Cheap File Server

I purchased items today for the file server project. I’ll bring the printed invoices to DMS for reimbursement when everything arrives. The total came to $1,570.02 but I might need to buy a few more little things like a case fan or SATA cables from Tanner Electronics.

6x – WD Cavier Green 3TB SATA III 64MB Cache Bare/OEM Desktop Hard Drive WD30EZRX
1x – ASRock C2750D4I Mini ITX Server Motherboard FCBGA12383 DDR3 1600/1333
2x – Kingston 4GB 240-Pin DDR SDRAM ECC Unbuffered DDR 1600 (PC3 12800) Server Memory Model KVR16ES8/4
1x – Antec P100 Black ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
1x – Thermaltake TR2 TR-700 700W ATX 12V V2.3 & EPS 12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply

Disk 89.99

Motherboard 409.99

Memory 41.99 each * 2 = 83.98

Case  74.99

Power Supply 59.99

Total:  $718.94

 

It’s basically the same setup as what was proposed to the board but with a better case, better power supply, same motherboard and processor, 8GB of RAM instead of 32GB (can be expanded later if needed), and without the spare disk so if one dies we’ll have to RMA it or buy another. Also the motherboard and processor dropped $60 in price since the board meeting (woot!). Less memory and no spare disk reduced the cost significantly. Less memory will impact the performance but probably not enough for people to bitch about.

So what you end up with is a lower power (20 watt TDP) 8 core processor at 2.4GHz, 8GB of memory (expandable to 64GB), 24TB of raw disk space (16TB with two block parity, RAID Z2), and a 700 watt power supply (overkill but was on sale). It’ll have all the bells and whistles setup like automatic rolling snapshots. Will probably need help from ops committee for LDAP integration if that’s wanted (I’d think yes but it’s their call, like read permission for everyone, write permission just for your files).