Building a Linux fileserver ? hardware suggestions?

[Rhythmdvl]

I?ve built higher-end gaming/productivity machines before (about as high as possible without getting into OCing, hence ?higher-end?, not ?high-end?) and some modest home desktops, but never a dedicated file server and never for Linux. I?m also a complete Linux noob, so am very much out of my element.

Here?s how it will fit in to our home office:
Relevant hardware includes:
Mac OSX
WinXP box
Linksys WRT54G router (10/100)

Activity includes:
NAS file serving (1-3 MB Word documents, 50-100 MB graphics and Quark files) to both computers.
Testing Web page design and function (HTML/PHP/MySQL). This is for internal testing only ? the box will never be seen outside the LAN.

That?s it. We basically just need a NAS, but I?d like to take advantage of the Web testing capabilities. No email serving, nothing else that I can think of.

On the Linux box, I?ll be running Ubuntu Server Edition (with LAAMP), SAMBA, etc.

I would like two drives in there running in RAID(1) mirroring.

Our two priorities are reliability and speed.

Reliability is paramount. One of the reasons for posting is because I hear Linux can be temperamental with some hardware (I also don?t know the hardware requirements of running a file server). We run an editorial and graphic design consultancy from our home office, so uptime and stability is of central importance. I tend to use Asus boards in my personal builds, but am willing to change vendors if there is a reason (i.e., noticeable difference in stability or better customer service).

Speed is important, but I have no idea how things compare for this use. I know I don?t need a wiz-bang processor, but don?t know at what point I?m sacrificing speed for cost savings. I want it to have enough processing power to run the server, and just a little bit of overhead to make me feel comfortable. Since my old PIII 550 in my learn-Linux platform runs things fine, am I safe in assuming any currently available retail Intel processor will be more than enough? I?ve seen Celeron processors available at Newegg ? will those be sufficient? Would a dual-core make any difference given the server?s limited use?

Since the router isn?t Gigabit capable, a Gigabit board is superfluous. Having it isn?t a problem, and may even be a good thing so future router replacement will increase speed. But unless the price point is very similar, it?s not necessary.

RAID (1) on the board is essential, as from what I?ve read software-RAID is noticeably slower (feel free to disabuse me if that?s wrong). I don?t fully understand it yet, but a few sites discuss how some hardware RAID isn?t really true hardware raid. Again, if there is a significant difference in speed (remember we?ll only be dealing with 50-100 MB files) I?d opt for the faster solution, though don?t want to spend a bucketload on the difference.

I?ve always used Western Digital drives (have had great service experiences, which tends to make me loyal), but like with Asus I?ll switch (to Seagate?) if there is a significant difference.

I don?t need any high graphics capability, but I do have a working, just-pulled-to-upgrade video card (EVGA 7800 GTX PCI-e). If it will keep costs down (and Linux will work with it) I can use it. One benefit to the card is that it has an S-Video out, which means I can use my monitor?s PIP display ? a convenience.

So, that?s it in a nutshell (I hope I didn?t go overboard with descriptions?I thought the more information the better). I?d of course like to keep the cost as minimal as possible, but don?t want to chintz out on this build in sacrifice of reliability or speed. Remember that this is just a two person office, so hits to the server will be minimal -- just us saving our work as we go along.

Oh, additional thoughts from the sticky:
I?ll be buying in America, probably from Newegg or Mwave.
My budget is flexible, but given my assumption that I don?t need a lot of processing power, I don?t anticipate this reaching more than $3-500. I have an old Antec case, so a hundred bucks or so is saved (though I may get a new PSU to be safe).
ETA: I'm an idiot. I wasn't counting the two drives in this budget.
I?ve done a host of reading, but may have missed one directed exactly at this. Also, given the regularity of Ubuntu updates, old non-working hardware may now function.
I?ll be building it within a week.

Any thoughts will be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Rhythm

 

[obeseotron]

Here are some general thoughts:

1. Linux hates onboard RAID. Onbaord chipset RAID isn't quite the same as a true hardware RAID and is notoriously difficult to get working in Linux. Google "fakeraid" and you'll see what I mean. Note that this may have gotten easier since I last checked.
2. If you aren't using gigabit, I really wouldn't worry about performance. A hard drive from 10 years ago would easily peg that link (provided you're doing sustained transfers). Software RAID does hurt performance vs RAID from the chipset, but you'll never notice in this situation. Even on gigabit I wouldn't be that concerned about software RAID, RAID1 isn't very taxing, RAID with parity (ex: RAID5) is where the real performance hit comes in.
3. You might consider getting a gigabit switch and keeping the router. Just run an ethernet cable from one of the router's LAN ports to a port on the switch, then connect anything gigabit to the switch. You shouldn't need to reconfigure the client PCs or the router, it will more or less just work. If you buy a switch, make sure to get one that supports Jumbo Frames and run cat5e or better.
4. Skimp on processing power, memory and everything that isn't the mobo and drives.
5. Run an integrated board, video card is just gonna waste power.
6. Don't build this on a platform so old that the SATA ports and NIC are on the PCI bus - multiple hard drives and a NIC can hit the 133MB/s cap on the bus really easily.
7. I would hesitate to build a server on a platform I wasn't familiar with. Maybe play around with a VM where you can setup software RAID on two virtual disks first? Or you could go all out and run opensolaris with a zfs pool.
8. You should manage the server with ssh or vnc after you get the OS installed. If you are gonna run a cable, run VGA (assuming your main PC is using the DVI). Have you ever seen what S-Video out from a PC looks like?

Hope some of that helps.