Setting up a home server

[vskid]

Your system probably doesn't have SATA, so you'll need a controller card if you want to use SATA drives (something like this, there are many on Newegg for <$20). I would use SATA, they're cheaper than IDE of similar size and you have a bigger selection. This one and this one seem like good candidates. Just spend a few minutes on Newegg, make sure you check the reviews. Nothing is perfect, but there is plenty of crap.

[ghosstt]

Well, this is fail. I hadn't opened it up in a while, and just did, and realized how much wasted space there is. There is a 12 x 8.25 inch mobo in a case that is about 18x17. Oh well. It will do for now. I figure that I'll eventually be able to make/get a much smaller case to hold everything. It's got 5 PCI slots, and A shorter brown one that I'm assuming is AGP. It also has 3 slots for RAM, with a 128 mb 133MHz stick in now. It also has a 200W PSU in it.

What does everyone think about the SATA idea? Is it worth it to buy the extra parts to get a SATA drive running?

What about this?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6815124022" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It says the transfer rate is 150MB/s.. But I'm seeing others that are 3GB/s

edit: apparently its gigabits, not bytes. and the 150 MB/s = 1.5GB/s yes?

Can you use a SATA 3gb/s HD with a SATA 1.5gb/s connection card? (this one)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6816124009" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
and this:

[vskid]

You think thats wasted space? I have a mini-ITX board in a normal desktop case, it looks empty.

It says the transfer rate is 150MB/s.. But I'm seeing others that are 3GB/s

That is just the max transfer rate, a hard drive will probably never max out 150MB/s. Also, according to wiki, 3Gbit/s works out to about 300MB/s transfer rate.

EDIT: Yes, they're backwards compatible. There is a chance you might have to use a jumper to set the 3Gb/s device back to 1.5Gb/s.

[bicostp]

The brown, backwards-compared-to-PCI slot set further away from the edge of the motherboard is AGP.

Weigh the price of the SATA card (about $20 after shipping) and a SATA hard drive compared to just an IDE drive. An IDE hard drive might wind up being cheaper, or for that $20 you could get a larger SATA hard drive and just throw it into your main desktop PC (set up with file sharing). It will be plenty fast for network transfers, especially if it's not sharing the IDE port with another drive.

[ghosstt]

OK, so I got the software up and running, time to just finish up the hardware.
Harddrive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822136073" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
PCI SATA: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6816124009" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Network card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6833156107" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
or
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/D-Link+-+De ... Id=3863251" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'd really like to set this up tonight, so I wouldn't mind paying the extra $3 on the bestbuy card, but the TRENDnet newegg card goes up to 200Mbps.. Think I'll notice a difference?

What do you guys think of this set-up?

[lifeisbetterwithketchup]

I'd really like to set this up tonight, so I wouldn't mind paying the extra $3 on the bestbuy card, but the TRENDnet newegg card goes up to 200Mbps.. Think I'll notice a difference?

Your router likely only does 100Mbps, so there wouldn't be a difference.

[bicostp]

Unless you have a router that supports full duplex (and most home routers do not), you're not going to run at 200 megs.

Why not just put the SATA controller and NIC money into getting a bigger hard drive and install it in your desktop? An extra $20 on top of the price of that hard drive will get you a full terabyte.

[ghosstt]

I have a linksys WRT54GS. No idea if that can support 200 megs.

@bic: There is also a laptop that is going to be using this server as well, for storage and backups, along with my main pc. I really don't like the idea of having my main PC on at all times (though I don't like the idea of the server on all the time that much better) and as sad as this sounds, my main PC only have 1 HD bay. (I really wouldn't want to risk ruining a HD because of it not being secured in)

[ghosstt]

OK, well I went out today to a few places, and had some people attempt to rip me off. $60 for a used 80 gig IBM IDE drive.. ya... No thanks.

I'm still not sure as to what I would like to do with the hard drive situation. IDE drives are extremelly limited and much higher in price, but is it worth it to buy a SATA card, SATA Drive, and SATA power to molex connector? Could someone recommend me those 3 things that are around $60?

[bicostp]

$60 for the lot? So, realistically you're looking at $40 max for the hard drive, if it comes with a SATA power adapter or has a regular Molex power connector.

SATA card: $13 + $6 shipping = $19
That's the cheapest PCI SATA card on NewEgg. The only $40 hard drives I can find are 80 gigs, and even then they're more like $45 because of shipping.

You said your PC only has one hard drive bay, but what about 5.25" optical drive bays? You can always get a mounting bracket and put the hard drive there. (Hell you could do what I did and make one out of a dead CD-ROM drive if you're as cheap as I am. ) It would certainly be cheaper than a SATA card, as long as your desktop has a spare power connector and IDE/SATA port. (Besides, running your main PC longer would use less power than running a whole extra PC on top of your current use.)

[ghosstt]

I don't know. I just really like the idea of setting up a server, and I have a bunch of extra hardware I'm not using, so I might as well put it to good use, no? It's also some good practice for me, seeing as I'd like to start building computers for people in the future. Maybe I'll just wait a little bit and look for some older computers to scavenge from or something.

[smitty]

If it's connected to your router via ethernet, you could install wakeonlan, so it won't have to be on all the time.