Case and mainboard use Supermicro’s “Universal I/O” spec, which lets you have 3 I/O cards on a 1U server (2 full height, 1 low profile). This way we can add 2 4-port gig cards to get the port count we need.

Case options:

• 4 disk SC111LT-330U $207.50
• 8 disk SC113TQ-330UB(no product page, similar to this 500W version) $297.50

mainboard: X9SPU-F $204.95

CPU Options:

• 1220LV2 2 core (4 thread) 3.5MB cache 17W $219.65
• 1265LV2 4 core (8 thread) 9MB cache 45W $323.75

I/O Risers:

• Supermicro RSC-R1UU-UE16 – 1 UIO, 1 PCI-E(x16), Passive $23.50(interpro)
• Supermicro RSC-R1UU-E8R+ – 1U Riser Card – Right Slot – 1 PCIe x8 LP $18.50(interpro)

network card:

• 2x Intel E1G44HTBLK Server Adapter I340-T4, PCI-E 2.1 x4, $253(newegg) $299(interpro)
• ( AOC-UG-i4 $198.50 each → $397 NOTE uses UIO so only one can go in the machine and is more expensive and less flexible so we’re not using it )

RAM options, DDR3-1660 ECC/Reg:

• 2x 4gb $43.95 → $87.90
• 2x 8gb $71.50 → $143

heatsink: SNK-P0046P $19.25

disk: 2x Intel 520 60gb SSDs $106.50 → $213 (or something bigger ~$400)

Potential Totals:
Lowest config: 4 disk case, 2 core cpu, 8gb ram, small SSDs: $1349.25
Highest config: 8 disk case, 4 core cpu, 16gb ram, larger SSDs: $1785.45

Trade offs:

• Having more disk slots gives us more flexibility for adding or resuing the case later, at a cost of $90
• Having 4 cores instead of 2 gives us more capacity and flexibility for reuse, at a cost of $104 and 45W cpu instead of 17W cpu (although the 45W will run at lower power if not in use)
• Having 16gb instead of 8gb RAM isn’t needed now, but will allow us to keep the hardware longer for other uses, at a cost of $55 (and uses a few more watts of power).
• Having large SSDs isn’t needed now, but allows us to keep them longer, at a cost of ~$200