so, i am building a file server, well it's a bit more then a file serve. it will be center of the network. seperate from it i will have running a web.
important was to me not to add much more power, nothing power hungry. my electric bill is out of this world already but i needed enough power to handle the task.
so here are the specs

CPU:
Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 Merom 2.0GHz 4M shared L2 Cache Socket M 34W Dual-Core Processor - $317.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819111302

MOBO:
TYAN S5207G2N 479 Intel 3100 Flex ATX Server Motherboard - $203.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813151086

RAM:
Kingston 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM ECC Registered DDR2 400 (PC2 3200) - $63.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134272

System HDD: RAID 1
2x Western Digital Raptor WD360ADFD 36GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 1.5Gb/s

Storage HDD: RAID 5 or 6
3x SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD753LJ 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s - $119.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152100

areca ARC-1220 PCI-Express x8 SATA II Controller Card RAID level 0, 1, 1E, 3, 5, 6 - $434.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816131004

Hot Swap Bay:
Athena Power BP-SATA3141B 3 x 5.25"Bays to 4 x 3.5"HD (SATA) Backplane - $96.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817119404

PSU:
PC Power & Cooling S61EPS 610W Continuous @ 40°C EPS12V Power Supply - $109.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703005

Case:
Athena Power RM-4U4830 Black Aluminum / Steel 4U Rackmount Case 6 External 5.25" Drive Bays - $159.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811192014

this system should consume well under 100w....total
i am guessing about 20-40w for cpu (depending on load), 20-25w mobo, 10-15w hdd, 10w areca. so idle maybe 70-80w, load about 110-120w.
i am happy with the power consumption, how about performance? i will send some results soon.

what you guys think

Hmm.

That CPU is very expensive for what you get.

If I was you, I would change it for a low power Athlon X2 (AM2) and a cheapo AM2 mobo with integrated gfx


Also, your CPU is not compatible with your motherboard. (S478 CPU, S479 mobo)

yes, i thought about that as well, i really wanted something below a 65w tdb.
i also got a pretty good deal on the cpu, good old eBay let me have it for $180.-
this would also be good for an HTPC. they actually do fit, they are both 479 pin

BoT said:

The Athlon X2 "BE" series are 45W TDP, no performance slouches, and are ~$100. Much better value for the money, IMHO...

BoT said:

I know both are 479 pin (there was a mistake on my part in the last post) but Socket M (with 479 pins) is NOT the same as Socket 479. The pin outs have been changed from socket 479 to Socket M specifically for the mobile Core 2 duo CPU's. I'd check it out if I was you before purchasing.


Also, your going for a stable Tyan server motherboard, but chosing 2 Raptors in a mirrored array? I would not chose Raptors for a server. Sure, many have had no problems with them, but they are prone to failing, particularly the older ones.

Why not have the OS element on 2 decent 7200rpm drives, mirrored (if you need that) and then a decent RAID5/6 array for the data (as you have)?

Beavis Khan said:

that is a good deal, i saw one for $99.-
i will take it in consideration.

i wanted to go with the raptors for the system drive because i didn't wanna go raid 0 but want good responsiveness and performance. i hope they last for a while and don't go out at the same time. i am affraid that a standard 7200rpm drive won't cut it unless i put them in raid 0 or 10 or 0+1.

i got confirmation that the chip will fit and work with that mobo

DublinGunner said:

Please see my post. http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/71707/

BoT,
Your system drives aren't going to be doing any real "heavy lifting" so 7200s in a RAID 1 should work just fine.
The only real drawback I see in the design is the caching RAID controller does not have, or at least does not indicate that it has a battery backup of the 256MB Cache memory.
In the case of an invalid shutdown/ power cycle you could be in danger of loosing data or corrupting the RAID. Your options would be to get a controller with a battery backup option or to configure the one you have to bypass the cache all together.

Gerritt

thanks doc, nice read and good info. no concern here thou, i think Newegg got there specs wrong. they should read the article. i actually had the idea with this board and cpu from a friend who already build with those two patrs combined and it works.
the idea behind it is/was to use a fairly powerful laptop processor or the likes and have it do a desktop or server job to capitalize on power savings.

what problem i am really running thou is to find a good cooler for it. seems like nobody even considered making a cpu cooler for 479 socket and the 478's are different.

i guess you are right about the 7200's, they probably would do. a while back i got my hands on a couple of 36g raptors and now they just collecting dust. so that's why i picked them. i guess i should have stated that they are already inventory, sorry bout that. once they go out, i probably would replace them with 7200's. that should do.

to the raid controller. the areca's actually support battery back up and i also considered the option of disableing the onboard cache. but this really gonna be file storage, meaning data will most likely be copied to or from, not much moving. so for example, if data is read from the array and the cache goes out the data itself is still on the disk(s), same if i write to it, as long as i make sure to copy not move the data will still be in the original location if the cache goes out. another good thing, which i really like about the areca's and reason why i got them is that they store all array information on the disks. so what does that mean, in case the mobo goes i can move the controller and disks to another board and still access the data. no loss, no hassle. i don't even have to remember the order in which they were plugged in and it even work on any areca controller of the same class.

however, i still consider disabling the cache but have to see how the performance hit will be.

great input guys thou, lots to think about and consider. many eyes see more then two.

BoT,
So your system partition will be running off of the MB provided SATA connectors vs the RAID controller? IF so, you're good to go for the most part, but still can loose a file during transfer to the RAID5.
Now the only other thing that I'd want to bring up is as associated with the RAID 5 array. I can't recall off of the original post if you were using 3 or 4 disk for the RAID 5. If you can, you should consider using a 3+ Disk RAID 5, but incorportate a Hot Swap Spare into the equation. If you are not checking the health of the RAID on a daily basis, it is possible (all well too possible), that by the time the support team is called about a problem that more than 1 disk has bit the dust. By having the hot-swap spare sitting in the array and waiting, this extends your error correction envelop by days.

Gerritt

My main question is this:

Why are you buying a mobile processor?

He's doing so for the power savings, and the lack of need of a system that is primarily a file server for any higher functionallity.

Gerritt

I guess that makes sense. Maybe I'm just a traditionalist. Mobile CPUs stay in mobile computers, and likewise for desktop CPUs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&...e=Socket+M

That looks to me Newegg's selection of compatible mobos, mate.

i will start off with 3 drives even thou i prefer a 4 drive setup but i am low on doe.
i will add a 4th drive a bit later. the controller also supports online array expansion and has support for smtp to send administrative alerts for failures, etc

these controller are awesome, really expensive but defenitally worth the money.
yea, the controller is in the inventory

Bobby said:

I was looking to see if I can find ITX boards that uses Intel mobile CPUs, before BoT posted this thread. So I actually looked at those boards before, guess what they are Socket 479! Here, look at the CPU specs and look closely at the picture (only 1 pin missing). http://www.jetwaycomputer.com/spec/J9F2-Extreme.pdf

So is BoT's Tyan board, look at the captions on the pic. http://www.tyan.com/product_board_detail.aspx?pid=502

Like I said in the other thread, mobo makers used Socket 479 as a "cheating" way to use both types of CPUs -- older ones that use 479 and newer ones that use M.

sooooo, i finally build this exact system. the cpu fits and work on this board.
i have done some lite benchmarking but no power consumption test.
the system is already up and running and performs all functions it supposed and more.
it's actually about to replace my main server.

this is working well beyond my expectations. the Intel T7200 is a very fine chip and very capable.

the areca's are pretty pricey but they perform very well and many features i appreciate

Ah excellent stuff.

So all's working fine then?

all is sweet'n'dandy. works like a charm. was a bit of a gamble thou.

i actually ended up getting another areca arc-1210 for the system drives.
the onboard controller on the tyan has 6 sata ports but does not support raid.
which was a lil shock to me since tyan still considers this a server class board.

Well it may be for the very reason that they consider the board 'server' class, that there is no built-in software RAID, to encourage users of the board to use a fully fledged hardware based solution.