Building a file server - bit of a rush

[TorturedChaos]

Well my place I work acquired another office, and we need a file server for our 3rd location.

At first I was just going to buy a NAS, but I'm don't think it would have the ability to install a backup client on it like Crash Plan, so I'm thinking of just building a file server & loading a distro of Linux on it thats designed for servers, some like Ubuntu Server edition.

Problem is all the computers I have built have been for gaming.

So this is what my we need - a file server that is going to have data for mostly plans and spec books along with setups for business cards, flyers, signs, and other graphic works. Probably going to have 6-7 computers pulling data from it, along with 4-5 networked printers.

I looked at some of the server mobo, but they just seem like more than I need. I like the dual gigabyte LAN on them, but I think I can find that on some desktop Mobo.
So I'm kinda the stage of picking a mobo and CPU and leaning towards just getting something like a C2D of a lower end i3 (or AMD - not against AMD, just a bit outa the lop with what they have). I don't need much processing power to just pull files from it do i?

Also not really all the sure what makes Sever Mobo's and CPU's different from desktop, other than they are designed for servers

IDK I'm a little outa my normal zone here, and the boss says we need it by the end of the month, so I don't have too long to research it. So any help would be greatly appreciated .

 

[JMMD]

What's the price range for this server?
I would suggest just ordering a Dell. You'll get great support and a pre-build system.

 

[TorturedChaos]

Oh for price range I think the boss was looking to keep it under $800 or so.

 

[Polah]

What's the price range for this server?
I would suggest just ordering a Dell. You'll get great support and a pre-build system.

Got to agree with this. For business-level stuff you really want the reliability and support you'd get from a company. Building it from scratch may be cheaper, but if it fails then you've got no warranty to replace it or support other than yourself.

Alternately, if that's way out of your price range, look at the networking storage products on Newegg.

 

[TorturedChaos]

What's the price range for this server?
I would suggest just ordering a Dell. You'll get great support and a pre-build system.

Are Dell servers any good? I have had really bad luck with their desktops and laptops.

 

[pjamme]

I have seven Dell Poweredge servers that have been running 24x7 for aanywhere from 8 years to 5. Servers usuall come with hot swap hard drives in a RAID configuration so if one goes you don't lose anything, PCs don't do that. they often have more than one power supply and some have Xeon processors. RAM can be enormous compared to the current 16GB ceiling on most PCs.
since you probably don't have a rack in the budget you will need a tower.
The starte server can be seen at:
http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/poweredge-t110/fs

Estimated ship date 12/20

 

[TorturedChaos]

I have seven Dell Poweredge servers that have been running 24x7 for aanywhere from 8 years to 5. Servers usuall come with hot swap hard drives in a RAID configuration so if one goes you don't lose anything, PCs don't do that. they often have more than one power supply and some have Xeon processors. RAM can be enormous compared to the current 16GB ceiling on most PCs.
since you probably don't have a rack in the budget you will need a tower.
The starte server can be seen at:
http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/poweredge-t110/fs

Estimated ship date 12/20

I looked at the dell server and they just seem to be way over the top for what we need. I talked with the boss some and he wants me to build one.

So here is the build I came up with:

CASE:
Antec Atlas 550 Black Server Case w/ 550W Power Supply 4 (with one 5.25" to 3.5" adapter) External 5.25" Drive Bays

Mobo:
ASUS P5BV-C LGA 775 Intel 3200 ATX Intel Xeon Server Motherboard

CPU:
Intel Xeon E3110 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core

RAM:
Kingston 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM ECC Registered DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Server Memory Model KVR800D2S4P6/2G

HDD:
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

And a fan or 2 for the front of the case:
Scythe SFF92C 92mm Case Fan

The for OS I'm thinking of using Ubuntu server.

And then I'm going to have the server and networking equipment plugged into a UPS

Tripp Lite OMNIVS1500XL OMNI VS 1500 VA 940 Watts 8 Outlets Line Interactive Tower UPS Extended Runtime

Then to network everything together I'm planing on using:

Cisco Small Business SR2024CT-NA 10/100/1000Mbps Unmanaged Switch with QoS 24 RJ-45 10/100/1000Mbps ports, 2 Combo SFP ports

Probably run the internet into a Cisco/Linksys RV082 router we have sitting here that we don't use any more - then run it into the switch.

Any comments would be greatly appreciated. Boss wants to order this stuff later today or at the latest tomorrow.

Thanks .

 

[TorturedChaos]

I have seven Dell Poweredge servers that have been running 24x7 for aanywhere from 8 years to 5. Servers usuall come with hot swap hard drives in a RAID configuration so if one goes you don't lose anything, PCs don't do that. they often have more than one power supply and some have Xeon processors. RAM can be enormous compared to the current 16GB ceiling on most PCs.
since you probably don't have a rack in the budget you will need a tower.
The starte server can be seen at:
http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/poweredge-t110/fs

Estimated ship date 12/20

Although holy crap I didn't look closely enough at the dell server you linked. I guess I didn't play around with their site enough. I think I might like that option better....

Change the HDD up to a 500 gig and I think it would be set. Takes a bit of a load off my mind too .