Home server on FreeBSD

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pkubaj

I want to build a home server, of course with FreeBSD. It's supposed to be as cheap and small as possible. I have basically two options:
  1. Thin client, such as HP T5720.
  2. Old rack server, like HP DL380.

I'd prefer the first option, since rack servers have power consumption like 600W, while thin clients 30W, but will FreeBSD be able to work on such a computer (I will be adding additional HDD for data anyway)? Buying tower PC is out of question, it's too large. Or is getting a rack server not so bad after all? Note, that I don't want the whole rack, just a one server.

It's supposed to be a router, mail server and a data backup.
 
A plain PC with a single hard drive and no monitor can be in the 60W range. (Measured with a Killawatt.)

The rack server probably won't draw a full 600W, but they tend to be loud. If it does draw the full 600W, rough electricity costs per year at $0.15/KWH:

30W: $39.42
60W: $78.84
600W: $788.40
 
I can't use old tower PC, because I have only one room for myself (I'm a university student) and it won't fit in anywhere. There's just too little space for that. If rack servers are loud, then they are definitely out. It will be in my room, where I sleep. So can FreeBSD run on thin clients?
 
Have you thought about something with Atom processors? I have my home server build with a mini-itx motherboard, Intel Atom D510 integrated, 4 GB of RAM, 4x 2.5" hard drives with ZFS and one 3.5" hard drive for the system.

All this installed on a APEX MI-100 box.

It is very small, very silent and do what I want it to do.

At the end my server is not so cheap, but you don't need the same parts. It could be a good start point :)
 
Thin clients yes, but ARM CPUs are not well supported yet. kisscool-fr's suggestion is one way to get a desktop Atom. Another way is a netbook, which has the advantage of a built-in display and keyboard. Used ones are easy to find and pretty cheap.
 
You definitely don't want to run it on a "thin-client". Thin-client boxes tend to have puny little CPUs and tiny amounts of RAM, as all they run is enough of an OS to load up a remote desktop client. All the processing is done on the remote server and only the display is powered by the thin-client. These also tend to use non-x86 CPUs without harddrives (or even anywhere to plug in harddrives) and highly customised OSes flashed onto ROM chips (usually MS Windows CE).

What you are looking for is a small, silent, PC. Mini-ITX or mini-/micro-ATX based systems are what you are looking for. These use either Via CPUs or Intel Atom CPUs or AMD Llano/Bobcat APUs (in order of processing power). These are standard x86 CPUs, use standard RAM, standard harddrives, standard expansion slots, etc. You can run any OS on these; they're generic PCs.

I'd recommend an AMD solution, as you get good CPU power, excellent graphics power, without using a lot of electrical power or generating a lot of heat (so they're silent). And you can use it for more than just a file server/router down the road (they make great HTPCs or even desktops). All without breaking the bank.

If you have no plans for ever sticking a monitor onto it or running X, then an Atom-based system is good. The latest Atom systems have decent CPU, although the graphics suck, so they make decent mini-servers. They also don't put out a lot of heat, so they are silent as well.

The Via-based systems aren't as well known and the graphics chipsets aren't as well supported under X, but they work well enough.
 
Thanks, then I will probably buy some Via PC, Atom-based PCs are much less common.
That could be the EOT.
 
I have a LIAN LI PC-Q08B chassis with a fanless Atom on a mini-itx board with 6x 3.5" drives and one 2.5" ssd (still one port left for either tape backup or some cd-drive, don't know yet). Runs FreeBSD as a server and is really quiet.
 
I'm using a Dell Mini 9 netbook as my home server right now. Small, quiet and comes with built in keyboard and monitor for those "OOPS!" moments and the battery is great for power failures. Just add a USB drive for file backups and it's good to go!
 
Running FreeBSD 8.2 on an old surplus PIII Dell laptop as a home server. Works well. The major gap is a decent backup solution. Right now just doing occasional disk/disk copies, but this is not true backup...
 
HP sells the ProLiant MicroServer. That has N36L 1.3 GHz dual core (older model) or N40L 1.5 GHz dual core (current model) AMD CPU, up to 8 GB RAM (supports ECC). The most interesting feature is it has 4 drive bays inside + space for full-size CD/DVD drive. It has 7 USB ports, 5 SATA and 1 eSATA and VGA. Not the smallest case but pretty compact and although it has fans, quite silent as well. According to HP, the drive bays do not support hot-swap, but with AHCI, I haven't had any issues. This system is not very expensive and from time to time HP runs promotion on it.

PS: It even has one x16 PCIe and one x1 PCIe slots for expansion (plus an x4 PCIe for an remote management card).
 
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