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| Porn Users Forum » Guide to building your own file server |
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| 08-08-11 11:48pm - 4847 days | Original Post - #1 | |
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BadMrFrosty (0)
Active User Posts: 124 Registered: Mar 05, '10 Location: Prague (Czech Republic) |
Guide to building your own file server This is supposed to be a total newbie friendly guide to putting together a home server for storing your "stuff". If anything needs more explanation, let me know and I will try to clarify. I will split the guide into 2 parts, the first covering the hardware needed and the second will go over the software, configuration and additional tips. Choosing the Hardware If you have any old PCs knocking about you can probably salvage a lot of this stuff from them. I tend not to recycle the CPU, motherboard or RAM as modern CPUs need a lot less power to do their job. As most of the time the CPU will be doing very little, it can switch itself to a lower power / slower mode which is more than good enough for a simple file server. As well as being Eco friendly, a added bonus is less power used by the CPU = less heat generated. Less heat means slower fans, slower fans mean less noise. 1. Motherboard You will need one to match whichever type of CPU you choose. My servers use AMD based CPUs so the motherboard must be able to take one of those chips. The blurb on the box will make it clear what CPU you can use. You want a motherboard that has on board graphics, as many SATA ports as possible, usually this will be 6 and Gigabit Ethernet. Other than that get the cheapest possible. 2. CPU The cheapest possible will be fine. Go for the retail boxed version as it will include the fan and thermal paste pre-applied. 3. Memory (RAM) 1GB, cheapest possible to match what your motherboard takes. This will be either DDR2 or DDR3. Speed of the memory is not important. 4. Power supply If you plan to leave the server switched on 24hrs a day (I dont, more on that in part 2) then go for a decent power supply like a Corsair, if not a el cheapo 400 Watt will be fine. 5. Case Again cheapest that you can find will be fine. You should just make sure there is enough space to fit 6 hard drives. You can buy brackets very cheaply which allow the spaces that DVD drives fit into to be used for 3.5 inch hard drives instead so nearly all tower cases will fit enough drives. 6. Hard drives You don't have to buy all the hard drives at once. Just get at least one which will be used to store the operating system. Also buy a SATA cable, some motherboards come with them but they are very cheap and you dont want to put off your build because of missing a essential cable. If you are buying many drives at the same time you want to make sure the PSU is going to have enough plugs to power them all. If not you will need to get some molex to sata converter cables. These are very cheap and just allow you to power modern SATA drives using legacy molex plugs. 7. Temporary stuff You will also need access to a DVD drive, a monitor, keyboard and mouse. Once you have the system up and running you wont need them again unless something goes badly wrong. Putting it together Once you have all the bits its a case of putting them all together. If you played with mechano or some such thing as a kid you will have no trouble at all putting together a PC. The stuff you buy will come with instructions but may be written in Engrish so follow the pictures! I will give you a basic overview here with advice on common mistakes but you can find much better guides to putting together a PC from the bits via Google. Also most computer shops offer to build a PC from the bits you choose very cheaply. My local place charge about $15 to do that. 1. Attach the CPU with the fan to the motherboard. This will be clamped very tightly. If you bought the CPU and fan separately make sure you also bought and applied the thermal paste to the CPU. The power cable from the fan will usually also plug into the motherboard. 2. Slot in the memory. This will fit only one way so make sure its the right way round before applying too much force. 3. Screw the PSU into the case. 4. Install the motherboard. Make sure you put the little risers in the correct place to match with the screw holes on the motherboard. 5. Attach the power cables from the PSU to the motherboard. 6. Attach the button and LED wires from the case to the motherboard. This is fiddly, just make sure you get the power button attached, the others don't matter too much as servers are usually stored out of sight. 7. Install the hard disk(s). Plug one end of the SATA cable into the motherboard, the other into the drive. They will fit only one way so no danger of plugging them in wrongly. Plug in the power cable. 8. Install the DVD drive in the same way as the hard drive. As the DVD drive is there just for installing the OS, you don't need to close the case as you will remove the DVD drive soon anyway. 9. Attach the external cables, power, mouse, keyboard, monitor. Now you are ready to install the OS. Your choice of OS is really up to you. I use Windows 7 which is very easy to setup and configure. More on that in part 2. The problem with the world is stupidity. Not saying there should be capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself? Frank Zappa | |
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| 08-09-11 01:08am - 4847 days | #2 | |
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anyonebutme (0)
Active User  Posts: 294 Registered: Aug 23, '09 |
http://www.google.com/search?q=nas&h...UCQ&ved=0CFcQrQQ | |
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| 08-09-11 02:18am - 4847 days | #3 | |
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BadMrFrosty (0)
Active User Posts: 124 Registered: Mar 05, '10 Location: Prague (Czech Republic) |
The problem with off the self NAS boxes are they generally dont support more than a couple of hard disks and the ones that do are VERY expensive. The problem with the world is stupidity. Not saying there should be capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself? Frank Zappa | |
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| 08-09-11 03:51am - 4847 days | #4 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User  Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
For the technically challenged (which I am a proud member of), why can't some good soul (hint, hint, GoodMrFrosty), put all their porn stash and the porn stash of contributing PU members on a server and make it available as a secret online resource for PU members in good standing? What a great idea! Otherwise, I am staying with external hard drive storage. That is easy to use. It might not be as cheap or efficient as a server. But when I try to add parts to a computer (floppy drive, CD drive, etc.), it's just a waste of time and money, because it just doesn't work. | |
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| 08-09-11 05:55am - 4847 days | #5 | |
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otoh (0)
Active User Posts: 159 Registered: Sep 17, '10 Location: UK |
Good guide, BadMrFrosty - having a server knocking around can be quite handy and versatile for other things as well as porn. However, as anyonebutme suggested, a NAS is also a good option - I've used Netgear ReadyNAS boxes, with 2-4 drive bays, possibly cheaper than a server and very easy to set up via a web interface. | |
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| 08-09-11 07:36am - 4846 days | #6 | |
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Khan (0)
Suspended  Posts: 1,737 Registered: Jan 05, '07 Location: USA |
Thanks for posting that BadMrFrosty. I know some of the users here had requested that. We appreciate you taking the time and energy to write it all out.  Former PornUsers Senior AdministratorNow at: MyPorn.com "To get your ideas across use small words, big ideas, and short sentences."-John Henry Patterson | |
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| 08-09-11 08:47am - 4846 days | #7 | |
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BadMrFrosty (0)
Active User Posts: 124 Registered: Mar 05, '10 Location: Prague (Czech Republic) |
Thanks guys. As for the NAS talk, while they are obviously a lot easier to put together than a server the price difference is very large. As a Netgear ReadyNAS has been mentioned I will do a quick price breakdown comparing a NAS and custom built servers. Prices are from newegg.com Here is a very quick spec for a server PC that can support up to 6 drives giving a total storage space of up to 18 TERABYTES(!) CPU - AMD Sempron 145 $43 Motherboard - MSI 760GM-P33 $49 RAM - Kingston 1GB DDR3 1066 $9 PSU - LOGISYS Computer PS480D2 480W $13 CASE - GIGABYTE gz-ph2a3 $22 ODDS AND Ends (power splitters, cables etc) - $20 OS - FreeNAS or any linux = Free TOTAL $156 Netgear ReadyNAS supporting 2 drives, 6 TB max = $298 Netgear ReadyNAS supporting 4 drives, 12 TB max = $545 Netgear ReadyNAS supporting 6 drives, 18 TB max = $795 Remember these prices do not include the hard drives themselves! So you can see, even if you were to throw someone $100 to put the server together for you, it is far, far cheaper to put together a high capacity server than to buy a ready made NAS. With the server, you could even install something like FreeNAS which would make it behave in the same way as a dedicated NAS box for a fraction of the price. The problem with the world is stupidity. Not saying there should be capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself? Frank Zappa | |
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| 08-10-11 06:17am - 4846 days | #8 | |
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Denner (0)
Active User  Posts: 1,217 Registered: Mar 03, '07 Location: Denmark |
THANKS A LOT for this very fine post/posts, BMF - I'm beginning to get the picture.. And THAT picture could easily turn into a completly different way of saving all that fine porn... Thanks for taking the time to explain all the difficult stuff - I'm going to have to read it all a couple of times and probably consult my "pc-dealer" too.  "I don't drink anymore - I freeze it, and eat it like a popcicle" | |
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| 08-13-11 05:34pm - 4842 days | #9 | |
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jberryl69 (0)
Disabled User  Posts: 1,000 Registered: Nov 27, '10 Location: neverland |
My only problem is how would I ever be able to play WOW on that setup? If it ain't grits, it must be a Yankee. If you're going to lay her head over the pool table and fuck her throat, get your fucking hand off her throat! | |
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| 08-14-11 12:28am - 4842 days | #10 | |
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graymane (0)
Suspended  Posts: 1,411 Registered: Feb 20, '10 Location: Virginia |
Ahoy, mister jberry.....How 'bout sharing "WOW!" with the old man? I need new stuff to fill the voids. In all due consideration to BadMrFrosty's excellent commentary and superb outlay to something we'd all benefit from knowing.....alas....count me in with lk2fireone. only I'm taking another avenue I'm better at.... drop back and punt.  | |
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| 08-14-11 08:54am - 4841 days | #11 | |
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Denner (0)
Active User Posts: 1,217 Registered: Mar 03, '07 Location: Denmark |
Things always do not come easy.... But this "play WOW" seems a minor deal compared to an entire new way of saving all your stash - admit, it's not quite that simple, but this PU looks forward to TRY another way of storing things.... "I don't drink anymore - I freeze it, and eat it like a popcicle" | |
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| 08-16-11 06:55pm - 4839 days | #12 | |
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badandy400 (0)
Active User  Posts: 869 Registered: Mar 02, '08 Location: ohio |
Simple, you do not play games on this PC. Actually, once set up you do not have a monitor hooked up to it. You only connect to it via your network from your normal computer. The only point of this is to hold all of your files in a place that is easy to get to but does not need to be on all the time while you are using your computer for other things, or while other people may be using it. I had done this exact things a while back using mostly extra parts I had. It works fairly well and really is not difficult. It will not be super fast but certainly is good enough for most porn browsing. As for prebuilt NAS,let me know if you want to purchase something like that. I would be glad to charge you those prices minus a few percent for incentive. Prebuilt NAS is very expensive. If you need something as small as those boxes just use a Shuttle sized pc case and put a backplane in it. It is more expensive than above said method, but certainly much cheaper than prebuilt NAS. "For example, badandy400 has taken it upon himself to become the one man Library of Congress for porn with a collection that surely will be in Guinness Book of World Records some day." ~Toadsith~ PU Interview | |
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