Full Circle On Huge-Storage PCs/ & Servers
Way back in January, in an item we called "Personal Servers" ( http://langa.com/newsletters/2006/2006-01-26.htm#5 ) reader JoAnn asked about using a special-purpose "network attached storage" device to add a ton of disk space to her LAN. While an NAS device is fine, I suggested she think instead about using an ordinary PC with several large hard drives inside, giving her massive storage for around $500 or so--- much less than a typical NAS costs.
That, in turn, promoted another reader to challenge my assertions; he said it was basically impossible to meet JoAnn's requirements the way I suggested.
I disagreed, and went and built a PC housing a terabyte of storage for $515. I showed you how you could do the same in a complete illustrated article at http://www.informationweek.com/showArticle.jhtml;?articleID=183702383
The reader who'd challenged me wrote back, saying, in effect, that I'd cheated in selecting parts for my system and still hadn't really met JoAnn's needs at all; in effect, that my article was a fraud. (Sigh.)
But then I got this from JoAnn:
Hi Fred, As the one who set off the terabyte storage server challenge by asking about buying the Buffalo terabyte server I thought I would provide an update on my own experiences.
Having never done anything inside a computer other than add expansion cards and memory, I was not confident about building my own white box unit. However, I decided that I would take your advice and the challenge of going the white box route rather than buy a Buffalo TeraStation. After doing some research I realized that it was possible to build a terabyte storage server for ~$500. However, I started reading about Serial ATA and decided that I was going to try that format as I tend to keep computers for >5 years. So I got a white box with 4 SATA headers but bought only two 300GB SATA hard drives to start; I will add the last two drives as the price goes down or size goes up. I scavenged a 40GB IDE drive from an old external USB storage device and a floppy drive from an old computer.
Total cost for my 640 GB Barebones kit from TigerDirect...= $793.12
The least expensive Buffalo TeraStation NAS = $679.95
For an extra $113.17 I got a fancy see-through case, Serial ATA capability, 640 GB networked SATA modular storage (I still have two SATA and at least one IDE slots to go), none of the external USB storage connection problems reported with the Buffalo, flexibility to add what I want when I want it and the experience of putting together my first computer.I did not buy the least expensive components available and probably did not need a full-tower, mod-type case but I went with the kit that had four SATA headers. I'm sure if you shop around you could get the price down even further. I got the entire shipment this past Friday afternoon and was loading the OS on Saturday afternoon - not bad for an amateur. Thanks to your newsletter and recent instructions on building a computer, on Monday morning I am now the proud owner of a storage server that was surprisingly easy to put together and modestly priced. Best regards, JoAnn
Good for you, JoAnn! And best of all, because you chose the parts and assembled them yourself, you know *exactly* what's inside the box, and *exactly* where things go. If you ever have trouble with the unit in the future, it's not a black box to you--- you probably won't have to sent it off to some distant repair shop and hope for the best. Instead, you're now the one with the knowledge and the power to fix things, if you need to. And whatever you do will probably be faster, less expensive and maybe even better than if some anonymous tech worked on your system.
For the investment of a little time, you got a good price *and* gained knowledge. I call that a bargain. And as you found, it's really not all that time-consuming or difficult to do--- and you have a huge range of product choices so you can go for lowest price, best quality, or any point in between. It's *your* choice, instead of having to accept whatever some vendor decides to offer in a prepackaged bundle--- and that's really the whole point: When you do it yourself, *you're* in charge.
Again, good for you--- and for everyone else who successfully put together their own version of a high capacity PC/server!
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