Project: Building a big server on the cheap.. how?

I feel the need to get down and dirty and build myself a big file server..

Rough requirements..

1 Tera+ usable storage minimum
Able to serve plenty of bandwidth via nfs - lets say 300Mbps
Some cool flashing lights on the front.. Project: Building a big server on the cheap.. how?

So, what do I actually need in terms of specific components?

I am looking now at 4U rackmount case (with flashing lights!) with 8 to 12 drive bays and 450w psu at least..

Lots of big SATA drives.. 6 x 250gigs at least or maybe 4 x 400

plus 1 x 80 gig drive for the system (probably using centos)

1 x cd drive

Hardware RAID..

Dual gig nics..

P4 (possibly xeon)

Thats about all I know so far.. things I am not sure about include..

What raid controller(s)?
WTF is a multi riser and backplane?? Keep seeing them mentioned but can't find anywhere that says what they actually are! Project: Building a big server on the cheap.. how?
What motherboard?
How can I allow for future expansion? For example to connect an external raid array? Or even just to throw a few more disks inside the case..
Any other bits I would need?

Anyone got recommendations for suppliers of all these bits?


Cheers! Project: Building a big server on the cheap.. how?

 

 

 

 

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