Sub 60w server... Possible? (2 Viewers)

[Supreme]

I am looking to move house soon, and preparing options for a fully networked up home

For this i will require a server, but i have no desire to have a big powerful, noisey and expensive to run machine. What i am looking for is something that will allow me to have 2x TV cards, 2-3x HDDs, no optical drives, and be able to run media portal TV server, sql server, and not a lot else.

Ideally it will be rack mounted, and sub 60w power consumption. It will have no monitor attached to it, and will be hidden away somewhere.

Is this goal achievable yet? and if so, what components would you recommend?



Thanks

 

[JoeSmith]

AW: Sub 60w server... Possible?

i think your goal is achievable if your talking about 60W average consumption, not maximum.
The "new" Core i3 and i5 with the integrated gpu are very good cpus. I've seen a few home server machines using ~20W idle (~30W incl. HDDs).
The msi ( and intel) h55 / h57 boards are right now the ones that offer the lowest power consumption.
The full load power consumption will be (if only cpu power is needed) ~70-80W (depending on your other hardware).

Right now i'm planning a server based on these components and i've done some research on power consumption as my machine will run 24/7.
Of course you could go with an atom based server but compared to an core processor you loose a lot of power.

Joe

 

[drealit]

I completely agree with JoeSmith, especially with the comments regardin an Atom based system. Currently I see no reason to go Atom anymore now that i3 is kicking around. i3 will run you a little bit more than Atom but will give you a whopping amount more power. Atom's are priced to highly to make them viable.

Just this weekend Fry's had a deal on an Gigabyte H55 board + i3 530 processor for $104 after rebate shipped ($85ish after rebates instore)... I acquired my i3+h55 setup for $140-150. Patiently wait for one of those deals to kick up and then jump on it.

 

[Gixxer]

my server runs on an average of 85W, thats with an application from amd that undervolts the cpu when it is not needed, and turning off hdd after 15 min of inactivity.

 

[Supreme]

My current HTPC runs at approx 75w, so not too bad, but for a server on 24/7 i would like it to be a lot less!

Atom sounds ideal wattage wise, but i worry that it has no hope of coping with TV server and SQL server!

 

[Spragleknas]

Guess this would be a nice choice: Fudzilla - AMD's 25W Athlon II 250u appears in stores

Or a MoD setup (Mobile on Desktop)

 

[cics]

> Atom sounds ideal wattage wise, but i worry that it has no hope of coping with TV server and SQL server!

Hm, I'm have a TVServer, MS-SQL and 4 x dvb-s2 cards running on a very old AMD Sempron 3100 (2GB ram and 2xHDD, 1 for OS/Software and the second one for timeshift/records)

Well, it takes about 60 seconds to open TVServer Configuration, no big deal since I rarely need to access to the configuration. Beside that everything is OK, 4 clients watching TV at the same time.

I guess, Atom should be better than my old AMD sempron, right?

 

[Gixxer]

as for power usage, i also recommend setpower software SetPower - Power Management Software its free. that or setting powerscheduler in tvserver .

nice way of saving a lot of power during night hours.

 

[Supreme]

I have just checked my current machine again. It's currently recording 2 shows, and is reading < 65w at the wall. So again, not so bad, but if it's on 24/7 it's too high really.

The CPU is an AMD 5050e (45w) that is limited via power settings to only ever go to 50% power.

 

[Gixxer]

I have just checked my current machine again. It's currently recording 2 shows, and is reading < 65w at the wall. So again, not so bad, but if it's on 24/7 it's too high really.

The CPU is an AMD 5050e (45w) that is limited via power settings to only ever go to 50% power.

what do you use to measure? im intrigue as you said "on the wall"

i use this....
http://www.renovablesdelsur.com/catalog/images/tbf_38a6_enchufe.jpg
nothing fancy but gives you the numbers.