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How much ram for file server?

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Automiketic

Automiketic

Member
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Joined
Jun 21, 2008
Just ordered a Tyan Thunder K8SR S2881 and memory for it is not exactly cheap. It can support up to 16gb i believe but I doubt U need that much. I am going to use this setup as a file server for a home network whos primary purpose will be to stream video to the networked computers. I was thinking 4gb would suffice, but I'm not really sure if I need that much, and I doubt I need more. My question is how much should I get?
 
For a straight up file server it seems like 1gb would probably do it. Hell maybe even less depending on what OS you're using.
 
I'm not really familiar with server 2003. A very rough rule of thumb is to look at how much ram the system uses on a clean boot and double it. XP fully updated is around 220-260mb, giving 512 or so as the bare minimum i would use.
Obviously if you're running programs beyond the OS you may need more, firefox alone runs 100mb with a couple tabs open.
 
If you are streaming blu ray rips get at least 2gb even though 1gb will do.

I had 1gb in my WHS, 2003 server baised, and it worked just fine for 30gb uncompressed blu ray rips but I moved it up to 3gb just to have it.
 
hmm if 2gb is a min mayb ill just go 3gbs. can always move up to 4gb later if its needed and i never like to go with the minimum.
 
yeah i realized that could still do 3gbs but would probably more pricey then just doing 4gbs. (256x4 & 512x4)
 
yes but unfortunately the board requires registerd ecc ram which is very pricey. 1 gb sticks start around $50 a pc. there is a few deals out there on 512mb chips where u can get a pair for $20 -$25 even found some a bit cheaper so it seems going more chips at smaller sizes is the cheapest way here.
 
Automiketic said:
yes but unfortunately the board requires registerd ecc ram which is very pricey. 1 gb sticks start around $50 a pc. there is a few deals out there on 512mb chips where u can get a pair for $20 -$25 even found some a bit cheaper so it seems going more chips at smaller sizes is the cheapest way here.
Click to expand...

As I mentioned before in the other thread, check Ebay. Here is a lot of 8x1GB Samsung ECC REG DDR for $95 + Shipping.

You can also use my search script that I made to specifically find 2x1gb ECC Reg DDR off Ebay if you wish.

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?LH_SALE...&_from=R10&_ipg=50&_mPrRngCbx=1&_udhi=&_udlo=

There is also the question of NUMA as well, although this will require 4 sticks of RAM (2 per CPU for dual channel). As for the benefits, well I'm not sure if it will help a simple file server any, but it's interesting to tinker with.
 
I ran this exact combo with 4 gigs of RAM a while ago, worked great. I'd say 1 GB is the least you would want for a nice perky server and anything over 4 GB is overkill. I'm sure though as said above that 512 MB - 1 GB could get you by.
 
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