How to build a server

hauntergeist · 2009-04-11 11:53:22

Hello.

I am completely new to real hardware servers. I want to build a little home server to
- store my data in a centralized way, make backups and to share some files in my home
- it should be a low-energy system, so that I preserve the environment and my wallet
- it should be easy to configure, i.e. don't waste hours of studying man pages to figure out what options I can give to a command and _no_ geek-style script writing.

The problem is, I don't know where to start. I don't even know what hardware and software I should choose or how to install a OS (preferably Arch) or any other software on it since a server doesn't has a monitor.

I know that there is this Comprehensive Server Guide but it is not yet written and at the moment it doesn't cover everything that a bloody newbie like me needs to know to build an own server.

I appreciate any help.

bender02 · 2009-04-11 12:02:38

This might contain come suggestions: http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=61662 (there also are some devices that don't need any extra installing)

Mr Green · 2009-04-11 12:16:57

Server is very open ended, you set up a basic system then add the apps you need.... what are you going to use server for? is it for local network or for remote ?

There are plenty of guides on the web...

Going to have a read of wiki page

JT · 2009-04-11 18:55:10

Ask around for anyone that has an old box laying in their garage.
That's how I started testing around.

I would opt for a bare system installation, then you can install software based on your needs.

Last edited by JT (2009-04-11 18:57:22)

bender02 · 2009-04-11 19:11:13

JT wrote:

Ask around for anyone that has an old box laying in their garage.
That's how I started testing around.

That's good for playing around, but there are some things that (for me) make using an old machine for a home server that runs all the time inconvenient:
1) power consumption (about 10x bigger - nowadays you can get hardware that eats up about 10-12W, compared to over 100W for an old machine)
2) noise (the hardware I was talking about is usually fanless, so it runs totally silently)
3) heat (the old machines usually produce quite a heat, which is not pleasant unless you live in Canada

Mr Green · 2009-04-11 19:25:19

10-12w... quiet... cool tell me more!

and is it as cheap as reusing an old p3/4 ?

MrG

hauntergeist · 2009-04-11 20:54:40

@bender02
Thx very much for your link. This ready-made solutions can help me to save a lot of otherwise wasted time. QNAP's NAS solution looks good and this Bubba|Two (though it doesn't have mirroring via raid1) is also very attractive.
I am very interested in what server solution you use.

My planned server is really for local network uses only. It should serve for file related purposes like file sharing over the network, backup (maybe with raid1) and a centralized data storage.

I think I will settle with one of this commercial and ready-for-use systems. The thought to tinker around and to make everything by yourself is very temptating but I am getting weary of it. And I dont have the time to tinker around as I have to study enormous amounts
If I did everything by myself I would have to learn how to handle ssh and rsync, which software is suited for what purpose, how I can configure each software to fit my needs and at last I would have to work on some scripts or search for them to achieve a workaround. And this takes for weeks and months, time that I can't afford -.- sometimes a desktop alone can be enough work to do, when I want everything to be "perfect" and "secure". In the past the guys worked on their motorcycles and now they work on their computers, hehe
So if nobody has a very good reason why I should tinker around, then I'll buy some ready-for-use stuff.

Last edited by hauntergeist (2009-04-11 20:55:56)

X/ax · 2009-04-11 21:38:47

How about a simple thin client? It is very low on energy usage, quite low cost to buy, fanless by default.
The only downside you'd have is a lack of hard drive space, which is easily caught by an external disk of sorts.

bender02 · 2009-04-11 21:41:22

Mr Green wrote:

10-12w... quiet... cool tell me more!
and is it as cheap as reusing an old p3/4 ?

Errr.... no. Although with the energy savings it might pay off in a couple of years (depeding on the juice price

@hauntergeist
Unless you have quite some time to tinker with the device (and it probably won't be really usable during that time), i'd go with a pre made one.
I've bought one of Soekris net5501's, and an atheros minipci card, so now it serves as a wifi access point; it has a space to mount a laptop-size harddrive, so that's what's probably going to go in next. But it was > $300, and I bought it specifically for playing with it - for the first couple of months I was trying out different distributions. It has a 586 processor, so I couldn't install arch on it easily (although now there's someone that recompiled arch for these kind of machines). I ended up using the zeroshell linux (great for an access point). There's also FreeNAS for storage, but I haven't found a nice distribution yet that would do both (almost) out of the box.

As far as the network storage goes, the small (relatively) cheap easy-on-the-enviro boards (eg. from pcengines) usually don't have a way to attach a disk.

By the way, the new nettop computers (for instance eee box) may also be a way to go.

Mr Green · 2009-04-12 06:30:30

So you spent $300 on a new server box.... I got an old pc off ebay for $88 [complete with 15" tft which I can sell for at least $35]

To reduce Juice-age! I will remove cdrom, floppy drive, fans that I do not need.. most older systems have smaller power supply units

If I can underclock cpu then I will do that too

its a trade off between power, size, storage .... I would like something around shuttle size I could hide away easily

Distro wise Arch first then maybe Ubuntu Server Edition ... FreeNAS I do love

Would like to learn more about nettop and eee box so am off do do some reading, have heard that the mini itx boards with atom cpus are low power users small cases not that expensive either!

MrG

bender02 · 2009-04-12 07:13:18

@Mr Green: Yes $300 is a lot, soekris is one of the most expensive vendors for these things.Depending on your requirements, I think you can get much lower than that - around $150 probably.
And yes, something like mini itx boards can cut it too. Good luck, it was quite some fun for me to look for this hardware

Mr Green · 2009-04-12 08:35:44

I am looking at little falls [intel] atom dual core

Good luck to you too

Arch Server Builders Unite!

hauntergeist · 2009-04-12 18:57:57

Thanks to everybody. I think I'll search through the links and choose a pre made server system. Maybe I'll write here again in some time.
Good luck Mr Green and bender02 with your systems.

Arch Linux

#1 2009-04-11 11:53:22

How to build a server

#2 2009-04-11 12:02:38

Re: How to build a server

#3 2009-04-11 12:16:57

Re: How to build a server

#4 2009-04-11 18:55:10

Re: How to build a server

#5 2009-04-11 19:11:13

Re: How to build a server

#6 2009-04-11 19:25:19

Re: How to build a server

#7 2009-04-11 20:54:40

Re: How to build a server

#8 2009-04-11 21:38:47

Re: How to build a server

#9 2009-04-11 21:41:22

Re: How to build a server

#10 2009-04-12 06:30:30

Re: How to build a server

#11 2009-04-12 07:13:18

Re: How to build a server

#12 2009-04-12 08:35:44

Re: How to build a server

#13 2009-04-12 18:57:57

Re: How to build a server

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