File Server Build

[shahrukh1]

hello I need help building a file server, I'm stuck on which type of motherboard/case/chipset to buy

here are my specifications

1) as much sata ports as possible (I need lots of storage, > 10TB )
2) no need for powerful CPU (file server..)
3) no need for raid (no clue how to use it don't want to learn either)
4) Gigabit ethernet card, wifi card, (bonus space for 2 of each)
5) i plan to run Debian, since i only know how to use unix like operating systems.

 

[setishock]

10TB and no RAID? When your server crashes you're going to wish you had learned about it and implemented it. Good luck with that...

 

[evan.briggs]

raid is most definatley the way to go, windows server has a raid set up built into the Drive Management config page. where you can mirror, stripe and also raid 5. with 10tb youre probably going to have at least 5 HDD's..

 

[Jesusfrk611]

I've done a Windows Software RAID before and one day something crapped out and I had to do a lost partition recovery to get my data back. I got it all back, but it was a pain. It's not like a hardware RAID where if one drive goes out you can plug in a new one and away you go. You have to spend a decent amount of cash to get a good hardware RAID system. My cheap RAID card didn't work any better than Windows RAID. I decided to just run backups to my second drive rather than do RAID.

Of course with mine it was just a single drive backing up to a single drive. With as many drives as he needs, RAID would probably be the best option as long as he can get a good RAID system.

 

[shahrukh1]

alright, after listening to your posts and looking it up. RAID is the way to go. That still leaves the question of what mother board.
Here is what i have so far:

case: HERE nice steel (dissapates heat) and fan options, not to mention lots of drive bays.

RAID: no idea, don't understand what is good...

Motherboard: well guess it depends on the RAID interface. I've narrowed it
down to ATX

CPU: dependant on motherboard

yea... please help me with RAID