, and then put them back.


If you do decide to go with a Shuttle, I'd recomend one with onboard video.

tom10167 said:

For what reason?

Click to expand...

Undervolting = less heat. Less heat = less airflow needed to cool it. Less airflow = less noise. You might be able to get away with a passive cooler.

1twelve2 said:

Ya, im gonna build a file server for my house, for movies, music, more movies.... And i was wondering what i would need...

1. Would it be just a computer?
2. Could i do a shuttle?
3. Can i watch TV shows from it on a Wireless LAN?
4. Intel or AMD?
5. Cheap parts?
6. Do i need a video card?
7. 512Mb or 1Gb of RAM?

sorry for all the questions .... thanks for the replies in advance

Click to expand...

yes
yes
Streaming (live viewing) would be not good if its quality files. But load a file remotely view it, then delete it will be fine. Wired will be faster.
Either
Some. Just build a regular PC. The os is what will distingish it. Cheap CPUs are fine. A good harddrive, lots of ram and a good psu are good ideas.
More ram, the better..

Yuriman said:

No, Shuttle barebones come with their own motherboards, cases and power supplies.

Socket 754.

Make sure the Sempron you buy is socket 754, they come in both socket 462 (socket A) and 754.

It all it does is host files, it does not need a monitor/keyboard/mouse, except maybe to but up, but you can just unplug those from your pc, use them to boot the server, and then put them back.


If you do decide to go with a Shuttle, I'd recomend one with onboard video.



Undervolting = less heat. Less heat = less airflow needed to cool it. Less airflow = less noise. You might be able to get away with a passive cooler.

Click to expand...

I understand that, but what reason do you have to go passive on a server?

He is assuming that you would like it to be as quiet as possible.

Get a nas

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833329005

They have a diskless version that you can add disks to as you/your budget see fit.

Also, the NAS I linked has special options for streaming multimedia.