GIGABYTE GA-C847N (and other NM70 boards)

[LePhuronn]

I'm building a simple web server I can chuck into my bag with my Mac when the other half demands my presence and I have to leave the main systems behind. Also my existing server is hot and loud now and needs to be replaced anyway.

So, how about these NM70 boards with embedded Celeron 847s? That Gigabyte one has dual Gigabit Ethernet on it, which could be handy. OK, it has a PCI slot on it, but I'm looking at the Antec ISK110 for the case, so wouldn't use any expansion slots anyway.

So yeah, NM70 with Celerons on them. Discuss.

 

[LePhuronn]

That's a sexy little board is that Supermicro. More expensive than the entire server I was looking to build but I may swing some external financing in the future

It's a web development server that I don't expose to the web. I do a lot of internal-use corporate stuff so I don't have tests or builds online, hence needing to take it with me if I'm working elsewhere. My current "server" is a pile of old Athlon bits running Windows 2000 Server and XAMPP for PHP work so I'm more than confident the embedded Celeron will be fine, however it's looking like I need to switch to ASP.NET and SQL Server.

That Celeron should be OK to run a development environment shouldn't it?

 

[LePhuronn]

...why don't you just buy a proper computer and run Linux or Windows and then you could run a virtual web server on the same computer

I like building computers

Besides, I find it too messy and cluttered to have a server running on my main dev computerss. I usually have at least 5 projects on the go at once and it aids my workflow to have everything running on a separate server.

I have XAMPP running on my MBA at the minute for when I'm out and frankly I find it a pain in the ass with folder permissions and faffing with hosts files to get more than one site running.

You could even "hack" your mac and run Linux or Windows on that and then use something like KVM (on Linux) or Client Hyper-V if you go with Windows 8 Professional.

I don't know if it's just me but I don't really go with Virtual Machines. I'd rather invest some pocket money in getting an actual computer.

That, of course, may well have to change when I get into heavy ASP.NET stuff (shudder).

Will also save you from carrying another appliance around with you in your bag

Hence the Mini ITX form factor in an Antec ISK110