Building a small PC for home server, what stuff?

[LadFromWales]

Hey guys.

I'm looking to build myself a small computer in a case that can take at least 3 hard drives (4 would be even better!). I'd prefer SATA due to the cable size and leaving PATA free for optical and plugging in odd drives to do odd tasks.

It'll be running debian, not decided on whether or not I'll want an X server, though if I do, basic graphics should suffice, as it'll only be running XFCE or some other light window manager.

Main tasks will be running as a file server, NNTP, BitTorrent, FTP, HTTP, probably squid. It'll also be relied upon to serve the odd online game, so processor power would be nice!

I've had a quick look around, seen some mATX boards with AM2 and 4xSATA ports, but I thought I'd run it across you guys first.

The case is important too, as I'm looking to make this computer as small as possible, while still being able to hold 3+ hard drives.

Any ideas much appreciated

 

[Slinwagh]

I have just put together a Windows 2000 server based on..

Gigabyte DQ6
Intel P4 805D
Nvidia 6600GT
1Gb OCZ PC2-4200 533 Mhz
2 x 120 Gb Maxtor HDD

These were just bits I had dotted around, I had to buy a case, floppy and DVD-RW

My only mistake was buying a really cheap case with a generic 400w PSU which howled to say the least., I replaced that today with a Seasonic 430w PSU.

if you are planning on running Linux you could easily get away with a similar or lower hardware spec then I have just put together.

 

[BillytheImpaler]

How much are you looking to spend? If you say you can spend 1k I'll definitely spec a different machine that if you said you could spend 200.

 

[LadFromWales]

Billy: All in, including a couple of hard drives, I don't really want to spend more than £600 or so, but even thats over the top when I come back down to earth and really think, because its going to be running Debian, I really don't think it needs masses of power thrown at it. The only way to get old hardware now seems to be from the bay, no idea how reliable that'll be! I've been through three used Radeon's and all have had issues

Slinwagh: you have some pretty spiffy stuff just 'dotted around'! No Idea what a P4 805D is, so I don't know how it would compare to an AM2,C2D,SocketA or something.

Getting some good responses from the SFF board too, as the guys frequenting that board are probably in the know when it comes to tiny pc's