Help with File Transfer Server

[TheEnthusiast]

Hello world,

I am trying to figure out how best to setup a file transfer server at home. Currently, I have 3 PCs, 2 laptops, 3 tablets, 2 iphones, and 1 macbook air. Network devices consist of 2 Cisco 2811 routers, 1 Cisco 1841 router, 3 Cisco 2960 switches, and a new Linksys AC1900 router; all stored in a 24U 33in deep enclosure cabinet by Startech. I also have a new Supermicro 2U Chassis with 8 hotswappable 3.5in drives with qty:4 of 4TB WD Red Pro HDDs that I plan on setting up in RAID5 and using as my home storage to host ALL data to my devices(except the macbook air bastard-I'm boycotting him). I am still debating on which Xeon 12XX v3 CPU to buy and then figure out how to match the best motherboard for it with a goal of low wattage and silence. If you have input for this, I'd appreciate that too! Budget for Server PC, excluding case and drives, is around $750 USD.

Well, thats my current situation. What I really need help with is figuring out which OS to select in order to push all this data to my devices. Most devices will be wired(I'm old fashioned and my house is prewired with Cat6), and only wireless devices will be phones, macbook air, and 1 of the laptops. I dont know anything about file servers and dont think I will have too much time to learn Linux-based OS like Redhat or Ubuntu-server. I do have a licence for Windows Server 2008 R2 and am learning it as we speak. Any ideas out there as to what I should choose? #1 goal above all is security because my wife's work files will be stored here as well. Thanks in advance guys and gals!!

Best regards,

The Enthusiast

 

[ingtar33]

with 4x4TB drives you're better with a RAID6, at around 2TB the reliability of raid5 takes a nose dive (at least according to Dell and Microsoft)

what's going to kill you is your budget is far too low to build a real server. your networking equipment sounds like a mess as well. why all those "routers" on the same network? one router for one network. in reality one switch will do as well, but many people like Wifi, in which case a router + access points are necessary.

did you at least bridge those routers? anyway i'm getting off track. your main issue will be your budget, no motherboard will have a built in RAID card capable of working a real server's load. so you need a pci raid card

 

[ingtar33]

here is the best i can do in your budget. maybe someone else can do better, but to get a real RAID card will cost you $500+ dollars.

with a little luck the motherboard's raid controller will do a "good enough" job for your needs (and it will be RAID5)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core OEM/Tray Processor ($229.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus H97-PLUS ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($102.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 1GB Video Card ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12G 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($63.98 @ Newegg)
Wired Network Adapter: Intel E1G42ETBLK 10/100/1000 Mbps PCI-Express x4 Network Adapter ($63.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $677.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-07 21:32 EDT-0400

 

[Alabalcho]

Looking at your network equipment, you are not on a tight budget.
The best OS for you would be Windows Home Server 2011, or its successor, Windows Server 2012 Essentials.

 

[TheEnthusiast]

with 4x4TB drives you're better with a RAID6, at around 2TB the reliability of raid5 takes a nose dive (at least according to Dell and Microsoft)

what's going to kill you is your budget is far too low to build a real server. your networking equipment sounds like a mess as well. why all those "routers" on the same network? one router for one network. in reality one switch will do as well, but many people like Wifi, in which case a router + access points are necessary.

did you at least bridge those routers? anyway i'm getting off track. your main issue will be your budget, no motherboard will have a built in RAID card capable of working a real server's load. so you need a pci raid card

I should have clarified, I have a CCNA/CCNP lab kit I mess with so thats why I have so many routers and switches.. None of the cisco devices are on my network except for one of the routers that I use for net security and guest VLAN. I have 2 redundant 750w psu in the supermicro chassis so no psu req'd. Only purchases needed will be mobo, cpu, ram, and raid controller. Depending on the cpu I may/may not need a dedicated vid card. Thanks for your input on raids but i cant justify the loss of an additional hdd with Raid6, im ok with raid5. I was looking at some LSI cards that only run approx. $230, whats wrong with those? like the 92xx series. Speaking of WHS2011, is it a security risk since its no longer supported? Im not really wanting to dump money into WSEssentials when I have 2008R2, and I dont know the risk of using an unsupported WHS2011.. Any thoughts on that?

 

[TheEnthusiast]

here is the best i can do in your budget. maybe someone else can do better, but to get a real RAID card will cost you $500+ dollars.

with a little luck the motherboard's raid controller will do a "good enough" job for your needs (and it will be RAID5)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core OEM/Tray Processor ($229.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus H97-PLUS ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($102.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 1GB Video Card ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12G 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($63.98 @ Newegg)
Wired Network Adapter: Intel E1G42ETBLK 10/100/1000 Mbps PCI-Express x4 Network Adapter ($63.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $677.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-07 21:32 EDT-0400

I was looking at the 1245 v3 bc i wont need a ded. vid card. It doesnt cost much more than the 1230v3 either. Thanks for your input by the way. This motherboard has dual gig nics built in: Supermicro Motherboard uATX DDR3 1600 LGA 1150 MBD-X10SLH-F-O @ $202.00 here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D65R43C/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3G1GO9U3TW0JJ&coliid=I34T6XE71YC8CH Thoughts?

 

[TheEnthusiast]

Looking at your network equipment, you are not on a tight budget.
The best OS for you would be Windows Home Server 2011, or its successor, Windows Server 2012 Essentials. [/quote

Thanks for your input, have you used WHS2011? What are your thoughts on it if you have?

 

[Alabalcho]

Looking at your network equipment, you are not on a tight budget.
The best OS for you would be Windows Home Server 2011, or its successor, Windows Server 2012 Essentials.

Thanks for your input, have you used WHS2011? What are your thoughts on it if you have?

I have it installed at home, taking care of backing up two desktops and three laptops, storing webcam snapshots, providing remote access from http://yourserver.homeserver.com, and acting as a DLNA server for couple of devices. it is also a regular Windows server, providing file and print services.

The best feature is that it takes care of spreading folders over multiple spindles, eliminating the need for hardware RAID. Another good feature (regarding desktops) is that the storage is done at sector / cluster level, so if you have one 20gb file on five computers, it wont be stored five times during backing up of these five computers.

 

[TheEnthusiast]

Looking at your network equipment, you are not on a tight budget.
The best OS for you would be Windows Home Server 2011, or its successor, Windows Server 2012 Essentials.

Thanks for your input, have you used WHS2011? What are your thoughts on it if you have?

I have it installed at home, taking care of backing up two desktops and three laptops, storing webcam snapshots, providing remote access from http://yourserver.homeserver.com, and acting as a DLNA server for couple of devices. it is also a regular Windows server, providing file and print services.

The best feature is that it takes care of spreading folders over multiple spindles, eliminating the need for hardware RAID. Another good feature (regarding desktops) is that the storage is done at sector / cluster level, so if you have one 20gb file on five computers, it wont be stored five times during backing up of these five computers.

How are users affected by Microsoft not supporting WHS2011 anymore? Just curious as to what all I should keep in mind if I go this route.. Thanks!

 

[Alabalcho]

In case of home server, "users" are you are your family.
It is no longer supported, but it is 2008 R2 code base, as well as drivers, and updates are still delivered on regular basis.
The connector works on everything after XP.