How-To Geek

Hello,

I appreciate all the suggestions from my previous post, and have made some changes to my list (see below). I still think I would like to go with ubuntu. If I can't make it work, I can resort to Windows. For the RAID 1, I'm not sure whether I should go with a hardware or software raid, so any suggestions along these lines would be appreciated. Please let me know what you think about the list below. Remember my main goal is for a low cost, high-capacity RAID 1 file server. Of course I'm most concerned about any incompatibilities that I haven't caught, and if there's anything I could save money on.

Motherboard:
Foxconn A78AX-S (AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX)
(I'm totally ok with only having two memory slots)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/.....6813186147
$65

Processor:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (Brisbane 2.6GHz 65W Dual-Core)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/.....6819103211
$66

RAM:
WINTEC AMPX 2GB (240-Pin DDR2 800)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/.....6820161182
$40

Power Supply:
(The case comes with one, but its probably not very good)
Rosewill RV350-2 350W ATX 2.2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/.....6817182023
$30 inc. shipping

Hard Drives:
Western Digital Caviar GP WD10EACS 1TB 5400 to 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/.....6822136151
$170 X 2

Case:
APEX TX-346 ATX Mini Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/.....6811154050
(I'll probably order this from Amazon instead since it's cheaper with free shipping)
$40

OS:
Probably ubuntu

Other stuff I have that will be used as needed:
Basic graphics card, floppy drive (internal and USB), CD Drive, monitor, keyboard, etc.

I think I'll skip a network card for now since the motherboard is gigabit. But I can always add one if necessary.

Thanks again!
~Mike

Mike, I like the Gigabit ethernet and the 6(!) SATA connectors. The additional memory is good, too. I'm surprised to see that this is a single 2 GB DIMM, but it's good that you can still add memory even with only 2 DIMM sockets on the mobo. I was also curious about the hard drives being 5400 - 7200 RPM. I doubt these are any faster than the Seagates, but it's clear that they are designed for power savings and low noise, not for raw performance.

I am curious why you are replacing a 300W PSU with a 350W one. Is it for the extra 50 watts or because Rosewill makes better PSUs than Allied? I'm not familiar enough with either company.

I'm no RAID expert, but I saw this interesting discussion on software versus "on-board" RAID controllers. With a dedicated file server, using the CPU as a RAID controller may be the better option, i.e. software RAID. Also, this thread discusses running Linux on the SB700 South Bridge that is on your mobo:
http://forums.amd.com/forum/me.....adid=96233

Mike, it is the power draw of the components, not the max rating of the PSU, that will decide how much power is used. While some system builders will say more power is better, the smart answer is that efficiency and "clean" power is more important. See this blog post where he talks about the power supply:
http://www.codinghorror.com/bl.....01157.html

There are technologies that claim to save power. For example, ASUS has an EPU -- Energy Processing Unit -- on some of their high end (read expensive) motherboards. They claim it saves power, but I don't know if that's a valid claim. If you follow this link and click on "Energy Savings" you can see their flashy promo for the EPU:
http://promos.asus.com/US/event/P5E3/index.htm

Given all the requirements that you have laid out, it looks like you have a good parts list there for your file server.

@ozspitt no you don't have to have windows first you can just create a new partion in ubuntu. but to dual boot you would want to install xp or the other windows version that you have first for boot loader reasons

whs,

Thanks for the suggestion. My reason for the mini-tower is simply for space considerations. I would like to tuck the machine away someplace in my apartment and I know the mini tower will help. I think the case I picked out has plenty of space for the drives I plan on installing, and then some. If I really need more space down the road, I'll upgrade to a mid or full tower, but for now I think this will work best for me.

Thanks,
~Mike