Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2009 14:46:21 -1000 From: Clifton Royston <cliftonr@lava.net> To: FreeBSD questions <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Recommendations on reliable home fileserver hardware? Message-ID: <20090119004620.GD26150@lava.net>
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My FreeBSD file server at home has been running for 5 or 6 years on a succession of generic PC "small form factor" boxes (a.k.a "shoebox cases".) I'm not very happy with this approach, because the hardware keeps dying every two years or so. The latest incarnation is getting flakier and flakier and it's time to replace it. I think one problem is that the cooling is lousy on the ones I've used, at least with two hard drives - I've ended up running with the cover off so it won't die rapidly - but maybe there are better ones out there. Can anyone recommend an integrated SFF system or other small case/mobo combination which they're using with FreeBSD 6 or 7, and which is both long-lived and fairly quiet? (It sits on my desk, and near my wife's desk, so the vacuum-cleaner-like noise levels from many 1U servers will not cut it.) As I am running two 200G PATA drives in gmirror - this has saved me twice now - one additional requirement is that it must fit at least two standard 3.5" hard drives and have an IDE interface. (Eventually I may switch over to SATA but would rather not change everything at the same time.) I'd consider running a Mac Mini (tiny, silent, s/b reliable) if it weren't for needing 2+ drives for mirroring. I'm comfortable either building my own system, or buying a packaged system if it offers better value. Any advice would be welcomed. -- Clifton -- Clifton Royston -- cliftonr@iandicomputing.com / cliftonr@lava.net President - I and I Computing * http://www.iandicomputing.com/ Custom programming, network design, systems and network consulting services
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