Just because I felt like it, I decided to scrub my raid array.
I am 50% done, and it has taken 100 minutes.
So 200 minutes to scrub a 8 drive 750gb array is pretty decent.
This is with my phenom II 3 core processor.

Hello, thanks for the great review.

I have a question: does this Box turn on and off with the pc? Or, does it need to be switched on manually before powering on the server, and switched off after server shutdown?
As another user pointed out, this is a major point of attention, even for a home server.

Thanks a lot

I'm not sure what box you are referring to, but if it's running WHS, there is a very nice add in program called Lights Out that keeps the server in sleep mode unless a client is active or the server has to do a scheduled backup.

Based on what I've seen in the original article and the posts in this thread, SPRC is not the place I'd come to for information on home servers and WHS in particular.

I'm sorry, I registered to reply to a topic, and I replied to the wrong one.
I'm posting back to the correct topic in a few minutes.
Sorry for the inconvenience. So lame

Ah, I understood. The article I am referring to is this one:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/Silent_Ho ... de/IcyDock

I followed the link to the forums, and I thought these was a thread all about that box.
Anyway, I was referring to the Icy Box multi-disk bay Icy Dock MB561US-4S.
I repeat the question:

I have a question: does this Box turn on and off with the pc?

Thanks again and sorry for previous duplicate/unuseful posts.

No, how would it?

I don't really know, perhaps through the s-ata protocol. I mean, besides the power switch, if the unit can "soft switch" off and turn off the drives.
There's another product that claims to be able to operate in that way.
I'm looking for a link, I'll hopefully post it in a few minutes

FYI, the Home Server Build Guide has been expanded --http://www.silentpcreview.com/Mid-Tower_File_Server_Configurations

Great, great, great...loved it!

This is exactly the kind of computer that I have (same concept and performance/consumer range just a few years old, and similar configuration - lots of hdds) and want to build (when I finally upgrade...upcoming technologies make tough for me to make the step)...

Gigabyte 890GX is my best choice...solid, with extra SATA ports
Value RAM, I would normally pick the cheapest Kingston 1,5v
Processor: the Athlon II x2 is a great option, but if one does just a bit more, like video encoding, and the machine serves as main desktop, the Athlon II x4 630 + is a better choice...

The kind of case that has been chosen is very appropriate with regard to the hdd mounting used, and the noise performance is excellent (to my surprise), yet I am still wary of these cases...they draw too much dust in...
I would also go with active cooling for the hdds...40C and over is too much for my liking...and especially in countries with hot weather. I would normally like to see such temps in hot weather and with the machine running with load...
If the front is perforated and there is no front door - while active cooling is used, then noise levels can go up...

A question...is the structure of the case somewhat affected by the tight cords pulling the sides inwards?
Although this elastic suspension system is an excellent and financially most efficient solution, with the above concern in mind - and if it was my main rig - I might have opted for a "no-vibes" style drive cage...

Although a careful and methodic fellow, I would also be wary when adding, removing hdds with those tension cords that might tend to flip the drive as they are removed...would go with no-vibes for that reason too...at least out of the case, it's easier to handle

You can certainly halt the drives, but if you expect any Windows based OS to allow you to do it in a sane matter, you're out of luck.

I'm using linux

Maybe using hdparm or sdparm? Google "sdparm esata spindown"; might point you in the right direction. I used to try to manually spindown drives with hdparm without success. So ... good luck to you!

yes... linux does this automatically on shutdown (at least with ubuntu server). I wonder if this is enough or if I should look for some electrical equipment to actually power off a "slave device" (the e-sata box) where the "master device" (the linux-based home server) powers down...

You opinions are kindly requested

Finally, I found the link
http://ain.mediasonic.ca/store/product_ ... cts_id=234

The feature I'm referring to is:
Power Sync: Power off in synchronization with PC

in case folks here missed it, the mid-tower server section includes this config with an overclocked HD5870 -- http://www.silentpcreview.com/Gaming_Ho ... and_9_HDDs

Do you have VRM temperatures on load? The Gelid review kept the stock cooling plate, so I'm curious as to how well the VRM sink that comes with the Gelid cooler performs. It's possible that when the VRMs hit near the 120C limit, the card begins to throttle itself, and therefore the GPU chip itself runs cooler (and slower), while the VRMs themselves sit at the limit.

Sorry no... but there was no indication of any kind of thermal overload or throttling during this test. We're working on a new AC gpu cooler review, and that will use the same 5870 card -- and the Gelid is retested on it, so that will have more details about gelid + 5870 performance.

The new article is fantastic. One question: is there a more appropriate case? I looked at the SPCR reviews of the cases listed as meeting the drive-space criteria, but they appeared to be designed for gaming. I'm inclined to go with something proven, but having a plexiglass side and blue glowing lights on my file server (e.g. the Antec 900/1200, NXZT) would make me feel a bit silly.

Are any of those available in bling-free versions?

Zalman Z7 Plus is not too bad if you pull the LED out of the front fan or just replace it.
Zalman MS1000 has no lights at all but it's big and pretty pricey.
Lianli PC-50 also has little or no bling -- again not cheap.
Pretty sure most the Silverstones can be had w/o side window.
Most of the listed cases can be stripped of the bling... and even windowed cases can be placed so the windows faces a wall or side of desk or...

I really like my Coolermaster Centurion 590. It's well-designed, sturdy and inexpensive.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811119152
http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product ... ct_id=2709

It has nine 5.25" bays and comes with one 4-in-3 HDD sub-chassis with a 120mm fan (LED fan, but easy to swap for your preferred silent fan of choice). It's a VERY ventilated chassis. I have all the side and top fan vents blocked off.

It is the basis for Lime Technology's (unRAID) RB-1200 server. They have some good pictures at their product page:

http://www.lime-technology.com/products/rb-1200-server

The IcyDock does not turn on and off with the PC unlike the Mediasonic enclosures. If connected through eSATA, presumably the drives inside will function as if they were internal drives, going to sleep and awaking when accessed depending on what power options the O/S has. That's how it works with the Mediasonic ProBox I use at home.

Thanks, too bad, that's what I was thinking.
The drives may go to sleep, but will still be powered on (of course, with a lower power consumption).
Given the cost of this kind of boxes, I wonder if iScsi may be a suitable alternative (even if a little bit more complicated, as it is a system on its own)... an Atom board with ram, case and power cost only a bit more than one of those.

Way lower power, and not spinning. Not sure I see the downside here... compared to building a whole new system w/ its attendant higher embedded power, etc.

yes but I wouldn't like to keep the electronics powered on... isn't this a problem? Is this power consumption any relevant?

We measured 3W AC at the wall w/o any drives. I expect it would not be much higher with all 4 drives asleep.

That's the case I used for my home server as well. And I did the same thing with the side and top vents so that that airflow is strictly front to back. I dremeled off all of the little tabs in the drive bays so that I could mount SuperMicro hotswap bays.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817121405

This gives me a capacity of 15 hard drives in the case.

It's definitely _not_ silent, but it lives in my basement. I can't see much need for a silent server unless you live somewhere where it has to be placed in an office or some other occupied room.

Apartment? Or perhaps you live somewhere that doesn't have a basement? Unfortunately, not everyone has the luxury of space.

The upside of the SM hot swap backplanes is that you can easily swap the fans for something quieter. Better yet:
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=103 ... ostcount=9

To me it seems that the backup device (Icy Box) section would benefit to have a bit of description on what terms it is a viable option as a backup device.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know, there's no straightforward way to make complete WHS backup to this kind of eSata device. Personal folders and shared folders can be backed up by WHS itself, but the client pc backup database cannot. There is an add-on called BDBB to accomplish the backup database backup, but the backup destination needs to be a single volume, not 4 separate volumes that the Icy Box offers. If the client pc backup database size is smaller than a single drive in Icy Box, then it will work, but with bigger backup database there wouldn't be a volume large enough for the backup to succeed.

I don't know how typical it is that the pc backup database size is greater than 2 TB; in my case it's around 5-6 TB. Moving data from client pc to personal folder in WHS (to minimize backup db size) may not be practical either, as data transfer rate between a pc and a WHS is not very high.

IMHO the motherboard is overkill.
The $110 GA-880GA-UD3H provides the same media connectivity and features for a tad bit less.

I'm sure a (much) cheaper quiet cooler can be used as well, since there doesn't appear to be any overclocking involved here.