Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2008 17:38:51 +0200 From: "Valentin Bud" <valentin.bud@gmail.com> To: Modulok <modulok@gmail.com> Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: 5 TB server Message-ID: <139b44430811300738h36c1febahe74d8d992f8820d@mail.gmail.com> In-Reply-To: <64c038660811281038ld6e20dcq81a1a98b7e9f7ce@mail.gmail.com> References: <139b44430811280548x36915301i766bfb15f162c8ca@mail.gmail.com> <64c038660811281038ld6e20dcq81a1a98b7e9f7ce@mail.gmail.com>
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On Fri, Nov 28, 2008 at 8:38 PM, Modulok <modulok@gmail.com> wrote: > On 11/28/08, Valentin Bud <valentin.bud@gmail.com> wrote: >> Hello community, >> >> I have to come up with a solution for a company that has as we speak >> 4 TB of data spread among 3 computers with lots of HDDs. Of course >> i've recommend >> them to buy a server for that storage capacity and for data organization. >> >> I thought of going on the ZFS way (on FreeBSD of course) with some >> raidz. One of the problems >> is that the server will stay in their office so it has to be quite silent. >> >> I honestly don't know what hardware to look for so if you have any >> suggestions >> i'm more than open to hear them. >> >> a great day, >> v > > I'm not sure what kind of fans everyone here is running, with all > these complaints about noise... > > For a single server sitting in an office, use a regular desktop case > with some good 12cm fans. Get a few fan-speed-controllers to reduce > the RPMs a little and you can have a computer with several disks in it > that is damn near silent, even when it is sitting right next to you. > Put a good power supply unit, with a slow 14cm fan in it and you can't > hear the computer at all. As far as heat goes, a well ventilated > aluminum desktop case disperses heat very, very well, permitting the > reduction of fan speed. > > I have a server built this way sitting not 2 feet from me, which > contains 5 hard drives providing 24/7 file storage via samba for the > entire local area network, and unless one puts their ear against the > case, it's difficult to tell if it is even running...even under heavy > load. (This is in a quiet room.) As far as heat goes, the case blows > out room temperature air and all components are cold to the touch. > Built for around...$800-$900 USD. (I'm not exactly sure on the figure, > as some components have been upgraded over the years.) > > Case: Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Mid Tower. Best case ever. Cheap. > Simple. Roomy. Very well ventilated. I now personally own 4 of these > cases. No regrets. Ditch the factory fans though. Replace them with a > few Zalman 12cm fans. These usually come with a resistor so you can > reduce the fan speed (and noise). > > Processor: Whatever. I went with a cheap dual core Opteron at the time. > Board: I usually stick with Tyan. whatever fits your processor, your > budget and provides you with enough SATA headers. For a simple file > server, stick with a lower-end single-socket board. Unless you plan to > do some serious number crunching or have a lot of money to spend, you > don't need the extra processors sitting around doing nothing, with > their fans making noise. > > Memory: Start with a few (say 2) gigs, it's cheap. > Power Supply Unit: I've had good luck with Thermaltake W0144 Purepower > RX. They use 14cm fans which are silent, but move a lot of air and > I've had zero problems with them. The ability to only plugin the power > components you require helps maintain good airflow in the case. > > Network: Not all network cards are created equal! Go with one (or two) > PCI Intel network cards. If it's based on the Intel PRO/1000GT, it > will be supported by the em(4) driver on FreeBSD. I use the Intel > PWLA8391GT. Zero problems. > > As far as hard drives go, I've found recently that Western Digital > drives are quite silent, even under heavy read/writes, but I haven't > tried Seagate or any of the other major drive manufacturers in a long > time, so they may be about the same. Thanks for sharing. I'm just wondering what is the maximum number of hard disk a motherboard can support, i mean desktop motherboards. And is it easy to attach a storage unit in case you want more space? This company i'm talking about is growing with 1 Tb per year. I have talked to them to archive the data but it's out of discusion because they almost always need random parts of old projects and they want to access it ASAP. a great day, v > > With a little work, your goal of a silent, high-capacity server is > quite attainable. It can be pretty cheap to build too. > -Modulok- >
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