General Computing
home-networking home-server webserver
Updated Fri, 12 Aug 2022 05:34:56 GMT

PCI 1000Mbps NIC for home server?


I'm looking to buy a barebone box to use as a headless home server. I plan on loading Ubuntu Server 9.10 on it, and using it for backup, running a person webserver, and streaming music from it using Jinzora. I've built it as a VM, and am trying to pick out optimal hardware, and I'm pretty hardware-illiterate.

I understand that I'll need to buy a 2GB stick of DDR2 RAM, and a 3.5" SATA hard drive of whatever size I feel like paying for. My question is whether I should hunt around for a 1000Mbps NIC for optimal streaming. The questions I've read around here indicate that server performance from an Atom server like this are mostly going to be determined by the hard drive disc speed and the network connection, but I haven't built a server like this before. Is the built-in 10/100 Mbps NIC on the mobo sufficient, or should I attempt to find a 1000 Mbps NIC that I can stick in the PCI slot? The 1000 Mbps cards I see on Newegg are all PCI-e, so I'm not really sure what I should do.

Thanks for the help!

Solution

Depending on the max throughput you'd need at once, gigabit may not be needed yet, but it's always good to have it for the future and they aren't too expensive. Make sure all other hardware is gigabit capable as well before making the upgrade. There are a couple on newegg they're just tricky to find.

Comments (4)

  • +0 – I'd only be looking to stream mp3s while I'm travelling for work without having to worry about packing around an external drive. I'd guess that a gigabit would be overkill for this purpose? — Nov 23, 2009 at 20:00  
  • +2 – @lifeson: it wouldn't hurt. but your bottleneck is going to be the internet uplink, not your home network. — Nov 23, 2009 at 20:18  
  • +0 – I was under the impression it was local streaming until I read your comment. Your internet connection will be the bottleneck in this case as ~quack mentioned. — Nov 23, 2009 at 21:04  
  • +0 – Alright. I'll stick to the 10/100 card, and if I need something greater locally (like if I ever build something for video streaming in the home) I'll treat it as a separate project. Thank you all! — Nov 23, 2009 at 21:24  

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