[mythtv-users] New Backend - Hardware suggestions

[Mark]

You're doing almost exactly what I'm doing right now.  In fact I just 
finished the main build tonight.
My config is:
Supermicro PDSMA mainboard
Q6700 quad core intel
4GB ram
2x seagate 500Gb drives in Raid 1 for OS and basic backed up storage/NAS
Supermicro PCI-X SATA card
4x WD green drives 1TB ea in JBOD.
the mb has 2 Gb nics.

I think your choice of hardware is fine.  I also plan small diskless 
frontends booted off images on the server.

suggest you get a separate drive for your OS and mysql database.  Use 
the rest in raid for your storage.

have fun!



Christian Hocken wrote:
> Hello,
> I'm planning to buy a new server which should hold the MythTV backend  
> but also work as fileserver and gateway and it would be nice if it  
> could also serve some diskless MythTV clients in the near future. My  
> idea is to set up three virtual machines (MythTV backend, fileserver,  
> gateway) based on Ubuntu Server 8.04 LTS and KVM or XEN.
> 1. The fileserver should mainly store backups from my notebook and  
> data of future diskless clients. Therefore it should be failsafe. I  
> think securing it via a software-RAID will be adequate. A hardware- 
> RAID might be overkill 'cause I don't need a lot of throughput. I  
> have a RAID 5 with 3 disks in mind since I'll only lose the capacity  
> of one disk. But booting from this RAID won't work. Thus, I need  
> another RAID 1 or at least a single disk which keeps the OS and which  
> is bootable.
> 2. The gateway needs two NICs to connect LAN and WAN.
> 3. The backend is equipped with one DVB-C tuner by now but adding a  
> second ord third one should be possible.
>
> I'm planning to run Dom0 on the single disk resp. RAID 1 and to mount  
> partitions of the RAID 5 to /home and /var. Fileserver and MythTV  
> backend VMs will get own partitions on the RAID 5.
>
> Requirements so far: At least 4 hdds, 2 NICs and sufficient PCI slots.
>
> Unfortunately, I'm not very experienced in buying hardware. Most of  
> the computers I've bought were prebuild. However, here's a list of  
> hardware I've composed. But all parts are subject to change and I  
> would be glad if you could made any suggestion.
>
> CPU: 			Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Boxed
> Mainboard:		duno - something with cheap graphics card already included?
> RAM:			2-4 GB - maybe Kingston?
> HDD(boot):		---
> HDD(Raid 5):	3x WD Caviar Green 1TB. Not sure if WD Green are fast  
> enough. I believe they're spinning slower.
> 2nd NIC:		---
> PSU:			Maybe Enermax EPR385AWT. I think 82+ is a good choice.
> Case:			As cheap as possible but not cheaper. Server will be located  
> in a wall closet.
>
>
> Last remark: The power consumption should of course be as low as  
> possible and HDTV support (if ever available via cable in the lower  
> Rhine area) would be fine.
>
> Now it's up to you. What do you think about my hardware compilation  
> and my RAID design and which RAM, boards, hdds and cases do you suggest?
>
> Thanks in advance. :)
>
> regards,
> Christian
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