We Got Served

With only a few OEMs releasing dedicated Windows Home Server systems to the market, many enthusiasts have taken it upon themselves to build their own home servers, either through recycling old systems and components lying around the house (Windows Home Server’s hardware requirements a far more modest than Windows Vista’s) or through purchasing a “barebones” system, and adding new components to it.

Indeed, our ongoing poll here at We Got Served, suggests that up to 70% of Home Servers currently running out there in the world are actually self-builds, so these systems currently dominate the category - we reckon this picture won’t change until OEMs and Microsoft really pull their finger out with more systems and more consumer marketing.

So far, enthusiasts have had to adapt standard PC chassis for home server purposes - not a massive issue, except when it comes to storage, with many standard chassis offering space for just 1 or 2 SATA hard drives - fine for a starter home server, but paling into significance when you compare it to the 4 drive OEM systems such as the HP MediaSmart Server.

That changed with the release of Norco’s DS-520 unit, which was one of the first 4 drive NAS/Home Server chassis available on the market. We reviewed the Norco unit late last year, and found it to be a solidly build unit, but a little on the industrial side. Taiwanese manufacturer Chenbro, however, have come to the rescue with the ES34069, which at first glance, looks like it could fulfill the dreams of many a self-builder.

Where to Find It

The Chenbro unit is actually pretty difficult to source (it took us a few months to find one), and the company tend not to answer queries from the public or the press. We picked up our review unit, and components required to build the test server from mini-itx.com and we’d like to say a big thanks to Ewan over at the site for loaning us the server. As a shameless plug, not only do they have the kit available, they also have a huge amount of expertise in self-build components, so if you’re in the market for a new, small footprint machine, they’re well worth checking out.

Our Review Kit

One issue we discovered about reviewing barebones machines is that to see if they’re any good, you actually have to build one! So here’s the kit we used to build the Chenbro system:

• Chenbro ES34069 Barebones Home Server
• Via EPIA SN Series Mini-ITX Motherboard (with embedded processor)
• Slimline (Laptop Width) DVD Drive
• 1Tb Seagate Hard Drive
• 1Gb PC4200 RAM
• Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 RC2 (not currently available)

What’s in the Box?

As you’d expect, the components for your Chenbro-based home server come in a variety of packages:

The Chenbro unit itself is very securely packed, to ensure it isn’t damaged in transit.

Contents-wise, Chenbro aren’t about added extras - you basically get the chassis, plus the required cables to attach a motherboard, hard drive and a power cable. That’s your lot. They’d actually neglected to pack any kind of installation manual in the unti I received, although up to date manuals are available from Chenbro’s website. At first glance, this unit may not be for first-time builders.

The Via EPIA SN Series motherboard is packed with the vaious cables and drivers you need to install the motherboard into the Chenbro unit, namely:

• 1 x EPIA SN Mini-ITX Motherboard
• 1 x ARA-66/100/133 IDE Ribbon
• 1 x I/O Bracket 
• Installation Guide
• Driver and Utility CD

For the memory, I used a 1Gb stick of Crucial PC2400 RAM - I’ve always found Crucial to be really reliable, and their customer service is excellent. The hard drive I selected was a 1Tb Seagate Hard Drive - again, really reliable, and it’ll be added to my main home server drive pool once this review is completed!

First Looks

The Chenbro is a great looking compact case - roughly equivalent in size to the HP MediaSmart Server, the system’s gun metal grey styling would look great in any room. The black plastic front cover of the server neatly hides access to drive lights, hard drive trays and the DVD drive, giving a very clean and unobtrusive look to the system. Ventilation holes are punched in each side of the chassis to allow maximum airflow. Next to the HP MediaSmart Server, it doesn’t look too out of place.

Around the Back

The EPIA SN board caters well for home server builds, offering 4 rear USB 2.0 connections for external hard drives, 2 Ethernet ports (1 x 10/100 LAN, 1 Gigabit), as well as a DVI port should you wish to attach a monitor, and PS2 ports for mouse and keyboard, which may be useful for the initial setup of the unit.

Two large fans provide cooling for the system with the back plate punched to provide a heat outlet.

Around the Front

A black, barely translucent front panel hides the Chenbro’s front controls - this panel is lockable at the top for additional security, and two keys are provided by Chenbro in the box. The panel hinges to the left, and opening it reveals 2 USB 2.0 ports, a small card reader for Memory Stick and Memory Stick Duo, MMC, SC and Mini SD, 4 hot swappable SATA drive trays for your storage and the usual array of drive and disk access lights. An IR sensor is also embedded in the front panel, should this be required.

Accessing your hard drives is very simple -pressing a latch in a finger hole within each tray allows you to life up an arm and slide out the drive. Simply place your hard drive in the tray, slide the tray in fully and press down the arm with a click - nice and easy and a little better quality than the mechanism provided with the HP MediaSmart Server.

Building the System

Building the system is relatively straightforward for those with experience - for the beginner, there may be a couple of challenges, but using a board with an embedded processor like the Via EPIA SN really helps, as it gets you out of both purchasing and then fitting the processor and heatsink, which can sometimes be the cause of system failures if not mounted correctly.

Building the system is basically a case of disassembling the Chenbro’s chassis, fitting the EPIA motherboard, installing the RAM, installing and connecting up the hard drive, fitting and connecting the DVD drive, and then plugging the (very well labelled) wires from the Chenbro unit to the motherboard. The EPIA motherboard also comes with an installation quick start guide which shows you clearly which connectors fit where.

There are a couple of watchouts to bear in mind however - firstly, the front USB ports of the Chenbro unit require an adaptor to fit to the EPIA’s motherboard socket - without this they won’t work. Mini-ITX.com tell me they currently have these in production, so do ensure you order this connector if using the EPIA motherboard. The 4 rear ports are fine, of course. The second issue I encountered is fitting the DVD drive over the RAM can be a very snug fit - it does go over the RAM, but you should be careful when doing so, to avoid damaging your RAM.

The EPIA SN is a relatively new Mini-ITX motherboard from VIA, which provides the convenience of an embedded VIA C7 processor which makes installation much more straightforward. Two models are available depending on your processor requirements - for a low power consuming basic home server, the 1.0GHz processor will meet your needs well. Or, if you’re looking for a little more power (particularly if you will be streaming media), the 1.8GHz processor is the one for you - my advice would be to go with the higher powered processor to ensure you’re in a good place for any future expansion - particularly if you want to install and run lots of WHS add-ins which may need a little juice to perform well.

The EPIA supports up to 4Gb, which is more than enough for any home server - we currently recommend Windows Home Server systems to have at least 1Gb to run comfortably with software installed on top of the base system, although 512 Gb can be okay for a vanilla basic system that’s just being used for backup purposes. With the price of memory nowadays, 1-2Gb should be cheap enough to place in the system without worrying too much. Full details of the VIA EPIA SN are available from Via’s website.

Installing Windows Home Server

Once the hardware is installed, power up, insert your Windows Home Server installation DVD, and proceed with your installation. Well, that is, until you get an error stating that Windows Home Server can’t find a suitable hard drive to install on to. As you’ll see from this post on the WGS forums, you must find and install SATA drivers for the motherboard before proceeding with the installation of Windows Home Server. This is not as straightforward as you may think so do read the forum post before proceeding to avoid a few hours of frustration.

In short, whilst the hardware installation was a little fiddly but otherwise straightforward, the issues encountered with software installation would make me lean towards recommending the Chenbro case only for the initiated, unless you can find a pre-installed Chenbro system on the market. 

The Verdict

Without a doubt, the Chenbro ES34069 is the best looking home server self-build system on the market - it’s well-built, and less industrial looking than it’s nearest competitior, the Norco DS-520. The Chenbro definitely looks more at place in the home rather than an office, or factory floor. In combination with the EPIA SN motherboard, it makes for a cracking specification which will give you ease of expansion (particularly when it comes to storage and memory) in the future.

It’s safe to say, there are easier systems to build out there - if you’re used to building your own hardware, issues with driver configuration and some of the more fiddly aspects of the hardware build itself will be overcome easily. If you’re looking for your first build, this one may offer a couple of challenges - not insurmountable at all, but be prepared for some furrowed brow moments.

The key question in my mind is whether to recommend the Chenbro against an OEM pre-built home server - certainly, many enthusiasts would much prefer to build their own systems, select their own components, tinker, tweak and optimise performance of the home server over a few days and for that community, I’d unreservedly recommend the Chenbro as offering everything you need from a self-build system that gets as close to the storage expansion of the HP MediaSmart Server as anything else on the market right now - and your chosen specification will undoubtedly be higher than the HP model, so it’ll run faster. Bear in mind though, as a “high spec” self build system, the price difference between a Chenbro build and an OEM system may not actually be that great - you’ll be building this for love, not as a discount option.

However, if you’re looking for something a little easier to set up and run, that offers a little less freedom of specification choice, but comes with support, then at this point, the WHS OEM market, whilst still small, offers a better choice of options.

For more information and puchase options for the Chenbro ES34069, along with the other hardware components discussed in the review, head on over to mini-itx.com where you’ll find a rich information resource on a wide range of home server components and more.

Discuss: Chenbro WGS Forum