I finally set something new up for my computer network. Recently, I thought about the idea of trying out VMWare Server 2 since it is free and all and it’s easy to run. How it works is that you have to have a machine with either Windows or Linux in either X86 or X86_64. All you do is run the installer and after you configure it, you log into the web interface to control everything vmware wise. It works amazing and it is easy to figure out. If you want to try it, sign up and download from here “VMWare Server”.

So for my server, I built a system from my old AMD 64 machine and installed Ubuntu 8.04.1 x64 on it. The hardware I used for this project was:

  • Board: BioStar T-Force SLI
  • CPU: AMD Athlon 64 +3500
  • Memory: 2 Gig DDR400
  • Hard Drives:
    1. Seagate 20Gib IDE – OS
    2. Seagate 120Gib SATA – RAID Drive 1
    3. Seagate 120Gib SATA – RAID Drive 2
    4. Hitachi 250Gib SATA – Extra Storage (Not used yet)
    5. Hitachi 500Gib SATA – Soon to be RAID array with another 500Gib
  • Case: Antec Sonata 1st Rev with 380w PSU
  • Network:
    1. No name brand PCI Realtek 8169 Gigabit card
    2. Zonet Realtek 8169 Gigabit card (File server)
  • Video: EVGA MX4000 PCI card

I have the two RAID drives in RAID 1 using MDADM and it works perfect. The 250Gib drive is empty but it is there just in case I need more storage. Also, I am in the process of setting up another RAID 1 array that will hold my servers files on it using two 500Gib drives from my new Drobo box (I’ll explain in a bit). What that means is that I am going to be moving my main ITX server into a virtual machine to run on my VMware server but using it exactly as it is setup right now so I won’t have to start all over again setting it up. On the plus side I get to use my ITX server as a small machine for my living room. Mostly so there is a computer for my mom to use to work on school work in the living room instead of her desk which is quite small. Another plus is the fact I will be gaining more space on the server since it will have the new RAID array.

Next up I have a new file storage device called a Drobo. They call it a storage robot that essentially is a non-RAID RAID array. They have their own system called BeyondRAID which is RAID like but not true RAID. How it works is place any size drives you have in it. From them it will completely build a new drive from all the drives. No need to match size and brand, it just builds it into an array. When you run out of space on it, you just pop a drive out and install a new one. It will automaticly set-up the drive and rebuild the array. So far I love it, even though it is quite on the expensive side hovering around $450. As of yesterday (1/25/09) it now has 2x 1.5tb and 2x 500gib drives totalling 2.3tb and it is fully backed up.

Now car news. I am still modifying my car. Now it now has a BORA and euro 1.8T emblems, German plate with replica registration sticker, and it will soon have black euro VW emblems. Also I ordered and received the matching German “HN F1744″ plate for when I finally have the money to get a genuine VW BORA trunk lid with the wide plate opening. For now it is going to be chillin on my desk waiting for the day to be mounted.

Well that’s it for now. Finally I get to post this post. Hope your happy and if you have any questions on how to do any of this or about something else, just sign up and post a comment.