The "Tux Server Project"
or "Roll-Your-Own" Network Attached Storage Device
By Michael Charrier - Posted on October 4, 2003

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Choosing the Hardware
3. Parts List
4. Mounting the Motherboard
5. Altering and Mounting the Power Supply
6. Building the Disk Array
7. Building the Disk Array (2)
8. Adding the CD/RW Drive
9. Bringing All The Hardware Together
10. Setting up the Software
11. Finally...

Introduction

Note: Yes, I know there is another project called TUX Server that deals with adding a http server to the Linux kernel. I'm not trying to ride the coat tails of that project; that's why mine is the T"ux" Server project. Linux is case sensitive and, I hope, you are too.

"Why can't I get to my fscking files?!?," is becoming an often heard cry in homes, apartments, and dorm rooms with an active network when the server is down. Most setups have a central machine (usually the machine with the largest hard drive) that gets turned into a file and/or printer server. If you are like me, however, that system is typically down for hardware/software "upgrades", booting into a different OS, or undergoing occasional troubleshooting after doing a hardware/software "upgrade".

When most people decide to add a Network Attached Storage Device to their network they usually put a handful of IDE hard drives into a spare case with a IDE RAID controller, NIC, memory, and motherboard. Some use Maxtor, some use Western Digital, Seagate, Intel, AMD, etc; but what they all have in common is that it's just another mid-tower beige box. In many situations, that beige box can be an unwelcome addition due to space, power, noise, and other constraints.

Most of us geeks have drooled over the NAS devices from Maxtor, Quantum, Dell, and others, but balked at the prices the companies want for them. Even (relatively new) NAS boxes on Ebay run regularly top $500.00 and you're locked into the manufacturer's hardware and software. This project was started to give my household a reliable, always-on file server so that my family can share files while I'm tinkering around.

While talking it over with my wife, we came up with the following criteria for the system:

1. Inexpensive Hardware and Software (under $500.00 total was the goal)
2. Quiet!
3. As small as possible
4. Uses standard, off-the-shelf parts
5. Upgradable (both memory and hard drives)
6. RAID-5 capable
7. 100Mbps full duplex network connection
8. Easy data backup

Choosing the Hardware

Locating the hardware for this system was not easy, especially when you're on a budget. The first decision was what case would be used to house the NAS. I investigated a number of Flex/Mini ATX cases and was rather uninspired by them. After reading through several case-modding sites, I decided I wanted to use a case no one else had. My first break came when I acquired the empty shell of a Quantum Snap Server 2000 from my friend, Gabriel, at a local asset recovery company. It has a slight defect (front of the case gaps a little) and only cost $5.00. Also, I thought that this would be an apropos case for my project.

The interior dimensions of the case are 176mm width x 340mm length x 66mm height. Not a lot of room to shoehorn in a motherboard, power supply and drives.

The next item on the my list was the system board since this is the part that typically takes up most of the real estate in a case (square mm, that is). Almost a month was spent looking evaluating dozens options for a system board. Both MicroATX and FlexATX motherboards were too big. Next, I investigated PC104 type systems but ruled those out as too expensive, too unwieldly, or lacking PCI slots.

Junking this project crossed my mind until I ran across a reference to a Mini-ITX form factor while searching on Google. A search for Mini-ITX lead me to the EPIA 800 and hope that I could pull this off was restored. At 170mm x 170mm, it is a perfect fit for the Snap Server case. And with a 800MHz C3 CPU, 2 USB, 10/100 Ethernet, Video, Serial Port, and PCI slot, it fitted my specifications perfectly.

Now for the power supply: I discovered the FSP090-50PL, a 90W FlexATX power supply measuring 100mm wide x 125mm long x 50mm high. This unit is is great for anyone who wants to build a very small system or a case mod system.

Next came storage. Once again, Gabriel came through. He had just recovered a batch of 10.05GB IBM Travelstar laptop hard drives from a local company and sold them to me for $10.00 each. After carefully straightening many bent pins, a quick spin with IBM's Drive Functionality Test software showed these drives to be in excellent working condition.

At this point, the decision was made to set these up in a RAID-5 array. A quick test fit of parts showed that I could fit 7 of the 10.05GB drives in the Snap Server case pretty easily. Unfortunately, ALL of the IDE RAID controllers capable of supporting RAID-5 arrays were too large to fit in the Snap Server case or would block the DIMM slots. Redhat Linux 8.0 came to the rescue with the software-based RAID driver created by Ingo Molnar.

A SIIG Ultra ATA/133 Dual Channel controller (Model CN2487) was purchased for $40.00 at a local Best Buy to supplement the 2 IDE channels on the system board. This controller was chosen due to it's very low profile.

To meet the requirement to backup data and to have a boot device, a Sony CRX700E CD-R/RW drive was purchased from a vendor on E-Bay. In order to connect the drive to the system board, I purchased a Laptop CD-ROM to IDE Adapter (attached to the drive in the picture).

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