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PostPosted: Fri Sep 09, 2011 7:32 pm 
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I am going to build a home server to replace my EX470 and would like feedback on the parts selected and ask some questions. The most I have done with computers is to change out ram and add hard drives so this should be fun. This server will run WHS 2011 and be used mostly for backing up five home computers. If my needs change I would like enough room to upgrade. Server will start out with 3 hard drives[two from my 470] and maybe expand to 6 total.

$140.00 LIAN LI PC-V354A Silver Aluminum MicroATX Mini Tower

$110.00 GA-H67MA-USB3-B3 LGA 1155 H67 mATX Intel Motherboard

$135.00 Intel Core i3-2120T Sandy Bridge 2.6GHz

$26.00 G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333

$80.00 HITACHI Deskstar 2TB 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

$100.00 Power supply

$60.00 Windows 2011 Home Server Software

$651.00 Total

Is there any advantage putting the operating system on a separate 160 GB 2.5” drive?

Is there any need for more than 4 GB memory?

Since the processor has intergrated graphics, do I need a graphics card for installing the operating system?

If I transfer hard drives 2 and 3 from my 470 will the old backups move to the new server?

What is a good power supply for this server?

Thanks for the help.


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PostPosted: Fri Sep 09, 2011 8:57 pm 
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My build is similar to yours... a Core i3-2100T, Intel DH67BL uATX MB, 8GB RAM (1.35v), Lian Li PC-A04 case... (as a side note, I went low-voltage with my RAM and paid a premium for it, but it really only saved me 2w at idle).

I would recommend an Intel MB... They come with an Intel NIC which is definitely better than the nightmare that is the ReakTek stuff. You might save a bit w/ the Intel board too. Also the software provided with the Intel MB seems to be a bit more grown up compared to the companies making gaming boards. It was a little tricky getting the Intel drivers installed for this board under WHS2011 (Intel doesn't really support the DH series boards for server purposes), but there is an excellent guide on missingremote.com to help you through that.

I went with 8GB just because I thought it better to max the RAM (8GB is max for WHS2011) now especially since it might be harder to match later. That and it certainly can be used by SQL Server Express 2008 r2 which is used by MyMovies4.

As far as power supply, I'm running a Seasonic 440w fanless SS-440FL. Not because I chose it, but because I had it laying around.... Given that my system, with the Ceton InfiniTV4 tuner card installed, runs about 50-60w at idle, I'm nowhere close to utilizing the power available...

You will not need a graphics card assuming the MB/CPU combo you choose supports video output. In my case, I've used the video only during setup... since then, it's been all RDP.

I don't see any real advantage to having a dedicated HDD for the system. I installed my system with a WD 2TB Caviar Black and let the WHS2011 installer do its thing. I have a USB2 external portable drive I use to backup just the system partition each day. If something fails, I'd be able to rebuild from that image and my data backups (which I don't use the built in server backup for... rather a custom powershell/robocopy script I run weekly copying my data to an external SansDigital enclosure, which is kept in a separate building after the backup process is complete).

You will not be able to migrate WHSv1 backups to your new server, without significant work (ie. restore the client systems from WHSv1 then backup to WHS2011)... What I did instead was create a VM under VMware Player that I can startup if I ever need the backups (used WHS BDBB to make the backup, then restored into the VM install of WHSv1 -- my WHSv1 license key is from technet subscription)...

Hope that helps....

// Dean


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William
PostPosted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 3:37 pm 
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I found a micro Intel motherboard BOXDH61BEB3 that had six SATA plugins and 2 USB 3.0 ports in the back and the price was only $89. I think that should work well. I like this Silverstone 500W modular power supply. It seems that they would be easier to work with when you only use the cables you need. I do thank you for the help and any other advice you can think of.


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PostPosted: Mon Sep 12, 2011 8:57 am 
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I think that H61 board will work. According to Intel's site here's what you miss out on with that board as opposed to an H67 board:

- Intel RST (their RAID tech)
- Support for more RAM than 8GB

If you want to go budget on the CPU, you might take a look at some of the Sandy Bridge Pentiums as well... Like the Pentium G620. I have a couple of HTPCs that run the G620T and they work great. You get more features (QuickSync transcoding, Hyperthreading, etc) with the i3 chip, but it sounds like your needs (backups) don't really require a higher performance chip. By going with the 1155 socket, for future performance upgrades, you could go all the way to the very fast Core i7-2600k.


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PostPosted: Mon Sep 12, 2011 9:33 am 
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Been eying that Lian Li case for a WHS 2011 test server. Definitely look forward to seeing your feedback on that case

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DIY WHS - 12.5TB and growing, too many gadgets to list

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PostPosted: Fri Sep 16, 2011 1:25 pm 
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You have a good idea with the H67 board. If I go with Raid I would be set up for it. I like the Lian Li case because of all the fans and it is sorta short. I'll keep you inform when I start building which should be in about six weeks.


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PostPosted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 10:41 pm 
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Well I got some free time and got the server built. It was mostly fun with the exception of trying to extract the driver files. For some reason using the e/parameter thing did not work for me. I had to download a free extractor (Universal Extractor) to get it done. Other than that, the directions from Missing Remote were good. After playing with WHS 2011 I am starting to miss my old WHS. Maybe Stablebit Drivepool will release soon.

The Lian Li PC V354 case is great. This is the first time to build anything so I don’t have any reference point but it seem to go smooth. Both sides of the case came off so putting in the mob, processor, and memory was easy. The mob is a little off when fitting through the I/O shield but it went and everything works. The only drawback is the door for the 5.25” bay. One hinge broke off while I was messing with it. Probably my fault but the hinge was still too thin. This is strictly cosmetic so it is no big deal.

I installed Prime95 and ran it for 30 minutes. With the three factory fans on half speed, the highest temps on the cpu and inside the case were 55-57 degrees centigrade. At idle the temps are in the 30-33 degree range. The fans are three wire so I could not plug them into the mob and have them be automatic variable speed. Maybe I will change them out one of these days.

I used a Silverstone 500w modular power supply. I should have gotten the shorter cables. It would have been less cluttered. I guess I need to learn cable management.

Thanks again, RehabMan


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 03, 2011 8:17 am 
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Glad you got your new build going...

I think next time I need to install/update the drivers, I'll try the trick (editing the INF) described here: http://communities.intel.com/message/138286

As far as extraction, I just tried doing the extract procedure using the Intel .EXE as downloaded. I downloaded ProWinx64.exe from the Intel site to my Downloads folder. I then opened a command line, and created a sub-folder "Intel_82579". Ran "ProWinx64.exe /f Intel_82579 /e" It failed saying something about not enough space at drive Intel_82579. Hmmm... that was strange. Thought perhaps it is a bug with Intel's destination parsing... Retried with "ProWinx64.exe /f .\Intel_82579 /e" and it worked. The command line options for ProWinx64.exe are documented in Intel's readme.txt associated with the download.


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