Quiet Rackmount Server w/ Lots of Storage

I recently had the power supply fail on my SOHO server, which was a mongrel of old parts, far too many USB cables, and was pretty darn slow. It was also very expensive to run, having a Pentium IV in it, the worst of Intel’s line.

My goals for a new server were:
* quiet
* energy efficient
* virtualization support
* lots of storage
* easy to take backups offsite
* rackmount
* budget-friendly.

After poking around NewEgg for a while (I think I enjoy shopping there a bit too much) I came up with a list of parts (after reading many of the helpful reviews), and I have to say I couldn’t be happier with the system.

It’s almost inaudible, runs at about 105W under normal load, has seven hard drives in it, of various capacities, fits in my rack, has a hot-swap drive for off-site backups, and runs Fedora 10 like a charm. The case is especially nice to work inside, and is of higher quality than you’d expect for the price.

I’m acually using the 2.66GHz version of the Core2Duo, but they don’t seem to make that anymore – 3.0GHz seems to be the low-end. It’s worth noting here that most of the commercial server builders try to force you into the Xeon line with a rackmount server and those are both more expensive and more power hungry than the Core2Duo and Core2Quad lines. Get what you really need, keeping in mind that virtualizing multiple systems onto one is a huge energy win.

Additionally, I got a cooler from BestBuy (surprisingly their in-stock cooler is the nicest I’ve found) and used Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound to bond the CPU. Plus a bunch of SATA cables I have in a box (they seem to spontaneously generate in there). The whole package comes in under $1200 even if you have to buy every part. Compare at fifty percent more to purchase pre-assembled.

Here’s the parts list:

• 1 x ARK 4U-500-CA Black 4U Rackmount Case – Retail
• 4 x Athena Power 6″ SATA II Y cable Model CABLE-YSATA290 – Retail
• 1 x ASUS P5N7A-VM LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 9300/nForce 730i HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard – Retail
• 1 x Rosewill RG430-2 430W 80Plus Certified,ATX12V v2.3/EPS12V v2.91, Active-PFC Power Supply, UL,FCC,CE,TUV,ROHS – Retail
• 1 x ICY DOCK MB671SK-BB Tray-less 3.5″ SATA I & II Mobile Rack Removable Hard Drive Kit – Retail
• 1 x  Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor – Retail
• 2 x Kingston 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model KVR800D2N5K2/4G – Retail
• 4 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5″ Internal Hard Drive (bare drive) – OEM
• 2 x MASSCOOL FD08025B1M3/4 80mm Case Fan – Retail
• 1 x Antec 761345-75120-9 120mm Case Fan – Retail
• 1 x Rosewill RCR-IC001 40-in-1 USB 2.0 3.5″ Internal Card Reader w/ USB port / Extra silver face plate – Retail
• 1 x LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model GH22LS30 – OEM
• 1 x SYBA SD-SA2PEX-2IR PCI Express SATA II Controller Card – Retail

The secondary SATA controller is only needed if you’re going over the number of drives the motherboard supports, and likewise the power splitters. If you were buying all new 1.5TB drives you’d likely not need this. Obviously the memory card reader is only if you need it. But who wants a floppy drive anymore?

Happy building!