[CentOS] settings up cheap a NAS / SAN server, is it possible?

Sun Jun 29 19:33:07 UTC 2008
John R Pierce <pierce at hogranch.com>

Rudi Ahlers wrote:
> Hi all
>
> I want to look at setting up a simple / cheap SAN / NAS server using 
> normal PIV motherboard, 2GB (or even more) RAM, Core 2 Duo CPU 
> (probably a Intel 6700 / 6750 / 6800) & some SATA HDD's (4 or 6x 320GB 
> - 750GB). My budget is limited, so I can't afford a pre-built NAS device.
>
> Can this be done with CentOS? I've been looking FreeNAS (which is 
> built on FreeBSD), and it look like a great project, but since the 
> hardware support in FreeBSD is limit, I'd rather use Linux for it.
>
> Has anyone done this? If so, please share a bit in your experiences :)

probably a /little/ expensive but not excessively so, you might check 
out the Intel 2U 'kit' servers, like
http://developer.intel.com/design/servers/platforms/SR1500-2500/index.htm
specifically, the SR2500LX configuration, this is a 2U rack server with 
6 SAS/SATA bays using the S5000PAL motherboard, the base kit is about 
$1300, you add a CPU like an E5205 ($200), RAM to suit (up to 32GB ECC 
FBDRAM, $200 for 4GB), and drives.  


of course, if this is for HOME use, a rack mount server is probably NOT 
a good idea, they tend to be quite noisy.