low power file server / download machine

xafier · Post by **xafier** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 6:42 am

Hi,

I'm looking at building a nice small, low power machine to act as a file server / download machine that will run 24/7.

Obviously the lower the power the better and it doesn't need to be amazingly fast as torrent software and file sharing isn't exactly processor hungry.

Also, a bit of a no brainer is that I want it to be silent, and I'm figuring I could probably get away with being passive aside from the PSU?

Any info would be nice, small cases, mobo+cpu combos, and good low wattage and efficient PSU's.

I've been looking at the AMD 4850e + 780G mobo as a possability.

QuietOC · Post by **QuietOC** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 7:04 am

xafier wrote:I've been looking at the AMD 4850e + 780G mobo as a possability.

You would save power and money with a Sempron + 740G motherboard.

victorhortalives · Post by **victorhortalives** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 7:40 am

I just built this sort of box as a 24/7 music server.

I used an Intel D201GLY2 mini-ITX board, with a 90W pico PSU. It has 1GB DDR2 plus runs with a 750GB Samsung in a GrowUp Japan box. I looked for a small case that was big enough to mount a 120mm fan (Scythe 800rpm) and found a s/h Antec 1380 on Ebay.

I took the PSU and upper tray out of the case and mounted the fan blowing into the box. The drive is vertical standing next to the mobo resting on some soft foam and held inplace by some knicker elastic running through the top and bottom of the case frame. I'm waiting for a fan filter and a Zalman fanmate 2 to arrive and then I'll be done.

It runs Ubuntu 8.04 server and works just fine. If you are interested, here's the URL of the Ubuntu HowTo for a headless download etc server. : http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php? ... r+With+FTP

I wasn't worried about data redundancy etc as I have other noisy NAS boxes running RAID5, but in another room. This new box had to be placed within a radius of 6 feet of my desk so had to be very,very quiet.

I already had the Samsung, GrowUp Japan box, 1GB DDR2 and Scythe Fan, so not so much extra cost.

xafier · Post by **xafier** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 7:49 am

I think the main problem is going to be finding the right case and PSU, a semperon and the 740G mobo should be enough, probably throw in 1Gb of RAM and a 1TB hard drive, maybe a 2nd and have a mirrored RAID setup?

Realistically I probably don't need any more than a 100w PSU I'm guessing?

xafier · Post by **xafier** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 7:55 am

y'know, those Asus EEE box's actually look quite tempting if you could yank out the HD and replace it with something larger like a 1Tb or 1.5Tb....

[EDIT]
Or maybe not... because it only takes 2.5" drives

QuietOC · Post by **QuietOC** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 8:45 am

xafier wrote:Realistically I probably don't need any more than a 100w PSU I'm guessing?

My undervolted Sempron + 740G/SB700 + memory is around 20W (no drives). A stock Atom N270 + 945GSE/ICH7M (Eee Box) should be nearly half that. The normal desktop Atom platform (Atom 230 + 945GC/ICH7) is more like 30W.

The Eee Box hardware should atleast be able to run 3.5" SATA drives using a seperate 12V power adapter for the drive. Though if you really want low power, get 500GB 2.5" drives.

xafier · Post by **xafier** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 9:28 am

I really need at least 1TB of storage, probably more in the future, so a case that can take two 3.5" drives would be my target really.

QuietOC · Post by **QuietOC** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 9:44 am

xafier wrote:I really need at least 1TB of storage, probably more in the future, so a case that can take two 3.5" drives would be my target really.

500GB/platter 3.5" drives are almost out = 2TB single drives.

My 740G/SB700 is pretty typical with 4 SATA ports + 1 PATA.

Scottr · Post by **Scottr** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 2:17 pm

I built a server about 6 weeks ago with these components:

Silverstone SUGO SG02B-F Case
SeaSonic S12 II SS-330GB Power Supply
GIGABYTE GA-MA74GM-S2 AM2+/AM2 AMD 740G Micro ATX AMD Mobo
AMD Athlon X2 4850e 2.5GHz Socket AM2 45W Dual-core CPU
SILVERSTONE NT07-AM2 80mm CPU Cooler
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 SDRAM -TWIN2X2048-6400C4
Western Digital Caviar GP WD7500AACS 750GB Hard Drives Qty=2

It's running MS Windows Home Server. So far, I'm pleased with the results. Performance on my 1GB/s network is excellent. It's sits directly behind my desk chair and I have to listen really carefully to hear the fans - it's very quiet. I don't have a power meter to check power usage. But, the components were all chosen for their low power draw. Last, there's room in the case for another drive when needed.

Regards,
Scott

Botanic · Post by **Botanic** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 9:31 am

I am in the same situation.
At the moment I have a P3 1GHz/512MB RAM machine running gentoo linux. I use it as a firewall, torrent downloader and mp3-streamer.

I have come to the conclusion that I want to upgrade it to be more quiet and have Gb LAN. At the same time it has to be extremely low power using.

The server used to be a P3 500 MHz, which was plenty of horsepower. So I know that any CPU faster than 500 MHz is more than enough.

At first I was waiting for the Atom. Then when it finally came, I realized that it wasn't as atractive as I had thought.
Then I have been waiting for VIA Nano CPUs. But they don't seem to come.

The VIA EPIA-M700-10E looked very promising at first. Then I read reviews that said that the VIA chipset is quite poor on performance with the gigabit NIC.

I have now started to realize that maybe I should go some other path, and not wait for VIA to release something that suits my needs.

Any advice on where to look besides the options in this thread?
I could undervolt the CPU to be running very low, but it has to have gigabit LAN. Would be nice to have two built in NICs, but this is maybe too much asked?

sNNooPY · Post by **sNNooPY** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 9:45 am

well, this is my file server. On 24/7 running Windows Server 2008 Standard:

ASUS M2N-MX (nForce 430/GeForce 6100)
Sempron 3200+ (1.8GHz) with stock AMD fan
4x512MB DDR667
1x500GB Samsung
1x160GB Samsung
1xDVD-RW
Tagan Easycon 430W
inside Antec case (don't know which one)

Cool 'N Quiet enabled, everything works like a charm. very cold and quiet.

Botanic · Post by **Botanic** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 3:58 pm

Please post the power consumption of your systems, if you know it.

xafier · Post by **xafier** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 12:48 am

I decided to buy the following... I think I might buy one of those little gadgets that measures power draw and see how much it uses

Think I'm going to undervolt the CPU as low as possible to try and reduce the consumption, also, I decided to go for a single stick of RAM as it uses less power than multiple sticks

OCZ 2GB DDR2 667MHz/PC2-5400 5-5-5-15
AMD Sempron LE-1250 Socket AM2 L2 512KB 2.2GHz Energy Efficient 45w Retail Boxed Processor
Gigabyte GA-MA74GM-S2H 740G Socket AM2 onboard VGA 8 channel audio mATX Motherboard
Gigabyte GZ-M2 Piano Black MicroATX Case
Seagate ST31500341AS 1.5TB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache
1TB Western Digital Green Power (EACS model, its being transplanted from this PC into the new one)

For the power supply I decided on a picoPSU with a 110w brick

loimlo · Post by **loimlo** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 8:17 am

Though WD 10EACS, which comprises 4 250GB platters, is very energy efficient compared to other 1TB HDDs, WD 10EADS would be more energy efficient and higher performance since it composed of 3 335GB platters. Off topic, remember to undervolt your sempron by CrystalCPUID or RMclock.

Generally speaking, good purchase choices. I do anticipate your power consumption figures.

wolfticket · Post by **wolfticket** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:23 am

If that is really all you want to do then a gigabit nas box that supports p2p downloads maybe be suitable.

It would also be the most energy efficient for keeping it on 24/7.

tehfire · Post by **tehfire** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 10:10 pm

Just finished building the following configuration:

AMD Athlon LE-1640 underclocked/volted to 1GHz/0.9v
Hypertransport set at 400MHz DDR (800MHz effective)
GA-MA74GM-S2
Western Digital WD10EACS (I suspect that this may be a 3-platter HD)
Kingston 2GB 240-Pin DDR2-800 underclocked to 400MHz
Antec NSK1380 case using stock PS, fan-swapped with 1200rpm Scythe S-flex

System draws 35W during bootup and at desktop. I measured right on the first bootup of Windows Home Server, so I'm not sure these are pure idle measurements. From what I saw, putting it under load made no difference.

Runs Windows Home Server excellently. Not laggy at all (installation takes a while, however).

On my gigabit network, I'm getting transfers around 80MB/s

Firetech · Post by **Firetech** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 5:11 am

Thanks tehfire.
The Gigabyte GA-MA74GM-S2H and Sempron LE-1620 have just become available at my local supplier so these look likely to become the basis of my upgraded WHS server.
I look forward to more updates as you get more usage from your new set-up.

tehfire · Post by **tehfire** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 6:46 am

Just some clarifications:

Once Windows Home Server is fully booted up and the computer is idling, my Kill-A-Watt is measuring 33-34W from the wall. During bootup, power consumption can go up to 60W (I suspect this has to do with the fact that I have a DVD drive that spins up during bootup). I have the stock PSU inside the NSK1380 right now, and although it is an 80PLUS-certified PSU, at such a low output I don't imagine that it is more than 70% efficient. Off this assumption, I would imagine that the computer itself is drawing 25W or so in idle. Load power consumption is about 35W.

The server itself does all its tasks nicely (I just wanted a backup system and a repository for shared files), even at 1GHz. With the LE-1640 undervolted and underclocked so much, I've been running it completely passive and the temps have not gone over 55C while running Prime95. I'm using the stock AMD HSF -- I just took off the included fan. Also, since I swapped the PSU fan, the S-flex runs at about 445rpm, and I can't hear it save faint air sounds when my ear is right up against the exhaust. The Caviar Green hard drive is by far the...er..."noisiest" thing in my computer.

I've finally done it! A computer with one fan, and I am happy with its noise level

. Time to get back to work silencing that darn VF1000 on my gaming rig...

QuietOC · Post by **QuietOC** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 7:07 am

xafier wrote:Think I'm going to undervolt the CPU as low as possible to try and reduce the consumption, also, I decided to go for a single stick of RAM as it uses less power than multiple sticks

DDR2 doesn't use much power:

Foxconn A74MX-K (740G)
2x2GB AData DDR2 800 1.8V
500GB Hitachi P7K500 (4.5W Idle)
In Win 300W PS (<65% efficient at this load)
800MHz @ 0.784V Sempron LE-1250 45W TDP
4GB (2 sticks) -- 34.5W Idle / 36.5W Orthos
2GB (1 stick) -- 33.5W Idle / 35W Orthos
2GB no HD -- 28W Idle

Your hard drives are going to use a lot more power than the RAM. WD10EACS is 5.3W idle, the Seagate is probably even more. A WD10EADS is 2.8W idle. Several 2.5" drives could be much lower power for the same capacity. The 500GB WD5000BEVT is 0.8W idle / 2.6W peak.

xafier · Post by **xafier** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 8:24 am

Finally built the system today...

Before any tinkering:
idle: 38w
load: 57w

Using RMClock to set 800mhz to 0.8v and 2.2ghz to 1.0v:
idle: 29w
load: 43w

Tinkered in the BIOS, reduced onboard GPU to 200mhz, disabled IDE, parallel and serial ports:
idle: 28w
load: 43w

Added the 1TB drive from my current system so it now has 2.5TB total:
idle: 35w
load: 49w

QuietOC · Post by **QuietOC** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 11:04 am

Looks good. Seems like the picoPSU really helps improve the overall efficiency.

If you lower the full load state to the lowest clockspeed that is stable at 0.8V you might save some more power (My LE-1250 is fine to around 1.7GHZ @ 0.8V.)

My Sempron LE-1250
800MHz @ 0.784V -- 35.5W Idle / 37.5W Orthos
1.6GHz @ 0.784V -- 37W Idle / 41.5W Orthos

low power file server / download machine

low power file server / download machine

Re: low power file server / download machine