Quiet mini-itx file server case advice needed

rolanddreier · Post by **rolanddreier** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 3:25 pm

Hi, I'm planning on building a new home file server, and I'm looking for some advice on making it quiet. I'm going to use 2 SATA drives in a mirrored config, along with an optical drive.

As far as motherboards go, the VIA EPIA CN10000E mini-itx board looks ideal: fanless, with 2 SATA channels, etc. But I'm not sure what case to put it in.

My ideal case would have space for 2 HDs + an optical drive, a fanless power supply with external brick, and one big slow-spinning fan -- 120mm if possible. The Antec Aria looks pretty close, except the fan is part of the power supply, and also I won't be able to use the PCI slot on a mini-itx board -- not really a big deal for me though.

Has anyone built a mini-itx system with the Antec Aria? How did it work out? Or are there better case alternatives out there?

Thanks for any advice.
- Roland

alphabetbackward · Post by **alphabetbackward** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 7:28 pm

Can you even put mini-itx in the Antec Aria?

http://www.logicsupply.com/product_info ... cts_id/134

jb_ · Post by **jb_** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 10:37 pm

No point buying an expensive mini-ITX system only to put it into a microATX case. Rather, look into a used Pentium 3 CPU+motherboard. Its performance will thrash the mini-ITX setup at a fraction of the cost, even with a PCI SATA RAID card factored in.

rolanddreier · Post by **rolanddreier** » Sun Jul 16, 2006 2:03 pm

alphabetbackward wrote:Can you even put mini-itx in the Antec Aria?

Yes, mini-itx is compatible with micro-atx mounting.

http://www.logicsupply.com/product_info ... cts_id/134

looks decent, but from the picture it seems to have a power supply fan plus two other small fans. As I said I would like to build a system with only a single 120mm fan in it.

Thanks,
Roland

rolanddreier · Post by **rolanddreier** » Sun Jul 16, 2006 2:04 pm

jb_ wrote:No point buying an expensive mini-ITX system only to put it into a microATX case. Rather, look into a used Pentium 3 CPU+motherboard. Its performance will thrash the mini-ITX setup at a fraction of the cost, even with a PCI SATA RAID card factored in.

But are there any fanless P3 systems?

I'm not that price sensitive -- I'd rather spend a few extra bucks and get something quieter.

Thanks,
Roland

jb_ · Post by **jb_** » Sun Jul 16, 2006 2:12 pm

Probably not a P3. But come to think of it, an undervolted low-end s754 Sempron could be run fanless, and would thrash both the P3 and the Via

rolanddreier · Post by **rolanddreier** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 1:25 pm

jb_ wrote:Probably not a P3. But come to think of it, an undervolted low-end s754 Sempron could be run fanless, and would thrash both the P3 and the Via

Hmm, that's a good idea. If I pick a random Mini-ATX motherboard, am I going to be able to underclock/undervolt my CPU, or do I have to be really picky about which CPU/mobo I use? (I'm really ignorant about underclocking)

Thanks,
Roland

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 12:18 am

If I pick a random Mini-ATX motherboard, am I going to be able to underclock/undervolt my CPU, or do I have to be really picky about which CPU/mobo I use?

The latest E6 Semprons seems to have a Vcore lock at 1.1V (ie you can't undervolt any lower than that); so you might want to look for E3 or D0 stepping Semprons.

Or, you could even consider the 35W AM2 EE Sempron, which is only $68 after the price cuts on 23rd July, that would run fanless easily.

IsaacKuo · Post by **IsaacKuo** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 6:50 am

rolanddreier wrote:But are there any fanless P3 systems?

Sure--take a P3 system, and remove all the fans. It works surprisingly well, even when the stock CPU heatsink looks really wimpy. However, an old P3 system may not have the desired features, like SATA support.

I'd never run a file server completely fanless. Hard drives don't take kindly to high temperatures, and even a single undervolted silent exhaust fan can dramatically improve temperatures by reducing heat buildup.

simeli · Post by **simeli** » Wed Jul 19, 2006 7:22 am

i agree with IsaacKuo, i'd also keep a fan running, especialliy in a server that you are not monitoring all the time. so it is possible that some crashed program lets it run like crazy on a hot summer day for a few hours or even days before you notice.

the aria uses a built in PSU with a 120mm fan that is already pretty quiet.

i'd go for the mini itx, because on a small fileserver of that scale with a couple of disks, the network will be the bottleneck, not the cpu. using a sempron or a p3 would only mean wasting energy and having abigger machine. mini itx boards are perfect for that matter.

you can rip out the aria psu and install a pico psu and a brick along with a dedicated 120mm nexus or papst. and leave out the small fans alltogether.

if you are ready to spend a few more bucks, have a look at

http://www.atechfabrication.com and its nas case. fanless with enough space for 4 disks and an itx board. with room to grow so to speak. if you are planning on using linux, you can upgrade from a 2 disk raid 1 to a raid 5 with another disk and add a 4th later to expand the capacity of that raid5 array. using the quiet 500gb western digitals would get you 1.5 tb redundant storage... which is pretty cool i think

rolanddreier · Post by **rolanddreier** » Wed Jul 19, 2006 7:47 am

simeli wrote:i agree with IsaacKuo, i'd also keep a fan running, especialliy in a server that you are not monitoring all the time. so it is possible that some crashed program lets it run like crazy on a hot summer day for a few hours or even days before you notice.

Yeah, I agree - in my original post you can see that I want a system that has a single 120mm fan. But I definitely want to avoid the CPU fan.