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Dave M · 21 Jul 2006 at 13:06

"Primo" AMD Athlon 64 3200 2.00GHz DDR System (FS-004-AS)

Seriously - those little Asus units are tough as old shoe leather, had one running for 3 years without a hiccup - it's still running actually but has been retired to a desktop machine.

MrWhippy · 21 Jul 2006 at 14:19

sounds like an ideal scenario for a mini-itx system.
will be tiny and very low power.

afraser2k · 22 Jul 2006 at 15:40

The fanless Mini-ITX boards are ideal for 24/7 servers, especially when running some form of Linux as a firewall/router. Just make sure you have idequate silent case cooling.

MrWhippy · 23 Jul 2006 at 13:02

smoove said:
Are they really suitable for being online 24x7?

absolutely, people have clustered them to build supercomputers.

VeNT · 23 Jul 2006 at 20:33

VIA Epia mobo then. or a old Pentium 2/K6

afraser2k · 23 Jul 2006 at 21:08

smoove said:
Thanks a lot. How much is the norm for the lowest spec possible?
eg, say 500mhz, 256mb ram?

In terms of cash you're probably better off getting the Primo system. Epia's can get expensive depending what you want out of it. A pre-built system based on Epia 533 MHz, 256Mb RAM and 40Gb HDD goes for around £286 inc. VAT from a competitor, though I don't know if I'm bordering on rule breaking for suggesting that.

The "Primo" AMD Athlon 64 3200 2.00GHz DDR System (FS-004-AS) will be cheaper short term depending on power usage and would be able to run the Windows stuff well too if you have to change in the future (more hard disk space for a file server for example).

A third option is to go for second-hand stuff in the Members Market. I'd say look for something about 600MHz, 512Mb RAM for a Linux server, 1Ghz+ for Windows.

Dureth · 23 Jul 2006 at 21:26

Something like the following would have seriously low power requirements, in the region of 100w.

CP-156-AM AMD Sempron 64 2800+ (Socket AM2) CPU - Retail (CP-156-AM)
£37.95 £37.95
MB-056-GI Gigabyte GA_M51GM-S2G Micro ATX (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-056-GI)
£49.95 £49.95
MY-013-SA Samsung Original 512MB DDR2 PC4200 533MHz (MY-013-SA)
£29.95 £29.95
HD-018-SA Samsung SpinPoint P SP2504C 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-018-SA)
£43.50 £43.50
CA-008-AS OcUK Value X-Qpack Cube Case - Silver (CA-008-AS)
£51.60 £51.60
Subtotal £212.95
VAT £37.27
Total £250.22

semi-pro waster · 24 Jul 2006 at 00:43

smoove said:
Isnt that just a little overkill for a basic linux filserver/smoothwall box?
Also, its got a 420w PSU, would it draw on that 420w all the time, or would it only use what it needs?

A PSU will draw the power that it needs to supply the system, ok there are some cheap and nasty PSUs that will take more as the requirements get higher because of a terrible lack of efficiency but as a general rule a PSU for a system that is 100w will draw pretty close to that figure from the mains regardless of whether it is capable of 300w or 600w.

Yes that would be overkill for the most basic uses you suggest, it does offer some potential for upgrades though and buying lower specification than that new isn't all that easy. I'd probably go secondhand personally, maybe even consider a laptop as most have low power requirements and are near silent, you may want to remove the battery if possible if it will be permanantly on. You should be able to pick up something around 1ghz, 512mb Ram and a 20-30gb hard drive easily under £200.

//edit the only main issue with the laptop is how well Linux will support its components.

Dureth · 24 Jul 2006 at 10:21

Yes the above is overkill for your requirements but buying something with lower spec will cost more unless going 2nd hand. It gives you some room for upgrade, will be pretty low power and pretty low noise. It's not the perfect answer to your problem but it is the best compromise between price and power without going 2nd hand.

Gibbs · 24 Jul 2006 at 10:32

i have a socket a duron 700Mhz if your interested. Plus also have a celron borad/cpu/ram in a box. not sure what spec but its good enough for your needs.

Also i have a mate who is looking rid of a AMD XP 2500+ Mobile CPU if its any use.

for a sime file server it doesnt take much.

a1ex2001 · 24 Jul 2006 at 12:15

I'd go Mini-itx I have a file server based on the really basic fanless 500Mhz EPIA which ran 24/7 while I was a student without a hiccup, uses next to no electricity and is more than powerfull enough to run a linux file wall with samba for you file serving needs.

semi-pro waster · 24 Jul 2006 at 15:48

smoove said:
Im a little concerned about using a laptop 24x7, since they're not designed for this purpose?

Maybe not designed for it but they can certainly perform the task admirably. At uni I shared a flat with 3 mates and we used my laptop(PIII 850mhz, 128mb Ram) as the server for routing the internet connection when the original server(PII 233, 256mb Ram) died, it was left on for weeks at a time so the battery is knackered true enough(hence my suggestion for removing it plus it will create less heat) but make sure it has enough airflow and it is fine.

Dureth · 24 Jul 2006 at 17:13

Or you go for a decent router and a NAS system for the same price. Much lower power and some of the NAS systems can be loaded with custom firmware. Will come out at the same sort of price too.