richardgaywood
May 8th, 2008, 06:05 PM
I'm currently building up a file server, based around 3x500Gb Samsung SATA disks in RAID-5. Sadly it transpires the old Athlon workstation I was going to use is toast, so I've been eyeing up my old Mac as a possible alternative.
It's a G4/450 AGP model, with an original (802.11b) Airport card, 384Mb of RAM, an ATI Rage 128, and a no-more-than-120Gb PATA controller. Firstly, how well is Ubuntu going to run on that generally? Secondly, how well will it run as a file server? I'm a bit concerned about RAM and CPU having enough oomph for the RAID array. It doesn't have to be screamingly quick though, it's primarly for receiving backups from my laptops (which will be over 802.11g WiFi speeds most of the time) and streaming divx to my PS3 (probably over 200meg powerline in the fullness of time).
Finally, does anyone have any recommendations for a cheap PCI SATA controller? So far I've picked out a Promise TX4, but apart from a couple of upcoming auctions on eBay they are a bit pricey (£60) from most retailers. I need to keep the budget down on the job, because I'm trying to resist buying a standalone NAS (e.g. Thecus N3100 for £250) which will be smaller, quieter, and use less power. There are tons of cheapy VIA 3-port ones on ebay, although one of the ports is an external one; if anyone has any hands-on experience of those I'd like to hear about it.
So, advice welcomed. Thanks!
It's a G4/450 AGP model, with an original (802.11b) Airport card, 384Mb of RAM, an ATI Rage 128, and a no-more-than-120Gb PATA controller. Firstly, how well is Ubuntu going to run on that generally? Secondly, how well will it run as a file server? I'm a bit concerned about RAM and CPU having enough oomph for the RAID array. It doesn't have to be screamingly quick though, it's primarly for receiving backups from my laptops (which will be over 802.11g WiFi speeds most of the time) and streaming divx to my PS3 (probably over 200meg powerline in the fullness of time).
Finally, does anyone have any recommendations for a cheap PCI SATA controller? So far I've picked out a Promise TX4, but apart from a couple of upcoming auctions on eBay they are a bit pricey (£60) from most retailers. I need to keep the budget down on the job, because I'm trying to resist buying a standalone NAS (e.g. Thecus N3100 for £250) which will be smaller, quieter, and use less power. There are tons of cheapy VIA 3-port ones on ebay, although one of the ports is an external one; if anyone has any hands-on experience of those I'd like to hear about it.
So, advice welcomed. Thanks!