Server for me and idea for a desk

[Fuganater]

So once I finish my current mod, I am faced with a decision. To server or not to server.

The Server

OS: Windows Home Server
Case: Custom Plexi case. I think this is the cheapest way to get what I want.
Hardware:
HDD: Will start out with 4-8 TB and expand to 20TB total. So I have to make the case be able to handle that much from the get go. Not sure how to hook this many HDDs up to the mobo.
MOBO: Probably a cheaper mobo with a C2D should be enough.
CPU: C2D
RAM: 4GB of RAM seems to be the max WHS can handle so 4GB of w/e the mobo can support.
Drive: Basic DVD-RW drive
PSU: 600-700W depending on the finial cut of hardware.
GPU: ummm... idk? If the mobo doesn't have one on it, then some cheap one like that GTS 220 that was only $30 should be fine.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.


The Desk

I designed this from scratch. It will be made of 3/4" plywood, sanded, stained and finished. The stain will be lighter than how Sketchup shows it.

On the right side is a HAF 932 case. That is where my HAF X 942 case will go.

There is a cutout in the back for the cables and airflow. This will help keep the clean look of the desk.

On the left side is where I want to put the server.

The desk isn't done yet but I was hoping for some input from y'all.

Cheers,
Fuga

[slaveofconvention]

I'll have more of that Windows Home Server series up soon - time has been kicking my butt recently - on top of that, once I get Unimatrix finished, I plan to install my sons old PC in there (just gave him a laptop) and throw Windows Home Server 2 on there so I can try it out without risking my current server.

Might be worth a watch (when I get the damned thing finished)

[Fuganater]

So I played around with Sketchup for a few hours and came up with this first draft of the case. I really don't want to spend over $300 just for a double wide case so this seems like the best way to do it for under $100. Needs much improvement but I am looking for some suggestions.

Front

Back

Top

Side where mobo is located (Panel removed)

I still need to add more fans to this as well. Thoughts so far?

Cheers,
Fuga

[slaveofconvention]

I've often thought, in cases like this one where width isn't really a limiting factor, I'd like to see the motherboard on the rear panel of the case - that way there'd be a lot more room for cables etc and no worrying about the back of the drives interfering with the board or connections etc - if you're going WHS, you dont need KB mouse or Monitor connected - just LAN cable which wouldnt be hard to extend to the rear panel from the mobo.

With that much width to spare, I'd consider a second tower of HD's too - stagger them slightly though so you can get to the screws in the middle by going between two drives.

Ok that's not clear lol - looking from the front - it'd mean you'd be able to use a long screwdriver to access the HD mounting screws on the left hand side of the drives in the right hand column by feeding the screwdriver between two drives in the left hand column..

That isn't a lot clearer lol - I'm sure you'll get my meaning with a lil re-reading heh

[Fuganater]

So is this better?

[slaveofconvention]

Definitely more space, yeah - you might be going a little overboard with the cooling though lol - having said that, I can't really talk as my server has 6 or 7 fans in it too - all set on low speed for noise reasons.

[Fuganater]

Ya I figured that but some low RPM 140mm fans will be good. It will be overkill in the beginning because I only have 2 drives so far. At $80 a piece, I'll only be buying one a month till I get them all. And that's AFTER I build the case lol.


Anyone have a good plexi vendor? So far off a few websites I found I'm looking at just shy of $200 for all of the plexi I need. So I would like to see if there are any cheaper vendors out there.

I need:
7 - 18"x18" pieces (3 clear and 4 black)
1 - 16"x18" peice clear
2 - 12"x12" peices clear
All need to be 1/4"

[slaveofconvention]

Honestly, I wouldn't bother with buying a drive every month just because you can - just keep an eye on the amount of free space you have and buy drives as and when you need them - you'll end up with cheaper drives, or larger ones for the same money, not to mention newer drives on average so hopefully less chance of a failure.

My server has drives ranging from 300gb to 2tb and is now full, from a connection point of view - whenever I drop to less than 1/2 a tb free, I remove the smallest drive and replace it with the biggest one i can afford/justify at the time...

[Fuganater]

Nice idea! Are you running RAID? Whats best for WHS? Also what about SATA controllers? Any suggestions on them? I think I will need 1 to start out with but if they are cheap I'll just buy 3 and be done with it.

I'll play in sketchup again tomorrow to figure out a LCD screen and Fan Controller. Also Power buttons for the front. BUT that all depends if I get my PC or not tomorrow

Thanks again SOC! You've been a huge help so far.

[slaveofconvention]

I just let windows Drive extender take care of the drives - I don't use any kind of RAID at all. As for controllers, I chose the board in my server specifically FOR the server - I didn't repurpose an old PC, so I got one with 8 SATA ports - not a lot today but this is a AMD 754 pin board and 8 SATA ports was pretty rare lol - on top of that I have an el-echeapo 2 port PCI SATA card so 10 in total. My server is basically a large data dump - I have no need for high specs or fast thruput - as long as it can feed my video collections to at least 2 or 3 sources in the house at once (which it can but they aren't HD admittedly) it's fine. It has gigabit networking (PCI upgrade - onboard is 10/100) and has yet to let me down.