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Re: [OCLUG-Tech] Questions about a Linux file server I am about to build.

On Sun, Sep 19, 2010 at 12:02 PM, Jorge Luis Diaz Flores <
jldflores [ at ] gmail [ dot ] com> wrote:

> Hi there
>
> I would like to share some thoughts.
>
> I can't avoid to think in the average use of a home file server and ask
> myself if in most cases is not the network&protocol (wireless, SMB)the
>

I agree wireless will be the bottleneck for my wife's laptop even using
802.11n. My wired network won't be a bottleneck, I have plenty of bandwidth.


> source of the bottleneck.
>
> Are the 1900$ just for the  mobo,cpu,mem & ps ?
>

It is for everything: mobo, cpu and its cooling, drives, case, memory.


>
> why not use software raid instead of a hardware controller?
>

I will. I've never been using hardware RAID at home, only Linux' software
RAID and only had good experiences with it.


>
> have you think in a more economical solution like atom base? SuperMicro
> have also motherboards based in atom processors. of course if you really
>

Yes but it only allow 4GB of DDR2 RAM.


> are thinking to use the machine also for hardware-assisted
> virtualization this is not an option.
>

Indeed.


>
> which is the average percentage of processor utilization in the actual
> servers?
>

It is not constant. At ight, outside the backup window, it is about 0%. When
backing-up on tape and or doing rsync, it goes pretty high. I should measure
it accurately though, you got a point.


>
> have you consider and AMD based configuration? the AMD Opteron 4100
>

Yes but not an Opteron-based one. I'll check it!

Thanks!

Charles


> Series start at 99$
> http://www.amd.com/us/products/pricing/Pages/server-opteron.aspx
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Sat, 2010-09-18 at 20:33 -0400, Charles Nadeau wrote:
> > On Fri, Sep 17, 2010 at 3:40 PM, Peter Sjoberg <peters-oclug [ at ] techwiz [ dot ] ca
> >wrote:
> >
> > > On Fri, 2010-09-17 at 14:48 -0400, Charles Nadeau wrote:
> > > >
> > > <snip>
> > > >         With that said, what's your budget?
> > > > I would like to stay below 2000$.
> > > I think my system landed <$800 but that was just mobo,cpu,mem & ps, the
> > > rest (disk, case, dvd) I had since before.
> > >
> >
> > I reworked my set-up yesterday, and I  think I can do it for a but below
> > 1900$
> >
> > > >
> > > >         > Here are my questions:
> > > >         > • Is SATA III really worth the price difference knowing
> that
> > > >         my server will
> > > >         > serve at most 3 clients and that I will run RAID 5 or 6?
> > > >         Right now I am not
> > > >         > focusing on absolute speed but on stability and
> > > >         responsiveness.
> > > >
> > > >         My thinking is no. Reson is that while SATA III gives you a
> > > >         6BIt/s bus
> > > >         speed you're still limited by the disk speed. Even if you put
> > > >         in SDDs
> > > > IF I use a SSD, it will be for the boot drive and even for this, I am
> > > > not sure if I will. I am using a Seagate Momentus XT in one of my
> > > > Ubuntu laptop and it's fast enough for me!
> > > I seen this "put OS on SSD" but on a somewhat static system like a file
> > >
> >
> > The momentus XT isn't really an SSD disk. It is a 500GB 2.5" disk that
> > includes a 4GB SSD on-board that acts as a permanent "cache" for the
> disk.
> > It persists from boot to boot. It only caches the most accessed files. I
> > found out it helps while loading frequently used programs (Firefox,
> > OpenOffice, etc.) on my Ubuntu laptop.
> >
> > Charles
> >
> > <snip>
> >
>
>
>


-- 
Charles Nadeau Ph.D.
http://charlesnadeau.blogspot.com/