NASLite Network Attached Storage

www.serverelements.com
Task-specific simplicity with low hardware requirements.
It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 9:32 am

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 10 posts ] 
Author Message
PostPosted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 9:34 am 
Offline

Joined: Sun Oct 22, 2006 12:36 pm
Posts: 94
I keep getting errors when copying large (Multiple GB files or many GB of smaller files) where my machine running NASLite (older PC, don't know the exact specs but it runs fine other than this issue) locks up. This happens when I copy DVD movies (8GB size with multiple 1GB VOBs or say 6GB of JPGs) and the machine that it is copying from will slow to a crawl and I have to break the connection then log in and reboot my NasLite box. This then requires a disk check of all 1.5 TB (Raid 5 off a 3com card) to be checked which takes a while.

So I've decided that this must be a shortcoming of the hardware in the NasLite box and want to rebuild. I was looking over the Hardware Config forum but most of the posts in there are of pretty old hardware that you just don't find anymore. So if you were building one today what would be the specs with which you would go? I don't have any need for Gigabit but I do need to put my raid card back in to the machine. I need to know what CPU/Mainboard I should be getting for this guy. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Lance


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 7:16 am 
Offline

Joined: Fri Jan 12, 2007 4:27 am
Posts: 577
Location: Scotland
My server (spec in sig) is still running very well - the motherboard (which has 2 x PCI-X slots) may have dropped in price since I bought it too.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 9:22 am 
Offline

Joined: Sun Oct 22, 2006 12:36 pm
Posts: 94
Thank you, I will definitely check it out.

Lance


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 3:34 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sun Oct 22, 2006 12:36 pm
Posts: 94
Well I looked for your rig but it must just be a bit too old. Here is what I think I'm going to go with which is probably overkill but it's the cheapest I could find that I feel comfortable with buying.

Intel Celeron 430 Conroe-L 1.8GHz 512KB L2 Cache LGA 775 35W Single-Core
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3L LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
OCZ SLI-Ready Edition 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
Antec earthwatts EA500 500W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.0 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
GIGABYTE GV-NX72G512E2 GeForce 7200GS 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Low Profile Ready Video Card - Retail

I can do this for about $270 all in. I don't really need a new PSU but mine has been running for a while and I want to make sure it's new with the new rig.
This will join the 3Com Raid with 4 500GB IDE HDs in a Raid 5 Configuration. I just hope this solves the problem of not being able to copy large amounts of data at one time. Otherwise I'll need to find a way to move "away" from Server elements as I will have fully replaced all parts of the computer since I started experiencing this problem (I added the Raid/HDDs after it had started).

Any one see any issues with this configuration?


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 4:48 pm 
Offline

Joined: Fri Jan 12, 2007 4:27 am
Posts: 577
Location: Scotland
I think that you would be better with a motherboard with onboard VGA - that would save money and power - what about the Gigabyte GA-EG43M-S2H iG43?

.... or go AMD and get a Gigabyte GA-MA78G-DS3H and a AMD Sempron LE-1250 Socket AM2?

I would agree with the choice of RAM and PSU - the PSU especially - I have nothing but good experience with Antec PSUs.

I would suggest a nice roomy case with a few 120mm slow turning fans to keep everything cool.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 5:23 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sun Apr 02, 2006 9:05 pm
Posts: 1688
Location: Up State NY in the USA!!!!
I have in the past experienced that same issue with interrupted transfers of data. It was the hardware, some times it just don't like the OS and visa versa. I am at present running an Intel D845EBG2 Motherboard, P4 Celeron 2GHz 400MHz FSB, 1GB RAM, 3Com 3C985SX NIC. The NIC is a 3Com Gigabit over fibre but any of the Intel or 3Com gigabit cards should be very fast and reliable.

There are a number of them on Ebay, some with processor and memory. I ran mine with 512MB for a long time but added in a second 512GB DIMM just because I had it laying around. There seemed to be little difference in performance though with the added memory. It has been exceptionally stable and I have never had one issue with it transferring large amounts of data. In fact I have moved over 1TB of data at once with not one problem. Transfers run in the 30MB/sec range and have been as high as 38MB/sec sustained when on the outside or end of the disk.

Before you go and buy a new everything try moving the cards around, this may solve the problem as there may well be conflicts for IRQs. This has worked for me in the past.

Mike


Last edited by mikeiver1 on Wed Mar 25, 2009 5:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 5:26 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sun Oct 22, 2006 12:36 pm
Posts: 94
I've never been a fan of micro atx boards. I saw a few of them but just never liked them. Everything felt so cramped.

I have a huge tower and have just the 4 HDDs and the CDROM in it now. The fans move alot of air but I definitely want something to run cool. I have an AMD 64 in my HTPC but it seemed the intel was the best bang for the buck $40 for the CPU.

Lance


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 5:28 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sun Oct 22, 2006 12:36 pm
Posts: 94
Mike,

Well I only have two cards in there now, the video and the Raid card. The nic is an onboard nic card. Do you think that buying a NIC might be advantageous and solve the problem? I'd rather save my money if that would work as I'm trying to replace my own P4 PC that I use in my office. I would like to be able to just drag a directory over with GB of data in it and have it copy till it is done.

I'll take a look on Ebay (I've always been leary of buying static sensitive stuff off ebay) but if it is cheap I may give it a try.

Lance


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 9:52 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sun Apr 02, 2006 9:05 pm
Posts: 1688
Location: Up State NY in the USA!!!!
Well, to this day I have yet to have a problem with buying used electronic items off of Ebay. That's not to say that you couldn't get bitten but most of these are tested and a good seller will generally take it back if it doesn't work. Since they are not in the habit of taking stuff back they tend to make sure that they are selling good stuff in the first place.

Personally, I would recommend that you get a setup that is known to work well and reliably. I would go for the likes of the board that one of us is presently running and an Intel NIC. The MB I use has no video so I just use an old ATI RAGE 128 AGP. Works like a charm with not a moments problem.

Mike


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 7:30 am 
Offline

Joined: Sun Oct 22, 2006 12:36 pm
Posts: 94
Thanks for the Info Mike.

I'll look over some of the other hardware configs. Some of them were just pretty old and really not available anymore. I did find your board out there but I definitely need something that runs pretty cool as I have two computers in that room and the file server is in a walk in closet. Right now the AMD I have runs fine but would be afraid to put say a P4 in that room with my existing P4 as it runs very warm.

I might however try just getting a nic card first and see if that has any bearing on my problem. Right now I use the onboard nic and maybe that might be causing the error (Path Too Deep on windows but the FS is what is truly locked up). If a NIC card vs on board is suggested regardless then trying that first wouldn't waste any money cuz if it works great, if not then whatever the new rig has, it can be used there too.

Lance


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 10 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 20 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group