zfs discuss - Aug 2006 - Home server platform

Okay, since it looks like I didn''t get caught in the layoffs,
I''m
looking for the hardware platform to run the home disk server on.  ZFS
is the goal.

Definitely SATA, not SCSI.  Since I want to make the boot disk a
redundant mirror, and need at least two mirror pairs for data, that
seems to say 6 hot-swap bays is the minumum possible.  Needs to run
Solaris and ZFS.  Needs enough CPU horsepower for this, local shell
users doing file editing, email, and news (say 5 of them), light web
server and database (development, not production).  Require ECC
memory.

I''m probably not willing to pay for redundant power.  I want a
decently quiet system (office/bedroom environment; mind you, there''ve
been 4 systems running 24/7 there for years plus a window air
conditioner); not the noise levels I hear in rackmount systems
intended for labs.

So -- Supermicro AW4020-C?  That''s 8 hot-swap bays, always nice to
have spare space.  It has their H8DCE motherboard, which is on the
HCL. That''s a dual-Opteron board, dual-core ready, so I can spend a
nearly-infinite amount of money on CPUs, which I probably don''t need;
One dual-core CPU to start with, 2GB memory (ECC memory, definitely).

And is there anything cheaper that''s a reasonable choice, known to
work?  This configuration comes out over $2k with 2 80GB drives
(system mirror) and 2 500GB drives (ZFS pool, mirrored).  I probably
don''t need that fancy a motherboard; a single dual-core processor is
such a huge improvement over what I have now :-).  But so many lesser
boards don''t support ECC.

While I''m still sold on the idea of more reliable storage for my
wife''s books and my photos, this is feeling darned expensive.  It can
certainly grow for a while, in processor power, memory, and disk
space, if needed.

Will I have trouble exporting ZFS filesystems via SAMBA?  Will some
kind of PC-NFS work better?  And what about a MAC (client, I mean)?

And will this model take an IPMI card?  It''s not listed as an option
on the Supermicro site.
-- 
David Dyer-Bennet, <mailto:dd-b at dd-b.net>,
<http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/>
RKBA: <http://www.dd-b.net/carry/>
Pics: <http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/>
Dragaera/Steven Brust: <http://dragaera.info/>

David,

On 8/6/06 12:08 AM, "David Dyer-Bennet" <dd-b at dd-b.net>
wrote:
> Okay, since it looks like I didn''t get caught in the layoffs,
I''m
> looking for the hardware platform to run the home disk server on.  ZFS
> is the goal.
I built a home server for about $1,200 and it''s nearly silent. 
It''s not a
server chassis, so it lacks redundant power, externally accessible hard
drives and ECC RAM.  If you can live without those, the benefits are:
- cheap
- 5 drives in a small desktop chassis
- silent
- fast CPU
- expandable

The other bit is that I built it myself from parts I bought at Fry''s,
mostly
because I needed it quickly.  Their prices were actually surprisingly good.

The motherboard I used is a terrific value at about $85:
  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131014

The Antec Sonata II case is also very nice and super quiet.  The 450W PSU is
fine for the 5 drives:
  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129155

The rest of it is straightforward, an AMD dual core AM2 processor, DDR2 RAM,
a DVD drive and that''s it!

Nevada build installed fine - missing a network driver, I found it online.

- Luke