Extremely cheap and low powered 1-2 disk NAS.

[neonplanet40]

Hi guys,

Recently due to rising electricity costs etc I find that I only turn my server on when I need something. However what I would like is a really low powered and cheap device which would hold 2 disks.

On this device I would like to be able to run bit torrent as well as move some media files on to it so I can play my music collection from it. It would be something which would be on 24/7, connected to itnernet and my network as well as not really costing much in electric.

Is there any cheap ready made device or anything else you can recommend?

Also I am a noob at linux etc so I would need some kind of OS etc on it that is easy and user friendly.

Lot of stipulations I know, but surely something is available for my needs?

Thanks for your help.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

A few options:
1.)HP Microserver
2.)An Intel Celery
3.)An AMD E350

The E350 might do the job and you can get the following motherboard relatively cheaply:

http://forums.hexus.net/pc-hardware/...re-server.html

[neonplanet40]

Thanks CAT, is there any ready built options though other than the HP you would recommend?

I would rather buy one good to go where all I need to add is the hdd etc than build another one as I tried that before and got carried away

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Thanks CAT, is there any ready built options though other than the HP you would recommend?

I would rather buy one good to go where all I need to add is the hdd etc than build another one as I tried that before and got carried away

The HP has a £100 cashback:

http://www.ebuyer.com/281915-hp-prol...ack-658553-421

[neonplanet40]

oh, nice . . .

[jim]

I'd get a ReadyNAS duo, software is all ready to go so it's pretty much plug and play. It's also a lot smaller than the HP.

Bit cheaper as well:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00620CKD2

[neonplanet40]

Anyone's in particular mate?

[jim]

Anyone's in particular mate?

Sorry, lost you there

[neonplanet40]

Sorry I meant which model in particular? And can any BT client be installed on them?

[jim]

To my knowledge the one I linked to is the only one there is.

They do versions that already have disks in but it's always a better idea IMO to use your own disks.

[neonplanet40]

Thanks mate. I take it these are just a plug and play and you login remotely etc? Decent price too and low power.

How do you know they are ok with 3TB disks?

[neonplanet40]

This any good? http://www.dabs.com/products/netgear...m_content=TB00 or not worth the extra

[jim]

I've not used the V2, but on older version the software was excellent so I can't see why it would've got worse. It's all done remotely through the web browser IIRC - very much a plug and play solution compared to the HP. Don't get me wrong, I love my HP server, but setting it up was a very long process and I'm still not 100% happy with the way it works.

Product specs list the Duo as having a max capacity of 6TB, so it definitely supports 3TB drives.

As for the 4-bay, I've only ever used the 2-bay so can only comment on that. I would assume it's just as good, depends on whether you need the extra 2 bays or not - the price premium is fairly large.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The cashback was originally on a slower and cheaper model,but has shifted to a more powerful model with a higher base clockspeed and higher HT speed. Here is a review of the earlier version:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/HP_Proliant_MicroServer

Also devices like the Netgear use a single core SOC which can hit limitations much more quickly from what I have seen.

[jim]

True, but if we're talking about a 2-bay NAS then I can't imagine it's going to hit any kind of limitations, unless you start loading torrent clients and Squeezebox server onto it as well. Similarly if the 4-bay couldn't handle RAID-5 properly I doubt they'd bother.

The big issue for me is that the Netgear NAS is plug and play.

Whilst I have, and am using, an HP server, it's really not the easiest device to get started since you need to sort out your own RAID solution and your own OS.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The 4 bay version of the Netgear costs around the same as the HP,so I am not sure it is worth it TBH.

The OP already has a Home Server running Windows though so they probably know how to set up the relevant software. The HP should essentially shrink down what they have ATM into something smaller and more energy efficient and they are running torrents off their current box.

Edit!!

The cheaper alternative is to replace the current parts in their existing box. The G530 or the E350 consume far less power than the Core2 the OP is using,especially at idle. The IGPs also have modern media decoders too,unlike the HD2000 series.