- Jul 26, 2009
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Now I know I'm not the first person to attempt using an Intel Atom based solution as a server, but I know there will be many out there who may be considering doing the same so I thought I would share my experiences with you.
Now you may ask why I would use an Atom instead of a more powerful platform that would be available for around the same price? Well, basically it comes down to the fact the power usage of the Atom is really low and a the intention of a server is for it to be running 24/7. Energy prices in the UK are cheaper than they used to be, but are still high enough to keep you mindful of which appliances and lights are left on. I've played around with spare P3 parts and this functioned well as a server, but I was always mindful of the power it was using.
What do I use the server for? The main use is as a file server for myself and two members of the family, this could have been achieved with a NAS but I wanted the additional flexibility. I have Orb running so that I can access my music collection from my mobile phone - this isn't great but this is down to limitations of the Orb mobile software and the 3G network in my town. I don't want to leave my main PC, which uses anything up to 500W, downloading a torrent all day - I now do this on the server.
What else have I had it doing? You may be surprised to hear that I've actually used it for transcoding divX to DVD a few times - on occasions where the speed of the process isn't the be all and end all it works great. I've often left a batch of 5 or 6 video files converting while I've been at work, safe in the knowledge that it's barely using any more electricity than if it was idling or serving a few files. In terms of speed, I've monitored it a couple of times and it appears to transcode slightly less than real-time - so a 90 minute movie should take around 95-100 minutes to transcode. (This is with TMPGEnc DVD Authoring software).
What OS do I use? I use Windows Home Server, a simple XP setup with shares would have been fine but I like some of the extras that Home Server offers - such as the ability to access all of the shared files remotly, and backup PCs automatically. Windows Home Server is essentially Windows Server 2003 with a few tweaks to make it more friendly to the mass market. Most of the configuration is done remotely via "connector software" but if you remote desktop to it, you'll find a lot the elements of Server 2003 are available to you. You could essentially use it as a web server as well if you wished.
Full hardware details...
Intel DC945GCLF2 with integrated (Dual Core) Atom 330, Intel Graphics, Realtek HD Audio, Gigabit LAN
2GB DDR2 RAM (To be honest I think this may be overkill for what I use it for, but RAM is so cheap these days)
Western Digital 250GB IDE Hard Drive (Pulled from an old external MyBook drive).
Bad points of the setup...
I can't fault the performance of the system but in my case the hard drive needs to be looked at, hence the reason why I don't have more storage than 250GB. I have no RAID or secondary backup, and the drive itself consumes a lot of power and generates more heat than anything else in the system. Until SSDs of a large size become available and more affordable then this will just have to be the way. I backup all my really important stuff online anyway but I'll be looking into redundant backup options in the near future.
In summary, if you're considering using an Atom as the basis of your server then go for it! It works much better than I imagined it would, CPU usage is always in single figures when doing normal server tasks.
If you would like any more information, or would like me to test how it performs doing other tasks then please let me know I will be happy to try it out.
Hope this was interesting/useful to you.
Now you may ask why I would use an Atom instead of a more powerful platform that would be available for around the same price? Well, basically it comes down to the fact the power usage of the Atom is really low and a the intention of a server is for it to be running 24/7. Energy prices in the UK are cheaper than they used to be, but are still high enough to keep you mindful of which appliances and lights are left on. I've played around with spare P3 parts and this functioned well as a server, but I was always mindful of the power it was using.
What do I use the server for? The main use is as a file server for myself and two members of the family, this could have been achieved with a NAS but I wanted the additional flexibility. I have Orb running so that I can access my music collection from my mobile phone - this isn't great but this is down to limitations of the Orb mobile software and the 3G network in my town. I don't want to leave my main PC, which uses anything up to 500W, downloading a torrent all day - I now do this on the server.
What else have I had it doing? You may be surprised to hear that I've actually used it for transcoding divX to DVD a few times - on occasions where the speed of the process isn't the be all and end all it works great. I've often left a batch of 5 or 6 video files converting while I've been at work, safe in the knowledge that it's barely using any more electricity than if it was idling or serving a few files. In terms of speed, I've monitored it a couple of times and it appears to transcode slightly less than real-time - so a 90 minute movie should take around 95-100 minutes to transcode. (This is with TMPGEnc DVD Authoring software).
What OS do I use? I use Windows Home Server, a simple XP setup with shares would have been fine but I like some of the extras that Home Server offers - such as the ability to access all of the shared files remotly, and backup PCs automatically. Windows Home Server is essentially Windows Server 2003 with a few tweaks to make it more friendly to the mass market. Most of the configuration is done remotely via "connector software" but if you remote desktop to it, you'll find a lot the elements of Server 2003 are available to you. You could essentially use it as a web server as well if you wished.
Full hardware details...
Intel DC945GCLF2 with integrated (Dual Core) Atom 330, Intel Graphics, Realtek HD Audio, Gigabit LAN
2GB DDR2 RAM (To be honest I think this may be overkill for what I use it for, but RAM is so cheap these days)
Western Digital 250GB IDE Hard Drive (Pulled from an old external MyBook drive).
Bad points of the setup...
I can't fault the performance of the system but in my case the hard drive needs to be looked at, hence the reason why I don't have more storage than 250GB. I have no RAID or secondary backup, and the drive itself consumes a lot of power and generates more heat than anything else in the system. Until SSDs of a large size become available and more affordable then this will just have to be the way. I backup all my really important stuff online anyway but I'll be looking into redundant backup options in the near future.
In summary, if you're considering using an Atom as the basis of your server then go for it! It works much better than I imagined it would, CPU usage is always in single figures when doing normal server tasks.
If you would like any more information, or would like me to test how it performs doing other tasks then please let me know I will be happy to try it out.
Hope this was interesting/useful to you.
. The MythTV frontend uses an HTPC-type case, but I forget the manufacturer and the design prevents me from installing the DVD drive with an Ion motherboard as the power cables get in the way.
)
Be super quiet aswell as the P4s driving me mad!
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