Home Server

[B-rock]

Hello,

I am trying to figure out what I should do for a home server. I am looking to not spend more than $400 and I can buy this:

Newegg.com - ASUS TS Mini SOHO Home Server w/ Intel Atom N280 1.66GHz 2GB DDR2 2TB HDD installed, powered by Windows Home Server

Or I have an old desktop computer that I could upgrade, specs below:
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3000+ 2.00Ghz
Motherboard:
Newegg.com - BIOSTAR K8M800 Micro AM2 AM2 VIA K8M800 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
Has 512 ram that I would upgrade to 2GBs.
It would need a faster Ethernet card probably, so I'd need to get a gigabit one.
Then I'd pick up a 2TB hard drive (do you know what the max hard drive my motherboard can handle?):
Seagate ST32000542AS Barracuda LP Hard Drive - 2TB, 5900 RPM, 32MB, SATA-3G at TigerDirect.com

If you have any suggestions on what would help make it a little better that would be great, but I was wondering if it would be a better deal to upgrade my old desktop or to buy the new server.

 

[Bruce]

If you are planning to use a multi-drive esata enclosure research it first. The TS Mini only supports CBS port multiplying not FIS, so some enclosures may not work. I know the mediasonics won't work with it.

 

[B-rock]

Hey I'm really sorry, but that really confused me. I am new to this whole server thing.


I really just want to make sure that I don't make a mistake going out and buying one of those cheap servers off of new egg, when I should just upgrade the computer I have and it will do the job.

One thing I want to make sure is that it is fast enough so I don't see lag when I am trying to stream video or audio. Also, want to make sure that if I decide to upgrade the computer I have that it can handle a 2tb or more of hard drive space.

 

[Bruce]

My buddy has this server and he bought a mediasonic 4 bay enclosure that is esata and usb2, he had to use it on the usb (which is much slower) because the esata port does not support the port multiplying of the enclosure.

IMO the server is a bit limited as far as upgrading and such, I personally would go with upgrading the other box

 

[B-rock]

Ok sounds good. thanks for your thoughts. I am leaning toward upgrading my box.

Do you know how I can find out what the max hard drive space is for my current motherboard if there is one?

Also, is this the type of ethernet port I need if I want a gigabit one?
Netgear - GA311 - 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit PCI Adapter at TigerDirect.com

 

[Bruce]

As far as I know hard drives shouldn't be limited, you should be fine with 2 TB sata drives, the last limitation I remember was the 137 GB limit on IDE which was more of a software issue than a hardware one and was overcome with the proper drivers.

Yes that will work for gigabit.

 

[B-rock]

Awesome. Thanks for your help. I will work on upgrading the computer that I already have and have it be my server.

And one last question would it be possible to have two 2 TB drives and have one be the automatic back up to the other?

Is there anything that I am missing that I should get for that computer, or will that be good?

 

[Bruce]

What OS will it be?

yeah you could back up that way, how were u planning to do backups? with the windows backup or something else?

 

[B-rock]

I am really not sure exactly what I was planning on doing. I was thinking about just loading it up with windows 7 and have it share files with other computers, that way I will be able to still use it as a normal computer if I need to. The other option is that I load it up with Windows Home Server.

With the back up I was thinking a nightly back up, just to make sure that if my hard drive crashes that I have my data still.

 

[Bruce]

yeah i would go with 7 as well