tinners' Home Server Build

[tinners]

Have decided to take the plunge and make a home server. I was looking at the excellent HP Mediasmart but decided I could do better for less money, and besides I like a challenge

I thought it might be useful for anyone else thinking of going down this route to document the build a bit.

HARDWARE SETUP

The spec I have selected is

New:

Silverstone SUGO SG03-B Case
LG GH20NS10 DVD writer
750 GB Samsung HD753LJ Spinpoint F1

Bits I already had:
200Gb Maxtor Drive
400Gb Seagate ST3400833AS Drive
500Gb Samsung HD501LJ

Bought from forums / ebay:
(all socket 939)
AMD Athlon x2 3800 CPU
Asrock 939NF6G-VSTA Motherboard
1GB DDR 3200 Memory
Corsair HX520 Power Supply

The stuff I had to buy came to around £250. I am going to be running Ubuntu Server so that's free.

I could have done it cheaper but I really liked the Silverstone case which needed a separate PSU. (together ~ £110 as opposed to the Antec NSK3480 which I could have had including PSU for £55)

I decided on a dual core CPU as I will be encoding some video on this box (Bluray rips to MKV) so needed a bit of grunt.

[tinners]

SOFTWARE SETUP

I have setup my box as pure Linux using the standard Ubuntu 8.04 desktop edition. I decided not to use the server edition as I wanted the graphical desktop.

I was originally just going to stick one of the data drives from my HTPC into the server, as apparently Ubuntu 8.04 will work fine with NTFS drives, but I decided "in for a penny in for a pound" and copied the data off and reformatted as ext3, whatever that may be.

##### DRIVE SETUP #####
(I can remember when my PC had a 40Mb drive in total !)

750Gb drive:
HTPC Media (videos and music) shared out via Samba to any PCs in the network including my HTPC.
This is about 75% full with my Video and Music !
As I am using a homeplug network I have left my Bluray rips on my HTPC drive

500Gb drive:
User Data Backups (Backup of all my data from other PCs)
OS Backups (Backup images of my main PC and HTPC)

400Gb drive: (currently waiting for this drive back from RMA)
Ubuntu Operating System
<Space for new things>

##### BACKUPS #####

For backups I am using rsyncd on the server and Deltacopy running as a scheduled task on my main Windows PC to run
incremental backups to the server. It even sends you an email to tell you if the backup ran OK or not. (see attachment)

Software: http://www.aboutmyip.com/AboutMyXApp/DeltaCopy.jsp
Tutorial: http://justinsomnia.org/2007/02/how-...u-using-rsync/

For keeping images of my PCs I am using CloneZilla which allows you to backup the image directly to the
server (am pretty amazed by this)
http://clonezilla-sysresccd.hellug.gr/backup-smb.html

##### MONITORING #####

As I am running the server with no screen and out of the way, I wanted to monitor the disk usage, temps etc. I
installed conky

The config is fairly easy to setup, and some ideas are in here
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=281865
I just stole parts of the configs there to make my config, which I have attached in case anyone is interested.
To monitor temps you need lm-sensors, hddtemp and i2c-tools (install them from the package manager)
some info on lm-sensors here - http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/Lm-sensors
hddtemp info here - http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=282353
The syntax to use the readings on the conky display are in my attached config file

Still left to do:
##### WAKE ON LAN #####
Setup WOL to wake server up when files needed
Swap the current 200Gb drive for the 400Gb I have on its way back from Seagate RMA

[tinners]

HARDWARE SETUP

All the bits:

The Silverstone case in bits. Need to take it completely apart before installing anything into it.

The drives in the hard drive caddies. These make the the floor of the case. The third drive I am mounting where the floppy would normally live. I then need to fathom out where to put the fourth hard drive I want in there. The Maxtor is a temporary drive pending the return of a 400Gb Seagate drive from RMA.

The 2nd hand board, CPU and memory. Note the lapped CPU...guess it's seen some action then Also shame the cooler's never going to fit in this case.

Install pics with the Zalman cooler

Adding the PSU makes it a tight squeeze ! The PSU can be mounted either with the fan facing into or out of the case. Aas the Zalman cooler points up towards the PSU rather than out of the back of the case I decided to mount the PSU with the fan facing outwards.

Adding the hard drives back in which make the floor of the case. The drives clip into the caddies and the caddies seem to be heatsinks (lots of aluminium)

and with the other hard drive mounted where the floppy would be. It's now getting very tight.

The temps were a bit worrying with the front and sides off, especially the hard drives, but when I put it together and installed the front of the case which includes a 12cm fan the temps came right down. I am running the front fan at 7v (using a "volt mod" by butchering the fan cable as shown here) and the CPU fan is on a Zalman fanmate turned right down to about 1300rpm.

The finished article !
The DVD drive looks a bit odd in the photo but it's just the reflection from the flash.

[deksawyer]

Nice!

I'm rebuilding my media server as well, but I'm kinda stuck on what OS to use.

I have a copy of Server 2003, but I think it's a bit overkill for what I need....

D.

[tinners]

Originally Posted by deksawyer

Nice!
I'm rebuilding my media server as well, but I'm kinda stuck on what OS to use.
I have a copy of Server 2003, but I think it's a bit overkill for what I need....
D.

Thanks, have to say am very jealous of that Omaura case & OLED you finally received.

From an OS point of view, Windows Home Server is based on Server 2003 so kind similar I suppose !

I'd say give Ubuntu 8.04 a go, it really is simple to install and setup and supports NTFS drives / SAMBA shares out of the box.

[tinners]

software setup added, need to post pics up.

[deksawyer]

I've been tinkering with mine as well and settled on Freenas.

Very easy to install, takes up no room at all and I even managed to install Slimserver and AlienBBC!

I also underclocked my Opteron 144 to 900Mhz!!

I'll be watching your build with interest.

D.

[tinners]

Originally Posted by tinners

software setup added, need to post pics up.

Hardware pics posted, all up and working now.

Very happy with the results, over 1 Tb of storage and everything happily backed up...

[Curly99]

Nice setup you built there tinners use a 520w corsair psu myself.

Curly

[tinners]

Originally Posted by Curly99

Nice setup you built there tinners use a 520w corsair psu myself.

Curly

Thanks.

The PSU was an ebay bargain for £40. Have used a few of these PSUs and they are really silent and run very cool.

Have to say after running Ubuntu for a few days (I have tried it under Virtual PC before but only to play around) it really is a top OS, and with the GUI and included software delivery / package manager not difficult to pick up. I remember at Uni studying Unix and it was a really "beardy" system. Ubuntu is nothing like that and in many cases is easier than Windows, especially Vista. e.g. I have had to install not one third party driver, they all worked out of the box.

[tinners]

So WOL is now working, and I can now resume from sleep using wolcmd as outlined by Linus here and here. (thanks!)

Reading around it seems it is a pain to get working but here's what I did:

I firstly did this to get the command to enable the WOL each startup:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=234588

I then worked out the entry in proc/acpi/wakeup for the network card was

home-server@home-server:~$ sudo cat /proc/acpi/wakeup
Device	S-state	  Status   Sysfs node
PS2K	  S4	 disabled  pnp:00:07
NSMB	  S4	 disabled  pci:0000:00:01.1
USB0	  S4	 disabled  pci:0000:00:02.0
USB2	  S4	 disabled  pci:0000:00:02.1
NMAC	  S5	 enabled   pci:0000:00:07.0
P0P1	  S4	 disabled  pci:0000:00:04.0
HDAC	  S4	 disabled  pci:0000:00:05.0
BR10	  S4	 disabled  pci:0000:00:09.0
BR11	  S4	 disabled  pci:0000:00:0b.0
BR12	  S4	 disabled  pci:0000:00:0c.0

so I needed to enable this to make the WOL work. I nicked a script I found on the interweb and I run this from rc.local:
http://www.maddes.net/software/debian.htm

#!/bin/sh
# Enable ACPI Power Management Events (PME) for Wake-on-LAN if they are disabled
# for info see
#   http://www.intel.com/support/network/sb/CS-000084.htm
#   http://www.vdr-wiki.de/wiki/index.php/WAKE_ON_LAN
#   http://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-opersys.html#s-sysvinit
if (grep NMAC /proc/acpi/wakeup | grep disabled 2>&1 >> /dev/null)
 then
  echo -n NMAC > /proc/acpi/wakeup
fi

To check it is working: (g= Wake on MagicPacket)

home-server@home-server:~$ sudo ethtool eth0
Settings for eth0:
	Supported ports: [ MII ]
	Supported link modes:   10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full 
	                        100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full 
	Supports auto-negotiation: Yes
	Advertised link modes:  10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full 
	                        100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full 
	Advertised auto-negotiation: Yes
	Speed: 100Mb/s
	Duplex: Full
	Port: MII
	PHYAD: 1
	Transceiver: external
	Auto-negotiation: on
	Supports Wake-on: g
	Wake-on: g
	Link detected: yes

If Wake-on is set to d then it is disabled. If you have no Wake-On settings output here then I guess you're card doesnt support it or it's disabled in the BIOS.

[tinners]

Just bought a new motherboard to stick in my server.

It's a Gigabyte GA-GC230D with an integrated Intel Atom processor.

The thing is tiny ! The yellow slot is a standard DDR memory slot. I have put a pen and a quid coin in the picture to demonstrate how small this thing is.

Anyway main reason for buying it is to reduce the power usage and heat from my server and save a few pennies in electricity and let me leave it on longer.

Will post up details of it installed later.

[Fe_man2000]

Hi Tinners,

Nice job on the server and you have probally have testing this out but I have the same case as you running a gaming PC. I found that having the PSU sucking air from the inside out was much cooler as the hot air build up inside was my major issue. I also got a real hot spot in the top rear of the case - I fitted one of those cheap slot coolers in the extra slot at the top of the case and it pushes hot air out and really changed the temp. I have the Silverstone cylinder cooler FX121 and while it cools really nicely its really noisey so its sits un-used in my case.

cheers

[tinners]

Thanks for the tip, I never tried the PSU the other way round (laziness really !) In hindsight I think the case was a poor choice for what I am using it for but it looks nice

I think the new board should ease the heat and lack of space issues I have currently.

Originally Posted by Fe_man2000

Hi Tinners,

Nice job on the server and you have probally have testing this out but I have the same case as you running a gaming PC. I found that having the PSU sucking air from the inside out was much cooler as the hot air build up inside was my major issue. I also got a real hot spot in the top rear of the case - I fitted one of those cheap slot coolers in the extra slot at the top of the case and it pushes hot air out and really changed the temp. I have the Silverstone cylinder cooler FX121 and while it cools really nicely its really noisey so its sits un-used in my case.

cheers

[Fe_man2000]

must admit I was surprized when I read you had got 3 HDD's into it - must have been fun to get the 3rd one in. But its a lovely case - I have the silver one.

[tinners]

Originally Posted by Fe_man2000

must admit I was surprized when I read you had got 3 HDD's into it - must have been fun to get the 3rd one in. But its a lovely case - I have the silver one.

I am actually running 4 altogether (1 in an Icybox on top with an ESata connection). The 3rd drive is where the floppy drive should go. Works fine, but the cabling's a bit tight

[chris.coops]

Hey tinners,
well done on the good work, your setup looks pretty good.
I've been doing some research on the home server/media server function myself with a view to doing something like yourself.

I'd be interested to know if you did any additional configuration of your linux installation, specifically for accessing the shares from windows computer. I've only played around a little with ubuntu but the small steps I've taken have proven difficult to get a windows computer to access the share, and require using the same usernames and passwords on both computers.
Although it lowers security I've always wanted to provide access to the shares to the computer, and therefore anyone using the computer, so I'd be interested to see a little more information on what you've done to give this access.

Of course if you've still specified user security then it's too much trouble to replicate users on the linux server that are already on the windows computers...

Cheers
Chris

[tinners]

Thanks, the server is now spot on for what I want it to do.

I assume you've installed SAMBA on your server and configured it ?

I'd then recommend installing SWAT

sudo apt-get install swat

You can then configure your top level samba setup from a browser. Here's mine:

Important is that you need to logon to swat with the root password not your own. To set the root password type

sudo passwd

You can use guest level access to your shares by selecting that on the individual folder when you share it.

Hope this helps....