Cheap Server System

[Oliok]

My friend is looking to build a low power and very cheap server to host an FTP.

So far he's bought a cheap case/psu along with 2x1tb Hitachi drives.

We are debating whether or not to go with Intel or AMD, and which setup to go from there, keep in mind this is a VERY cheap system, what can you recommend as far as getting a mobo, and cpu...

 

[LoneEagle]

An FTP server does not need a big QUAD CPU. An old PC would have done the job fine.

 

[Oliok]

I didn't mean a quad core, but rather is it worth to to spend $10 more on a $40 cpu to go with dual core, and if so which is better Intel or AMD?

 

[GhislainG]

If the server will be used by Internet users, then the cheapest Intel or AMD CPU will do the job. None is better since they'll basically be idle 99% of the time. I use a P4 3.2 GHz server and FTP causes very low CPU utilization. Even if I had a high speed Internet connection, e.g, an OC3 connection, it would still be powerful enough.

 

[505090]

you can probably get by with an atom processor that and a board will only cost about 80

 

[chunkymonster]

My friend is looking to build a low power and very cheap server to host an FTP.

So far he's bought a cheap case/psu along with 2x1tb Hitachi drives.

We are debating whether or not to go with Intel or AMD, and which setup to go from there, keep in mind this is a VERY cheap system, what can you recommend as far as getting a mobo, and cpu...

For just running an ftp server, the mobo and cpu can be just about the cheapest ones he can find for his budget, Intel or AMD does not matter.

No mention of what OS your friend will be using for the ftp services, but HIGHLY recommend FreeNAS. FreeNAS is very slim, easy on resources, and reliable. As a matter of fact, FreeNAS is so easy on hardware that you can use an old single core Pentium socket 478 or Athlon socket A and never go above 50% cpu usage. Also, FreeNAS as an OS is so small is can be loaded onto a 512MB Compact Flash card saving the need for a dedicated hard drive. And, FreeNAS would not need anymore than 512MB RAM.

For example, I'm running FreeNAS on a single core Celeron 420 (1.6GHz) with 512MB RAM along with a 1.2TB RAID5 array on a 3Ware 8506 controller card as my home NAS/file server. Been running 24/7 for at least 9 months without issue.