File server, download machine and x264 encoder in one

[lurpitus]

I'm building completely new server (no old parts) which would act as a file server, encode x264 files and handle all my downloads. I will most likely use Windows Server 2008 as the OS (mainly for learning, maybe setting up a domain, testing streaming with IIS, developing .NET software/web sites etc.).

File Server
For the file server part I think I only need 2-3 TB space so two or three 1TB drives is all I need. I'll backup all the important files into external system.

Download machine
I have 100/10MB connection which I'll use to download stuff mainly from the newsgroups. Each download must be decoded and of course unpacked. This operation needs performance from the CPU and I/O. Currently I use my cheap laptop and I can already tell that my download speed is not what it should be because the CPU or I/O is taking so long.

x264 Encoding
Also since I'm using AutoMKV to create .mkv files the CPU power is also needed. This is not crucial task.

Silent and not too hot
The machine will most likely to be located in the room I'm using as a office so the quieter the better. The room is also small so if the machine produces lot of heat it will become a problem. Last summer I had too old Athlon XP +3000 systems running in that room and I had to move one of them away because of the heat.

My current choices
At the moment I'm wondering should I get Q9550 (or some other 45nm quad core) or go for the i7. Maybe I could get away with dual core but considering the price I can just as easily go quad. Does the quad core produce so much more heat that I should get dual core (e.g. E8600). Also maybe if I would get one SSD it would help with the I/O?

Intel is my first choice because I'll most likely use quad core or the new i7 with my other machines.

Or am I just trying to achieve too many different things with one solution? I could get a NAS for the File Server and Atom 330 system for the other tasks but I'm afraid the current Atom solutions do not have enought sata ports or power for my needs.

[ilovejedd]

If you're leaving both computers on at the same time, 24/7, no sense wasting money on two separate builds. Question is, are you sure 2~3 TB of space is enough for you? I tried building something similar but I ended up building a dedicated file server after a few months.

Analyze your usage and decide what's important. one of the reasons why an all-in-one machine didn't work for me was because of the difficulty of expanding storage. Now I have a separate unRAID server for storage while my original file server is being used as a workstation.

[K.Murx]

Or am I just trying to achieve too many different things with one solution? I could get a NAS for the File Server and Atom 330 system for the other tasks but I'm afraid the current Atom solutions do not have enought sata ports or power for my needs.

In my opinion: Yes, you are. Split encoding (a CPU heavy task) and downloading/file serving (which requires no CPU to speak of) and save on a lot of electricity.
You can always get more SATA ports / space by either using an internal SATA controller, or adding external drives via USB (slow, but probably stll faster than your Internet connection).
Or you can simply go for another low-power system, there are plenty of examples around on the forums here.

For encoding, especially if you do not do it frequently, I would just use some of the "regular" machines during times when it is not in use.

[lurpitus]

In my opinion: Yes, you are. Split encoding (a CPU heavy task) and downloading/file serving (which requires no CPU to speak of) and save on a lot of electricity.

I agree about splitting those tasks but I have to disagree about the CPU usage when downloading from newsgroups. The binaries are yEnc encoded which means they have to be decoded (CPU intensive) before they are unpacked. Currently my download speed is 3,5-4 megabytes/sec and the software (alt.binz) downloads and decodes the files at the same time taking 60% of the CPU time.

I'm using pretty cheap laptop (compaq presario A900 with T2390 dual core, 3GB memory) which might explain the high CPU usage. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find and comparisons between mobile and desktop processors in order estimate what kind of dual core CPU I should get for my server. I'll most likely use Intel because my plan is to upgrade all the machines to use same type of hardware (helps when I need spare parts or want to upgrade).

[K.Murx]

I agree about splitting those tasks but I have to disagree about the CPU usage when downloading from newsgroups. The binaries are yEnc encoded which means they have to be decoded (CPU intensive) before they are unpacked. Currently my download speed is 3,5-4 megabytes/sec and the software (alt.binz) downloads and decodes the files at the same time taking 60% of the CPU time.

Do you do that round the clock? Because if not, you could just get a dual core atom and have one core decode the ... err, whatever you are downloading there while the other one manges file serving and downloading. Should be enough.