Our Summer of Home Server continues with Project 3: Build Your Own Home Server. Researching and building any computer is fun, and there are great benefits to building rather than buying. You can tailor the computer exactly to your needs, have greater choice over the size, scale and components selected and ensure you future proof the design for future upgrades. If you have never built a PC before, it may seem a little daunting from the outside looking in. In reality, with a little bit of research, and the right components, it’s actually really easy to build a home server and you’ll get a lot more satisfaction the first time you boot it compared to one bought off the shelf! So, let’s hop to it, as we walk you through We Got Served’s latest home server self-build.
1. What Kind of Home Server Do You Need?
Before you even start thinking about components, step back and spend a little time thinking about what you wish to do with a home server. You can segment your thinking into a number of categories:
Processing Power & RAM
Whilst a home server doesn’t need to run at a blistering pace like a gaming desktop PC, you’ll need to ensure you select an appropriate processor and RAM to suit the type of tasks you wish to run on the server.
- Do you want a basic setup that will just back-up your PCs, share files and folders and allow you to access your computers remotely?
- Do you want something more powerful, that will take advantage of upcoming features in Windows Home Server “Vail”, like media streaming and transcoding?
- Is low power consumption important to you (bearing in mind the server will be switched on 24-7?)
- Do you want to install home server add-ins to extend the server’s feature set?
If you want basic with a low power footprint, take a look at Intel’s Atom processor range. The dual-core Atom D510 is the current favourite for many manufacturers building low cost, low power home servers. Don’t scrimp on the RAM, especially if you wish to run add-ins on the home server – go for at least 2GB, as it’s cheap enough nowadays. If you’re likely to be streaming high definition video, and want to take advantage of the forthcoming Windows Home Server Vail’s media streaming and video transcoding features, then you’ll be more comfortable with a more powerful processor and RAM combination. Take a look at Intel’s dual-core Pentium processors, or even the Core i3/Core i5 range. Paired up with 4GB RAM, you’ll have easily enough power for your current and future needs. Do make sure that you select a processor that supports 64-bit operating systems, as the next version of Windows Home Server will only be compatible with these chips. Most modern processors are absolutely fine, but if you go for something a little older or obscure, make sure you check the manufacturer’s website.
Once you’ve decided on a motherboard, do check what type of RAM is compatible with that motherboard and how many slots are available to help you determine what type of RAM to buy.
Storage Needs
A good home server doesn’t just have to fit all of the music, video, photos and other data you have today. It needs to have a bit of wiggle room for the future too. Fortunately, Windows Home Server is very efficient at storing data, and automatically de-duplicates data it doesn’t need. It can also be easily expanded with internal drives and external drives, so if you under specify today, all is not lost. So think through the following questions:
- How big is your media collection now? And in the future?
- Do you store a lot of video, music and photos, or is it mainly documents and other small files?
- Do you need a server that can be expanded internally with additional hard drives in the future?
- Do you need a server that can be expanded externally with an eSATA drive enclosure or USB Hard Drives?
We’d recommend you building a home server with at least two internal hard drives of at least 500GB each. Storage is reducing in price all the time, so if you can stretch to 1TB or 2TB drives, then do so – you’ll be amazed how quickly you can fill drives up. We recommend two drives to take advantage of Windows Home Server’s folder duplication technology, that duplicates files and folders placed on one drive to your second drive. Why? If one hard drive physically fails, your files are backed up on the second drive. Hurrah! When thinking about future expansion, you may want to add additional hard drives internally, so you’ll need to look for a motherboard with 4+ SATA ports – they’re now very common. Your home server chassis will also need room to house those drives, so again, it’s well worth thinking about future expansion up front. Even if you only install two drives today, you’re safe in the knowledge that you have that wiggle room when you need it.
If you’re happy expanding Windows Home Server with external eSATA or USB drives, then you can afford to go for a smaller chassis, but make sure you have an eSATA socket on your motherboard that supports port multiplication, as well as 4 or 6 USB ports.
Footprint
Importantly, you need to think about where you are going to position your home server. In the office, under the stairs, in a cupboard or closet or out on the desktop? There’s no rules about where to place your home server, other than ensuring you can run an Ethernet cable between the server and your router. But it’s position in the home or office may have an impact on the physical size of home server you want to build. In turn, that will dictate the size of chassis and motherboard form factor you end up purchasing. The good news is there’s a huge variety of chassis and motherboards out there, and you can now find small Mini-ITX motherboards and cases that can fit four or even six hard drives without taking up a huge amount of space.
If the server is going to be on show, you may wish to invest a little more in the overall look and feel of the chassis – better finishes, colours and aesthetics. If it’s tucked away in a cupboard, you may be less concerned with looks.
Networking
As your home server will spend most of its time moving files backwards and forwards, it’s good to ensure you have a fast connection. Many newer motherboards now come with Gigabit Ethernet as standard, which is a great choice, but bear in mind that you’ll only benefit from the faster speeds if your router and other devices on the network also support Gigabit Ethernet. If not, you’ll be transferring at the standard “Fast” Ethernet speeds (sometimes marked as 10/100), still plenty fast enough for your needs.
Other Considerations
Whilst they’re not strictly necessary, if you want to access the home server directly, then you’ll need a monitor connection (VGA, DVI, HDMI) as well as a USB keyboard and mouse to control the server. Bear in mind, that you should mostly use the Windows Home Server Console on a network connected PC to control the server, so direct access isn’t required, but if you want it, then ensure you’ve got plenty of USB ports available. If you’re likely to be importing a lot of photos from a camera on to your home server, then an integrated card reader may also be useful – again, it’s unorthodox to see these on a home server, but the benefit of building your own home server is that you can configure it exactly for you needs!
With regard to video and audio processing, most motherboards you’ll come across will have some kind of integrated audio and video processing on board. That’s absolutely fine for your needs, there’s no need to look for additional AV cards for the home server.
2. Collate Your Components
Make a list of all of the components you wish to buy, then go shopping! When everything arrives, collate all of the kit so it’s at hand when you need it. For our walkthrough, we decided to go for a high power “media server” configuration to enable us to take advantage of new media streaming features in Windows Home Server “Vail”. It’s a little over-specced, but will ensure it lasts us a good while.
Our components are:
- 1 x Fractal Design Array Mini-ITX Computer Case
- 1 x Intel DH57JG Mini-ITX Motherboard
- 1 x Intel Core i5-661 Processor
- 2 x 2GB Corsair DDR3 RAM
- 2 x 2TB Hitachi Deskstar 7K2000 Hard Drives
- 2 x SATA Connector Cables
- 1 x Windows Home Server Vail Preview Operating System (not shown)
When considering the components we wanted to use for the build, we wanted to base the home server around a small footprint motherboard which could support at least four hard drives, although we would only use two at this point, a relatively powerful processor for video transcoding, Gigabit Ethernet as well as good external expansion support with at least four USB ports and an eSATA port. After a lot of research we ended up with Intel’s DH57JG motherboard, paired up with the Intel Core i5-661 processor and 4GB RAM. The DH57JG is actually positioned as more of a small footprint HTPC motherboard, with a rear HDMI port, but packs a huge amount in a small form factor. 8GB RAM are supported across two 240 Pin DDR3 memory slots, as well as up to 12 USBs (4 are populated on the rear of the motherboard), 4 SATA hard drives and an eSATA port. If we ever wanted to switch the home server to use as an HTPC, there’s optical audio out, HDMI out, Intel’s on board graphics chip supports 1080p video output and the High Definition audio processor on the board has full support for Dolby Home Theater. It’s a great piece of kit.
The Fractal Design Array Mini-ITX chassis was selected as it has room for up to six internal hard drives in a great looking chassis with a small footprint. It’s one of the few chassis available that is specifically designed for home server usage, is relatively quiet in use with one big fan cooling those drives, and looks great on display. The 2 Hitachi Deskstar drives were selected predominately on price, but also spin at 7200 RPM so drive access should be snappy. Finally, the Corsair DD3 RAM is twice as fast as DDR2, so this home server should be very fast for its class, and should last us for quite some time. As it’s going to be We Got Served’s self-build test machine, we need to get a lot of use out of it.
Let’s get started with the build!
