Looking for a good server comp

[CapFive]

ok so im starting to run out of space... i would like to make a computer that i can swap the drives when needed to make more room (e.g have 5x3tb drives now but maybe add more later or swap a couple of the 3tb's when 5tb drives come out etc...) pretty much i want this computer to be able to be upgraded as strage availability expands.

i dont really want to limit myself on sata ports, so min 8 max 12 would be good, and this is only going to be run as a storage machine, so gigabit access to my network plus average CPU is what i guess i will want? im not too sure das why i need help!

can anyone recommend a good system for under $1000 inc HDD's? i don't mind sacrificing some HDD's for now as long as i have about 6-12 TB that should do for now

fanks!

[Mitch]

I will sort you out with a spec sheet and links to everything tomorrow brother

[CapFive]

sick mitch, cheers bruva

[DJ_Raptor]

Youn could get a HP server which will have plenty of drive bays or more ideally, you should get yourself a NAS drive.

Perhaps an 4 bay NAS which will give you a max capacity of 12TB or an 8 bay NAS drive which will give you a max capacity of 36 Terrabytes.

QNAP is a decent brand for NAS drives.

[GREMM1S]

Was going to say why not a NAS?

[Mitch]

nas drives dont have as good DLNA capabilities / speed when compared to a computer

[DJ_Raptor]

nas drives dont have as good DLNA capabilities / speed when compared to a computer

I've found many NAS drives to have far better throughput than a server/computer, but of course, the more speed, the higher the cost.

The other reason I thought a NAS would be good is that it will be running its own embedded versions of Linux and should be very low maintenace for him. No Antivirus needed etc...

Heres a link for the product range that should suit

http://www.qnap.com/en/index.php?lang=e ... 351&sc=513

[opticon]

It may not tick the boxes for you regarding the number of drives but the HP Microserver could be an option, I have two of these acting as HTPC\Servers running Windows 7 Media Center. I've put a RAID card in there to give me 4x2TB drives in RAID 5 for hard drive redundancy, some people have even got 9 drives in these things. You can find the base unit for around $250 online (www.staticice.com.au)

http://n40l.wikia.com/wiki/HP_MicroServer_N40L_Wiki

[Mitch]

its not just the throughput,

was more referrring to the processing power and the indexing methods that it uses for DLNA. You add / change 1 file, it re-indexes the whole movie db. A computer is much more efficient than that than the relatively tiny processors in a NAS.

Also the transcoding abilities are more extensive in a DLNA server on windows than on a NAS