Homeserver Recap

Osiris is Dead – Long Live Osiris

My old Sun Netra T1 Server had served me well for over four years with legendary reliability. But age had begun to show it’s teeth – it just wasn’t up to the task anymore. So in 2005 I set out to replace it and hoped that the replacement for my lovely pizzabox would prove to be just as reliable and rock solid as the Netra and Solaris.

Sun Netra t1 105

General Considerations

Mainly the problem was, that the Netra was built around hot pluggable SCSI drives that did not offer enough capacity for my needs. SCSI drives are still very expensive and the pizzabox only offered 2 bays. The only option I would have had were to add an external SCSI sub system or a NAS. Which brings me to the second reason to replace the Server: Noise. Even though I built a 19 inch rack to enclose it, it was still quite noisy. Thirdly, I was in the mood of having a box that could also act as a digital VCR, PVR, media center you name it.

The part of shopping for parts always involved checking that the respecitve components would work well with Linux. For some such as a case this obviously does not matter. For things like TV capture cards it is very important because you’ll need working drivers. So be sure to check with forums and user groups to see what others are saying. In cases such as mainboards it is usually not the model but the chips that are used that are important.

My server was supposed to handle the following duties:

• run a MythTV backend and frontend
• fileserver
• web serving
• some minor email services
• torrent client

All these specs called for moderately powered system that needs to scale primarly on storage capacity. Recording stuff does not need a lot of processing power but encoding videos into mpeg4 does. Primarly my system needed to be quiet and wasting lots of money on electricity does not make sense either. Read on to understand my thoughts on chosing my hardware components.

When I set out to select the best possible hardware for this system, primary concerns were as follows:

• Noise: The sytsem was to be as quiet as possible. Even though I am not sleeping next to it, I did not want to be reminded of the server at all times.
• Power: Secondary issue, a quiet system usually also is not drawing lots of power, hence can be cooled quietly.
• Capacity: I wanted room for expansion, i.e. being able to at least have a total of 4 disks in my system.
• Compatibility: Good Linux compatibility is a must. I do not feel like fiddling with weird patches and unstable software just to get the system running.

You can look at my current rig at the end of this post if you don’t feel like reading through all the rest.

If you are building your own server it might be advisible to read through this section to understand my choice. Your needs may differ from mine.

Platform

x86 based was almost a given. Lots of hardware to choose from.

Most modern processors today would fit the bill. Be that Core2Duo, AMD’s Athlon variants. A couple years ago Intel desktop processors were hot and unusable. To some, the VIA x86 Processors might also be an option, but they are ususally sold in conjunction with Mini ITX Boards offering very limited expanability. Their speed is not great but the price is.

To me however another breed of processor appealed. Intel’s mobile processors. For my first machine it was the Dothan cores and later Core Duo (Yonah) or Core2Duo (Merom). They offer great performance at very modest power consumption. One has to keep in mind, that not only the processor draws power but mainboards as well. And here the moblile chipsets do a lot better than their desktop counterparts. The only real disadvantage really is the price and moderate range of models for the mainboard.

Things have change a bit with the latest crop of Desktop Core2Duos from Intel. The Yorkfield cores use only slightly more power when idle which generally is the case most of the time. They are a lot cheaper and tons of boards and coolers fit them. Only if you want to use a tiny case are your chances for success better with mobile parts.

The idea isn’t new. Apple uses mobile parts for its line of iMac Computers or the Mac mini.

Mainboard

Required Features:

• min. 2 PCI slots
• Gb Ethernet, preferably two ports
• Firewire (IEEE1394)
• min. 4 SATA Ports

MSI 945GT Speedster A4R

The latter does not necessarly have to be SATA II with 300MB bandwitdh and NCQ. These features are not really an advantage for current drives do not even saturate a 150MB/s bus and NCQ makes really just sense with a very busy server. More of the category nice to have.

At first I had an MSI 915GM Speedster FA4 that was fairly new 3 years ago.

The latest and greatest board for Core2Duo, Core Duo and Core Solo comes yet again from MSI, the sucessor to their 915GM Speedster FA4. Additionally the new MSI 945GT Speedster-A4Rprovides upgraded graphics and integrated DVI port as well as Composite RCA and S-Video. The retention module is custom and not standard like on its predecessor. The mounting holes however will accept a vanilla P4 478 retention bracket.

The hottest feature is probably that the board is a micro ATX size, but by means of an extender you can add an additional 2 32 bit PCI slots giving you a ful size ATX board. Speaking of slots, the PCIe 1x slot of the first Speedster has been replaced by a 4x slot, making it easier to find a hardware RAID adapter that will fit. Contrary to MSI’s support the 16x PCIe slot does take a RAID card. So it can be used for other peripherials too. I tested with an LSI Logic Megaraid SAS 8308ELP.

MSI has also decided to use the ICH7R with RAID functionality this time. As a Linux user you may still prefer to use madadm instead to set up you RAIDs. The ethernet controllers have been switched in favor of Intel 82573L chips. The Marvells on the 915GM were already really good but this is even better. As long as they don’t use Realtek or VIA crap ethernet chips I am happy.

You may want to check the review at Hexus.net.

There’s really just a few mainboards at the moment that support mobile processors. DFI, Aopen, Asus and MSI make a few – not counting the mini ITX boards from Commell etc. The MSI seems to be best suited for a server though.

Processor

I bought a 1.73GHz Dothan core for my first board. The new MSI 945GT Speedster is powered by a T7200 Core2Duo running at 2GHz.

RAM

Get some quality RAM modules. 1 gig is enough. I never see the swap file being used with one gig of memory. Expensive overclocking memory is overkill. I bought the Corsair TWIN2X1024-5400C4, 2x512MB, DDR2, 667MHz kit for the Dothan System and Kingston Value RAM 2x2GB because it was a special.

The MSI board seems to be a bit picky with RAM modules. So I’d recommend checking MSI’s list of certified modules or using some that you know will work.

CPU Cooler

Forget the stock cooler on either of the MSI boards. They are both noisy as hell. The new Speedster requires you to get a Vanilla P4 478 retention module with the pins that mushroom out on the other side. The first Speedster already had it in place. Now you can basically use any 478 compatible cooler.

The mobile processors have no heat spreader. So you need to be extra careful not to chip the die and not to apply too much pressure. Also the missing heat spreader makes it about 1 mm less high than a standard processor. MSI sells a little copper plate to put on the processor as an aftermarket heatspreader. If you can get one do so.

I used a Zalman 7000AlCu on my Dothan Speedster. It mounts with screws instead of clips, hence pressure can be gradually applied. If you want to use a PCIe graphics card you need to bend some of the fins a bit. But you can even do that when it’s installed. I can run the Dothan passively with the Zalman. Very nice indeed.

On the Core2Duo I mounted a Silverstone cooler. It is especially made for mobile chips and surprisingly quiet. You won’t hear it inside a case. What’s nice is that is blows out the air on all sides cooling MOSFETs and the board as well. The extruded aluminum sort of looks like the intel stock coolers, only much smaller.

Silverstone Core2Duo Cooler

The mobile processors put out between 27 and 35 watts of heat max. Cooling them passively is quite easy with these coolers. All Intel mobile CPUs are rated for temparatures up to 100°C. Keeping them down to insane levels makes not much sense.

Disk

I currently use a Western Digital GP 1 TB disk for my system. before that I had Samsung SpinPoint P120, 7200rpm, 250GB, SATA-II disks, the 500GB variant thereof and a Samsung F1 1TB disk. The Samsungs seemed a bit quieter when seeking.

Unless you are using a true hardware RAID controller, don’t get on of the RE2 WD disks. These are nearline disks meant for disk arrays in servers. They feature TLER (Time Limited Error Recovery) that is a useful feature on hardware RAID cards that care themselves for error recovery and might ditch a disk that is busy in it’s heroic attempt to recover from an error. On other systems it is even a dangerous feature because the disk will not try to recover – it expects the controller to take care of this. Duty cycles on home servers are ususally not very high, so the added reliability of the RAID disks does not really matter.

In a few months I hope prices of the 2TB Western Digital GP will be down a bit.

Power Supply

Corsair HX520W

At first a used an Enermax Liberty 400. It’s quiet and the modular cabling makes it easier to keep the case tidy. I upgraded the Core2Duo system with a Corsair HX520W PSU. It is virtually inaudible. My friends Enermax Modu82+ 385W may be even a bit better still. It has rather short cables so it won’t fit an Antec P180. Nice as they are modular cables always introduce another point of error and failure and increased resistance. One just has to keep that in mind.

Case

I was more looking for a quiet case big enough to accomodate a buch of disks rather than one that would fit in a hifi rack. The Antec P180 is the perfect case for my tasks.

• well isolated against noise
• tons of possibilities how to setup the system
• good cooling concept
• antivib for 6 drives provided
• dust grilles at the front intake

Fans

For the time being, the only fans in the system are the power supply fan in the lower chamber of the P180 and an additional Scythe S-flex 800rpm fan as a rear exhaust in the upper chamber. It is very easy to quietly and effectively cool a mobile system in the P180.

TV Card

I only have analog PAL TV where I live. So I chose a Hauppauge WinTV PVR500 dual tuner card. Hauppauge has stopped making these cards, so you’ll have to look on ebay if you want one. They made a bulk version without a remote or the retail version that came bundled with an IR remote that works nicely with Linux and MythTV.

The Hauppauge card has a hardware encoder chip that outputs standard MPEG2, the same material that you find on DVDs. Thus the processor load when recording is negligable.

Video Card

I have my server hooked up to my TV with a DVI-HDMI cable. The integrated intel graphics chip on both the Speedster boards is crappy for special resolutions commonly found on HDTVs. If someone knows how to get X to output 1280x720p with intel graphics let me know. Getting an NVidia based card makes all that easier. Basically any low end (thus low heat) card will work. All of them are fast enough for SDTV and they are generally passively cooled. I got myself an Asus EN7300TC512 and Upgraded to an XFX 7600GT card that has an HDMI out which I don’t use because the Speedster has no coax S/PDIF out.

Optical Drive

Basically any dual layer DVD burner will do. Lightscribe is now possible on Linux, so if you want it you can get one of those. I bought a Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-110D and recently upgraded to an LG GGC-H20L Bluray combo drive. It will read practically anything including the now dead HD-DVD. I have a little report on using Blurays on Linux here.

Remote Control

Since I also use my Server as a MythTV frontend I wanted a remote control as well. I bought the bulk version of the Hauppauge card, thus I needed a separate remote. The Microsoft MCE remote comes with a USB receiver and two blasters to control your settop box and an illuminated remote. It is pretty strong, so it doesn’t really matter where you put the receiver in you living room.

Conclusion

You can easily see that most of this selection depends heavily on the intended usage. If you have a closet for your server then noise is probably not much of an issue for you. Or if you just have a few files you wish to keep then a single disk in a smaller case may be more important. When chosing components make sure to google before you buy. Some pieces just refuse to work correctly with others.

Currently I employ the following:

• Mainboard: MSI 945GT-A4R Speedster
• CPU: Intel Core2Duo 7200 2.0 GHz Dualcore, 4MB, 667MHz FSB
• RAM: Kingston Value RAM 2x2GB DDR2-800
• PSU: Corsair HX-520W ATX PSU
• Disk: 2x Western Digital Caviar GP 32MB 1TB, SATA-II
• DVD-RW: LG GGC-H20L DVD-RW/Bluray/HDDVD
• CPU Cooler: Silverstone SST NT07-Pro
• Case Fan: Scythe 800rpm 120mm case fan
• Case: Antec P180
• Video Card: XFX Nvidia Geforce 7600HDMI
• TV Card: Hauppauge WinTV PVR-500

Measuring my system with a kill-a-watt meter i get around 74 watts when idle. I guess I could strip off about 15 to 20 watts if I were able to use the integrated graphics of my mainboard. After all it does have a DVI output. So if anyone can get me an Xorg.conf file for a 945GT graphics at 1280x720p I would be more than happy to accept the gift.

For Comparison, my first MoD Linux server was built on the following components:

• Mainboard: MSI 915GM Speedster FA4
• CPU: Intel Pentium M 740 1.7 GHz, 2MB, 533MHz FSB
• RAM: Corsair TWIN2X1024-5400C4, 2x512MB, DDR2
• PSU: Enermax Liberty 400W ATX PSU
• Disk: 2x Samsung SpinPoint P120, 250GB, SATA-II
• DVD-RW: Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-110D
• CPU Cooler: (no modding necessary) Zalman CNPS7000B AlCu
• Case Fan: Scythe 800rpm 120mm case fan
• Case: Antec P180
• SCSI Controller: Adaptec 2940
• Tape: Sony AIT1 35-70GB
• Video Card: Asus EN7300TC512
• TV Card: Hauppauge WinTV PVR-500