VIA Server fast enough?

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Jordan
Posts: 557
Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2004 8:21 pm
Location: Scotland, UK

VIA Server fast enough?

Post by Jordan » Fri Aug 13, 2004 1:23 pm

Hey, right now I have 2x80GB Samsung P80's in my system but to cut down on heat and noise I have a 40GB 5400RPM Toshiba MK4019GAX with 16MB cache on the way.

I will have enough space on the 40GB for Windows and all my work but not for all my music! I would like to set up a quiet server with a VIA CPU 800-1.2GHz and a 100GB 4200RPM Fijitsu 2.5". All this system would be doing is working as a jukebox server and for the occasional back up of all my work. I have never set up any kind of server and I know the VIA CPUs are pretty slow as well as the HD. My question is will there be any glitches or slowdown when playing music from this server on my main system or will it stream fast enough to play my music flawlessly? The music files are ripped at high sample rates.

Also what will the system will be able to cope as an Internet server for 2 or 3 PCs at the same time witout interupting the music stream? How RAM should I put in the server? Trying to keep costs down to a minimum.

Thanks!
Jordan

martinreed22
Posts: 43
Joined: Mon May 05, 2003 9:31 am
Location: UK

Post by martinreed22 » Sat Aug 14, 2004 1:22 am

I assume we we're talking about a VIE EPIA motherboard/CPU. It will absolutely be able to cope with streaming your MP3s over a LAN. A 486 would probably suffice :-) It is easy to forget how dramatically powerful recent desktop CPUs have become, yet not long ago a P-III was considered pretty decent for a busy file server.

Not quite sure what you mean by "Internet Server", but if you mean as a firewall/gateway, or as a local web server then again the EPIA will do fine.

256MB RAM would be fine (especially if you run Linux or similar). 512MB would be generous.

More questions? Fire away. I use a M10000 myself for these jobs.

cheers, martin

Jordan
Posts: 557
Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2004 8:21 pm
Location: Scotland, UK

Post by Jordan » Sat Aug 14, 2004 6:59 am

Thanks a lot! That's good to hear.

I'm building the system around a C3 CPU with a S370 Mobo. The PC will be connected to the cable connection and 3 computers in the flat will be networked to it to split the connection as well as sharing music from the HD. It was the slow HD that I was worried about as much as the actual CPU. I think I will have a 10/20GB laptop in there too for the server's OS though.

martinreed22
Posts: 43
Joined: Mon May 05, 2003 9:31 am
Location: UK

Post by martinreed22 » Sun Aug 15, 2004 3:40 am

Given the use you've described, you should have no trouble at all serving your small network. The hard drive will not be taxed.

cheers, martin

CtrlAltDel
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Sep 02, 2004 11:34 am

Post by CtrlAltDel » Thu Sep 02, 2004 11:21 pm

I agree; I run a C3 933Mhz as the heart of my server (using Debian, if you're interested - very good for server installs), and even that seems overpowered. My server runs 24x7, serving up my website, IMAP, LDAP, SMTP, SSH, SAMBA and MySQL, and I've yet to see processer utilisation exceed 10% under typical loads (kernel compilation excepted, of course :D )

The C3 really is a God-send to those who have to pay their own electricity bills 8) Just don't expect to play Quake 3 on it...

Jordan
Posts: 557
Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2004 8:21 pm
Location: Scotland, UK

Post by Jordan » Fri Sep 03, 2004 9:49 am

I ended up getting a deal on Ebay that included a Micro ATX Mobo, 128MB RAM and a passively cooled Celeron 666MHz CPU with HS included. I plan on adding more RAM and then it's ready to go.

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