On Thu, 2009-09-17 at 17:59 -0400, Alan Johnson wrote: > On Thu, Sep 17, 2009 at 4:09 PM, Neil Joseph Schelly > <n...@jenandneil.com> wrote: > I'm looking to build a small Shuttle barebone machine into a > NAS running > Linux. The intent of the machine is to be a networked PC with > lots of > storage in a RAID array, made available over the gigabit > network interface > via Samba, NFS, and maybe iSCSI protocols. I'm curious what > experience > others have with this sort of stuff in general, but two > immediate questions > come to mind about processor and memory performance. > > I can go the low-power, low-heat route and get a single-core > processor and a > single memory stick of minimal quantity. Or I can upgrade a > bit, get a > dual-core processor with 2 sticks of dual-channel memory. Or > something in > between. What I don't know is how much impact processor > speed, multiple > cores, memory capacity, and dual-channel memory has on disk > I/O, network I/O, > software RAID processing, etc. > > I like the idea of a small low-power, low-heat appliance, but > will going too > low on those negatively impact performance much? The cost > difference between > a single-core processor with 1GB of memory and a dual-core > processor with 2 > sticks of 1GB dual-channel memory is insignificant, so that's > not much of a > concern. > -N > _______________________________________________ > gnhlug-discuss mailing list > gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org > http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/ > > Any modern processor will be bored for these services, even if you use > an encrypted and compressed file system. Single core will be plenty, > but I don't know how much it will save you on power. Focus first on > low power design and then on number of cores. You may find some > multi-cores do better then some singles. The Intel Atom is probably > your best bet and should still have plenty of spare processing > power. > OK, so MAYBE and Atom won't keep up with GigE if you use compression > and encryption. It probably depends on the compression and encryption > algorithms. I don't really know, but I bet you will be fine. > > Disk IO and then network are going to be your bottlenecks. More RAM > will help disk IO via the OS's disk cache depending on the usage > patterns of the data store, but most NAS appliances only have a couple > hundred MB if you are lucky. If you are just using it for backups for > steaming media, you can run very happily with as little as 64MB > (assuming no GUI), but you may need more than that just to install the > OS, depending on the distro. Higher RPM on disks will of course help > IO, but not the power consumption. SSD will help both, but not your > wallet. I like the Western Digital Green drives for this purpose as > the only spin at 5400 RPM when they can get away with it and jump to > 7200 RPM when the demand requires it. Compression will also help disk > IO in most cases, and if you expect a lot of concurrent requests, play > around with ionice on some of your NAS services. > > BTW, you might want to check out the FreeNAS project. From what I > understand, there is nothing in there you can't get in another distro, > but they keep it pretty lean while providing all the services you > mentioned on a fresh install. Don't take my word for it though. It > has been while since I looked into it. > > Ubuntu Server does a very lean install as well. Not quite as lean as > Debian (and others), but even at the command line, I find Ubuntu is > more friendly. I think there might have been a file server option on > the Jaunty Server installer, but I don't pay much attention to such > things as I like to to a bare install on a Server and pick the packges > I want myself. Definitely a Samba option at install, but again, you > might bet more than you need or want that way. SSH is a good option > at install. > > You might also consider webmin if you are not hardcore on the command > line. It will ask you if you want to install the relevant packages if > it can't find a service when you access the module, so it makes a nice > add on to a bare Ubuntu Server install. To install, use "dpkg -i > webmin*.deb" then do an "apt-get -f install" when dpkg fails and > apt-get will go fetch the dependancies and finish up the webmin > install. Once webmin is running, you need not the command line any > more. > > I have also heard very good things about ebox (Ubuntu only last I > knew) but I have not been able to access it on my home server yet > because the browser is puking on the cert for some reason and I have > not cared to fight with it yet. > > That's my $1.37 (2 cents with inflation). > > -- > Alan Johnson > a...@datdec.com > _______________________________________________ > gnhlug-discuss mailing list > gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org > http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
I've been working on a similar project. Simply put, a low-power PC, running linux/BSD with oodles of storage for my torrents and ever growing media collection. Take a look at LogicSupply (logicsupply.com). They have a pretty good selection of compact systems. Atom based systems too. I second FreeNAS. Very slick little distro. (Is it a distro or what?) ~k (Alan - I knew you had to get a plug for webmin in somewhere! :]) _______________________________________________ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
