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.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/Fuganater987/Desk/desk.jpg

On the right side is a HAF 932 case. That is where my HAF X 942 case will go.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/Fuganater987/Desk/computercaseindesk.jpg

There is a cutout in the back for the cables and airflow. This will help keep the clean look of the desk.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/Fuganater987/Desk/computercasewirescutout.jpg

On the left side is where I want to put the server.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/Fuganater987/Desk/serverindesk.jpg


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
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/Fuganater987/Server%20Idea/Server1.jpg

Back
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/Fuganater987/Server%20Idea/Server3.jpg

Top
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/Fuganater987/Server%20Idea/Server2.jpg

Side where mobo is located (Panel removed)
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/Fuganater987/Server%20Idea/Server4.jpg

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?

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/Fuganater987/Server%20Idea/servernew1.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/Fuganater987/Server%20Idea/Servernew2.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/Fuganater987/Server%20Idea/Servernew3.jpg

[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 :D

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.

[Fuganater]

Can you explain a few things about WHS for me?

-Can it host a website? I used to have one on a Windows 2003 box a few years back and would like to get back into it.
-Does it support Windows 7 machines? I saw a write up that it only works with Vista but I think thats an old statment. I have several Vista 32-bit and 2 Windows7 64-bit machines and want to make sure they will all work with this.
-What is the WHS Power Pack 3? I see this everywhere now and have no idea what it is.
-What size disk do you use for the OS? Or do you not run this like other servers/desktops?
-Any other usefull tidbits would be great.

[slaveofconvention]

It can be hacked to host a website - it isn't something if offers natively. Personally I wouldn't bother - there are hosting packages out there now so cheap it's barely worth the hassle, and chances are, your ISP would frown on it anyway....
It supports XP, Vista, and 7. x86 and x64 on all platforms too.
Power pack 3 was a patch released a while back - it added lots of support for windows 7 which was it's main purpose I think but I'm sure it did more than that - it DID apparently fix an ongoing data corruption bug too.
WHS recommends using the biggest drive you can for the main or first drive. I'm not sure I agree. You NEED 40gb for the C drive partition, there's no modifying that - it's set in the install (full install in part 2 btw which is real close to finished) - the rest of the first drive becomes the start of your storage "pool" which you expand by adding extra drives - personally I have a 320GB IDE drive for my C and pool start - leaving all 10 sata ports free for storage drives.

[Fuganater]

Anyone got some sugestions on the case? Guideance?

I think I will do a Orange and Black theme. Orange fans, Orange sleeving and Orange/White lights inside. The top, back and bottom pelxi will be black and the 2 sides and the front will be clear. All of the inside plexi work will be black as well.

[Fuganater]

Ok worked on the case some more. Made some changes to reflect the color choice (Orange and Black). I also moved the mobo to the top and bottom mounted the PSU for cooling reasons.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/Fuganater987/Project%20Maximus%20Serverus/Server4-1.jpg
In the front you can see the LCD, DVD Drive and 8 channel fan controller.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/Fuganater987/Project%20Maximus%20Serverus/Server2-1.jpg

Rear view
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/Fuganater987/Project%20Maximus%20Serverus/Server3-1.jpg

Mobo side. You can see the cover over the back side of the PSU. I took that from the HAF X case to hide the cabling.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/Fuganater987/Project%20Maximus%20Serverus/Server4-1.jpg

You can see where the opening is on the HDD side of the case. There is an opening above that where the SATA cables will pass through to the mobo.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/Fuganater987/Project%20Maximus%20Serverus/Server5.jpg


So I've just been piecing together features from different cases that I like to make the ultimate dual width server case.

I think I will make a WC version of the case just in case someone decides to sponsor the build and give me free stuff :D

[slaveofconvention]

right now, you're about 90% of the way to a Lian Li 343b heh - look one up - you may get a surprise - that's actually the case my server is currently sitting in ;)

[Fuganater]

What size pelxi should I use? 1/2" or 1/4"? I think 1/4" will be sturdy enought to have screws in the side of it but I'm not sure, never used it before. And what about 1/2" for the center?

[slaveofconvention]

Why not consider small cubes of plexi for the corners as reinforcers - that'll help with the strength aspect

[Fuganater]

Good idea. I'll look for some 1"x1" cubes.

[Fuganater]

SOC or anyone. Does the new version of WHS have Drive Extender? I thought I read somewhere that they took it out in Power Pack 2.

[Fuganater]

Bump again for WHS help.

[Airbozo]

Nice looking project. I like the idea of covering the cables and providing airflow for your HAF case.

One idea for the server is to put the drives in a separate enclosure. This may require a different controller card that provides an external connection or some long cables...

BTW: WHS does NOT support raid. I spent months trying to get it to work including injecting the drivers right into the install disk. Never got it to work so I just let WHS manage the drives. I have not tried it yet, but my buddy is running WHS2 and is using raid since drive extender has been removed from the newer version.

[Fuganater]

Where can I get WHS with Drive Extender? :(

[Airbozo]

Where can I get WHS with Drive Extender? :(

The first version of WHS comes with Drive extender. The second version does not and will not.

[Fuganater]

Newegg only sells it with PP3...

[Airbozo]

PP3?

BTW: I am a MS Technet subscriber and that is how I got WHS. Not sure if you can buy/find the first version any more. I will check with our distributors.

[Fuganater]

Power Pack 3.

I used to have MSDN through Dell... thats before they fired all of us :(

But I found it with PP1 on Buy.com (http://www.buy.com/prod/microsoft-windows-home-server-32-bit-1-pack-power-pack-1-oem/q/loc/105/208903809.html) and Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Windows-Server-System-Builder/dp/B001E5Q8CO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1305128934&sr=8-1).

[NightrainSrt4]

Powerpacks were just the big batches of updates, no? I didn't read the whole thread to figure out why'd you want it without the updates. Iirc there were some pretty big fixes in the updates.

EDIT: All the versions of WHS V1 have Drive Extender, regardless which power pack it has. WHS V2 doesn't have Drive Extender and is based off Server 2k8 instead of 2k3.

[Fuganater]

Ahh that makes sense now. So I just need to make sure it is V1... hmm.. wonder what the one on Newegg is...

[Airbozo]

BTW: Version 1 is 32 bit, version 2 is 64 bit.

_supposedly_ Version2 supports raid controllers, but I have not tested it yet. Lots of people are upset that MS took drive extender out of version 2.

[Fuganater]

Ya that's why I want V1. I thought it had to do with the Power Packs.