Looking to build a storage server on the cheap

pug_

As the title says I'm looking to build a PC that can hold at least 2Tb of data as cheaply as possible. I'm not that bothered about CPU speed, memory, noise, or any fancy bells and whistles what so ever I just want the space. I also don't need things like CD/DVD drives, floppy drives, graphics cards etc as I have a few of these lying around doing nothing. I intend running linux, so I won't be needing anything with an OS either.

My problem is I know next to nothing about building a PC, and my few attempts at getting compatible parts together from komplett and the likes have just managed to confuse the bejaysus out of me, and have scared me into thinking I'm gonna get something that won't do what I want. I've also tried the build your own PC option at komplett, but the same problem I just don't know what I'm doing, or what I'm looking at.

If anyone can help out here I'd appreciate it, even a few pointers as to what a decent storage machine absolutely must have, in particular with respect to things like the motherboard, chassis type/size, and power I'd appreciate it.

Thanks in advance

pug_

Stuff... lots and lots of stuff... Also I'd like to be able to hold lots and lots more stuff for a few years to come

8T8

You know you can get NAS (Network Attached Storage) and chuck hard drives into those and they will sit on the network available to any PC on the network. Would be an awfully lot easier than what your planning to do if you have no building experience.

To get 2TB of storage space you either need to use as few as possible the largest capacity HD's or lots of smaller HD's, using lots of small HD's will probably entail getting a dedicated SATA controller and/or port repeater (expensive hardware). By sticking to the larger capacity HD's you can get by with only using the built in SATA controller in the motherboard.

4 Seagate Barracuda 750GB HD's should easily put you over the 2TB mark and most motherboards have 4 SATA ports so no need for a third party controller all you have to do from their is enable RAID support in the bios and create a JBOD array which is simply a process where it sticks all the drives together as one large one.

Alternately 5 Samsung Spin point 500GB HD should put you over the 2TB mark but you will need a motherboard that has 6 SATA ports some of the Intel Core 2 Duo boards do support 6 ports like the one from MSI. You can use a cheaper Celeron D or P4 as the CPU but it is an expensive project no matter which way you slice it. Why 5 you say & not 4 HD's because after formatting you will have around 470GB available on each drive so add it up and in order to get over 2GB you will need 5 drives giving you a total of 2.3TB 4 drives will only get you 1.8TB in storage, still that may be enough : )

If you want Komplett to build one of the above this is how but you will have to install the remaining hard drives yourself which isn't too difficult.
Click this link for the Komplett PC and click on Customise with expert options & Buy now making the following changes.

Chassis: Leave as is it can take up 5-6 HD's.

Power Supplies: Akasa 550W power supply, top of the list in the drop down box.

Mainboards: MSI P956 Platinum, second from bottom in the drop down box.

Processors: Intel Pentium 4 630, top of the list in the drop down box.

Hard Drives: Samsung Spinpoint T166 500GB, 4th from the top of the list.

Hard Drives (additional): Samsung Spinpoint T166 500GB, 4th from the top of the list.

Everything else can be left as is now click buy, also add 3 more Samsung Spinpoint 500GB HD's into your cart as well or do it before buying the PC & finalizing your purchase so you can fit the HD's when it arrives. Oh yeah buy a few of these & these just in case you end up without enough cables to connect everything. Also get one of these just in case the 5-6 HD claim doesn't hold true from the pictures I've seen the chassis does at least 5 but play it safe and get one of those drive bay adapters.

When the PC does arrive remove the side panel and you will see the drive bays holding the two already installed 500GB HD's now it is just a matter of copying they way they are installed. Slide in another drive put in the screws to secure it, now plug in the power and plug in the SATA cables from the drive to the motherboard and close it up. When you power on it will detect the drives and you are good to go into the bios and create the JBOD array. With the array created created just load up your OS of choice and your in business.

pug_

Thanks 8T8 that's exactly what I wanted to know. I didn't realise the BIOS could create one large disk with JBOD, I was going to use the OS to handle that side of things, so all the better.

I had looked at NAS before, but it just won't do what I want it to, as I need it to be available on the internet and need FTP, apache, and mysql as well as a firewall to restrict access to only certain IP's.

It's an expensive project for me allright, but I always knew the biggest expense would be the disks that's why I'm looking to keep the cost of the other componants to a minimum.

Right off to komplett with me so Thanks again!