DIY NAS: Intel Atom and VIA C7 Platforms Tested

SmallNetBuilder built two DIY NAS systems using an MSI Wind PC and a VIA ARTiGO A2000 Barebone Storage Server. [article link]

MSI Wind PC Specs:

• Intel Atom 1.6 GHz processor
• MSI custom w/ Intel 945GC North Bridge, ICH7 South Bridge motherboard
• pqi 1 GB DDR2 533 SO-DIMM RAM
• Hitachi Deskstar HDS721680PLA380, 80GB 7200RPM 3.0 Gb/s SATA 8MB HDD
• Realtek 8111C (on board) Ethernet

VIA ARTiGO A2000 Specs:

• VIA 1.5GHz C7-D processor
• VIA custom w/ VIA VX800 Unified Digital Media IGP chipset motherboard
• Transcend 1 GB DDR2 667 SO-DIMM
• Hitachi Deskstar HDS721680PLA380, 80GB 7200RPM 3.0 Gb/s SATA 8MB HDD
• VIA VT6130 (on board) Ethernet

Both had the same operating system: Ubuntu Server 8.10 Operating system, + mdadm + Webmin, on 2 GB USB Flash drive.

The two DIY NAS setups were compared to the following:

• NETGEAR ReadyNAS Pro (Intel E2160 Dual-Core)
• Thecus M3800 Stream Box (AMD LX800 Geode)
• Cisco/Linksys Media Hub (Marvell 88F5182 "Orion" Soc)

(A How To guide for setting up a DIY NAS using Ubuntu Server can be found at SmallNetBuilder: Build Your Own Atom-based NAS - Part 2)

On Performance:

"I don't think I'm going to declare a clear winner here between the VIA C7 and Intel Atom. It looks that they are pretty evenly matched for performance and generally in the same class as the Geode LX800." [SmallNetBuilder]

"So if you're looking for a low-cost way to build a dual-drive NAS, you can choose a motherboard using an Intel Atom, VIA C7 or AMD Geode CPU and be pretty certain of getting better than 2X the performance you can get from any (current) off-the-shelf NAS." [SmallNetBuilder]

On Ease and Flexibility of Setup:

"... the MSI Wind PC is clearly a more cost effective way to build a two-drive NAS capable of producing write and read speeds in the 30 - 40 MB/s range than the ARTiGO A2000. As I write this, you can pick one up for around $140, while the going rate for the A2000 is $299. I think that for the extra $150 or so, I can live with having to kludge in the second drive." [SmallNetBuilder]

SmallNetBuilder's Rule of Thumb for Classifying NASes:

• Marvell Orion based NASes will generally produce throughput in the mid-to-high teen MB/s
• NASes using the VIA C7, Intel Atom or AMD Geode will provide read/write performance in the 30 - 40 MB/s range
• When you move up to NASes based on Intel Celeron or Dual-Core or Freescale MPC854XE, you can see speeds of at least 50 MB/s and more like 70 MB/s.

If you are looking to put a NAS on your network, a cost-effective way would be to use a system with the Intel Atom, VIA C7, or AMD Geode. You could go the barebone route, such as what SmallNetworkBuilder did, or build it from scratch, letting you choose the components individually, and have the personlized look of your future DIY NAS.

IceRocket : diy nas, intel atom, via c7