Looking to build low power Ubuntu home server

[micko_escalade]

Hi all,

I'm looking to build small but mainly low power as possible system which will serve as home server for file storage (pictures and videos) and some other stuff. I would like to install Ubuntu Desktop on it and maybe run a virtual machine also if possible but not a must.
Closest what I found online is this guide http://lifehacker.com/5938883/how-can-i-build-a-quiet-low-powered-home-file-server but its old and parts are already old.
For motherboard I would like to stay with Asus since I had bad experience with other manufactures.
As far as HDs I will start buying as deals come up. I would like case with at least 4 HD bays.
Can someone suggest parts for the system?

TIA

 

[mdocod]

The A88X chipset and associated FM2+ socket platform can be nice for these builds as the chipset has 8 X SATA III ports native. An A6-7400K configured to one of it's low TDP power options would work. Normally I don't much care for the 7400K as it's a low value chip compared to a Pentium, but the platform may be worth it.

 

[micko_escalade]

Thanks for taking time to reply!

I have not touched AMD for a long time. I think my last build was in 2003.

Is there any suggestion for Intel?

 

[mdocod]

G3220 or similar on B85 chipset would be fine.

I think most of the options supporting Intel Atom would require the addition of a SATA controller.

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Another AMD idea: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157574

 

[micko_escalade]

G3220 or similar on B85 chipset would be fine.

I think most of the options supporting Intel Atom would require the addition of a SATA controller.

----------

Another AMD idea: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157574

Thanks!
Looking at your sig you have experience with Linux. What would you say is most important component when building new machine so that everything pretty much works out of box and I don't have boot issues? I would like to install Ubuntu Desktop version.

 

[mdocod]

You can:

A: Use old hardware with stable release software
or
B: Use new hardware with rolling release or "testing/unstable" new software.

I lean towards B, but there's a good argument for A...

Use a resources like the following: http://www.linux-drivers.org/
To check what versions of software packages you will need to be running to support the hardware you want to run, (or if it is supported at all), then choose a distro release that is already configured to match or exceed those requirements.

-------

Outside of that, there aren't really any guarantees. Weird crap happens... Great example, the linux kennel has a bug that as far as I know to this day has not been fixed that effects some motherboards with SB950 southbriges and IOMMU's. This can cause USB and Ethernet not to work on these boards initially. It's a fairly easy "fix" to get that working with a modification to boot parameters, but at the time it was a huge set back trying to figure it out.

 

[micko_escalade]

You can:

A: Use old hardware with stable release software
or
B: Use new hardware with rolling release or "testing/unstable" new software.

I lean towards B, but there's a good argument for A...

Use a resources like the following: http://www.linux-drivers.org/
To check what versions of software packages you will need to be running to support the hardware you want to run, (or if it is supported at all), then choose a distro release that is already configured to match or exceed those requirements.

-------

Outside of that, there aren't really any guarantees. Weird crap happens... Great example, the linux kennel has a bug that as far as I know to this day has not been fixed that effects some motherboards with SB950 southbriges and IOMMU's. This can cause USB and Ethernet not to work on these boards initially. It's a fairly easy "fix" to get that working with a modification to boot parameters, but at the time it was a huge set back trying to figure it out.

Thanks for posting that link!
Best link there is http://openbenchmarking.org/index/Motherboard
Searching online I came across this link http://www.anandtech.com/show/8774/intel-haswell-low-power-cpu-review-core-i3-4130t-i5-4570s-and-i7-4790s-tested and its shows that Intel i3-4130T would good for low power CPU.
But I still can't figure out what would be good choice for motherboard. I like this one ASUS H87I-PLUS http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132032 because it has 6 x SATA 6Gb/s but its not on openbenchmarking site nor it shows up on Asus list http://www.asus.com/websites/global/aboutasus/OS/Linux.pdf
Just want to avoid finding out that it does not work with Ubuntu.

 

[mdocod]

In most cases, as long as the board is using a common chipset, common superIO, common ethernet and sound contollers, you're going to be just fine with linux.

I'm not sure, but I suspect that list at OBO is just based on uploaded test results. I've used some boards with linux that aren't on that list.

The list at Asus there looks VERY old.... no modern boards on it at all, which we know is inaccurate because there are tons of haswell linux builds out there.

 

[micko_escalade]

I think I will go with ASUS H87I-PLUS/Intel i3-4130T and hope for the best.
Just need to find small case, correct memory and power supply.

 

[mdocod]

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