Custom Build Vs. Proliant Microserver

[Guest]

Hi Guys,

Complete novice, but I am eager to get a NAS to centralise a lot of media, but it need only server pictures and video, nothing else. Not worried about backup too much as I will use other means to make sure I have my essentials backed up. Most important thing is to be as cost efficient as possible, both in terms of power usage and build price. 4 drive capacity should suffice

This is an initial build spec using ebuyer, but it comes to £280 before I've stuck in any drives, whereas the HP Proliant Microserver with the cashback redemption is only £130 atm. Also I'm lead to believe it will prob be more energy

Antec NSK 3480 Micro ATX Case With 380W EarthWatts PSU 130946 £77.75

Kingston ValueRAM Memory 2 GB DIMM 240-pin DDR3 1333 MHz / PC3-10600 CL9 1.5 V registered with parity ECC 268163 £25.53

Asus P8H67-M R3 H67 1155 Socket 8 Channel HD Audio mATX Motherboard 261837 £76.24

Intel Core i3 2100T 2.5GHz Socket 1155 3MB L3 Cache Retail Boxed Processor 254977 £100.86

Any thoughts? Thanks, MaxCG

 

[Guest]

anyone have any info on this board, looks really interesting:

Jetway JNF81-T56N
http://www.mini-itx.com/store/~JNF81-T56N

Was supposed to be the next thing at low idle power but can't find any reviews or other makes.

 

[GhislainG]

At £130, the HP Proliant Microserver is a good solution.

You shouldn't need a Core i3 2100T to meet your requirements; a Pentium G630T should be enough.

You need to make sure that drivers for your OS are available for whatever solution you select.

 

[pnorman]

I looked at a Proliant when building my NAS. I ended up not going with it for a few reasons. The first was a lack of availability at the time. The second was cost. It was more expensive then building my own, using an existing case and RAM. The third was I believe it only supported 4 drives, and although I only planned to use 4 drives at the time I wanted the ability to have a 5th as a hot spare for the RAID array.

I also looked at my workload and decided I wanted a bit more CPU power.

The Jetway looks interesting. My concerns with it would be a lack of internal space, an external power adaptor, and a lack of expansion slots (I'd want to add a better network card)

If I were building my server now with the same needs as I had at the time I'd look at an E-350 with 5-6 SATA ports.

Of course, if I were building my server now with my *current* needs I'd want enough PCIe slots for enough SATA cards...

 

[maxcovergold]

I looked at a Proliant when building my NAS. I ended up not going with it for a few reasons. The first was a lack of availability at the time. The second was cost. It was more expensive then building my own, using an existing case and RAM. The third was I believe it only supported 4 drives, and although I only planned to use 4 drives at the time I wanted the ability to have a 5th as a hot spare for the RAID array.

I also looked at my workload and decided I wanted a bit more CPU power.

The Jetway looks interesting. My concerns with it would be a lack of internal space, an external power adaptor, and a lack of expansion slots (I'd want to add a better network card)

If I were building my server now with the same needs as I had at the time I'd look at an E-350 with 5-6 SATA ports.

Of course, if I were building my server now with my *current* needs I'd want enough PCIe slots for enough SATA cards...

Thanks for the replies guys. Funnily enough over the weekend I've been looking at:

Asus E35M1-M PRO @ £98.75
http://www.ebuyer.com/254406-asus-e35m1-m-pro-onboard-amd-zacate-processor-dvi-vga-hdmi-out-atx-e35m1-m-pro

Antec NSK 3480 Micro ATX Case With 380W EarthWatts PSU @ £78.02
http://www.ebuyer.com/130946-antec-nsk-3480-micro-atx-case-with-380w-earthwatts-psu-0761345-00391-9

Seems to be a great board, though I am wondering how people are getting PCs running at 6w idle when this can only go to 18w, am I missing something? The case I'm not sure about, but thought that a 80 PLUS PSU would be at least £50 anyway and hoping I'll squeeze 4 drives in without the case being too big. Any other recommendation on case.

The board is still only mATX even with all the extras, measures 9.6 inch x 7.2 inch ( 24.4 cm x 18.3 cm ). I would like to keep the case from being too big atm, can always replace once I go past 4 drives.

Thanks

 

[maxcovergold]

sorry, could edit:
EDIT: Thinking it may be worth investing in a slightly better PSU and using an old case until I find the ideal one. I think 300w should be ok, and the review on ebuyer said they'd pushed it to 450w anyway. Prob put x4 Samsungs in which I think take 13.46w each to spin up, so round that to 60w for the 4, 300w should be comfortable right...?

Huntkey Jumper 300W PSU 80Plus Gold Certified @ £43.38
http://www.ebuyer.com/267860-huntkey-jumper-300w-psu-80plus-gold-certified-jumper-300g