First Server Build Advice Needed!

[PlanetGong]

Hi

Having recently purchased a laptop to replace my desktop PC, I thought I would use the parts from my old desktop to make a server. The server is to be used to share files between two laptops both wired and wirelessly i.e. HD video and music and also transcode films for PS3 watching.

The parts I can salvage are as follows :

Gskill Falcon SSD Hard drive 64gb
Samsung Hard drive 500gb
Samsung Hard drive 1tb
Geforce 8800gt
2xDVD/RW Drives
Intel Q9450
Asus P5Q Pro motherboard

Now I'm thinking that a lot of this stuff would be wasted in a server, so I am thinking I should sell some bits (i.e. the graphics card), and replace them with less powerful versions, saving myself some cash. So the question is, what to keep, what to flog, and what to replace the flogged stuff with! Or sell all of it and buy a purpose built server?

I was thinking of using Windows Home Server as I don't think I need anything more powerful for my needs?

I also use SABnzbd, I assume I could get this setup on the server?

As you can probably tell I've never tried anything like this before, so would appreciate any help and advice you can give!

Thanks.

 

[PlanetGong]

Sell it as a complete desktop and buy a microserver I reckon.

Any one in particular?

 

[PlanetGong]

Anyone?

 

[PlanetGong]

Excellent, cheers guys. I take it it's pretty easy to setup for a novice like me? Is it best to get 4 hard drives and run them in RAID?

 

[PlanetGong]

So I could run 4 drives on RAID, and then use the supplied drive for the OS? I think I am going to go for WHS 2011.

Is there anything that needs upgrading on the server if I want to do transcoding for PS3 media server etc, i.e. does it need a RAM upgrade?