Spec me a tiny server!

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I'm looking to offload some server tasks onto an external box, so I can turn out the 'main; biggy when I don't need it.

I used to use an old thinkpad to do that, but the hardware died on me and I have to move pretty basic services on the main workstation, where they don't really belong.

Basicaly I need a machine:
+ Micro/Pico/FemtoATX (yeah, the Femto is my own invention, no need to google )
+ Linux. I'll use Debian Stable or Unstable on it, no thrill stability
+ Headless. I don't need a screen at all; maybe for the initial install
+ One or two LAN, Gb a plus
+ ia32 architecture
+ 1GB ram will be plenty
+ Fanless, if possible ! The machine will be idle 99% of the time.
+ USB
+ No need for a CD drive, as long as it boots from USB sticks
+ One ATA for a 2.5" disk
+ One parallel port, or accessible GPIOs to drive a small LCD.

I just want the machine to run my DNS, DHCP, SlimServer (mp3 stream) and also receive, filter and serve my email with IMAP (dovecot). Possibly run apache with a very small set of services. Possibly also do my tunneling, if there's two LAN ports.
It doesn't need a lot of CPU grunt, it still needs to be able to serve email reasonably fast tho.

Oh, yes I'd love an eeebox, but it's windoze and I don't want to pay that tax. So the price point has to be LOWER than a ibox of course

I've looked at various boards, VIA or Atom, but just can't seem to find 'the' one...

 

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Having scavenged for parts, I realized I have a whole load of crap lying around that is far from worthless:
+ A core 2 duo E4300
+ Various DDR2 sticks, up to 1GB
+ A 120GB 2.5" disk

I so far I found the Jetway JNC91-230-LF -- Almost fits the bill completely, but it has only 100Mb/s ethernet.. I wonder if I could survive with that You can find it in a chassis for about £120... I'd reuse the disk and memory in there...

Second option is the Shuttle K45 mini-PC, I already have the memory, disk, and even have that old E4300 that would fit -- or I could buy a Celeron 440 for £10. My problem is that it'd be far from fanless.. But would give more options to reuse bits I have here...

Anyone for more ideas?

 

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Ok, I decided myself on the Jetway JNC91-230-LF Barebone System (google)

+ CPU: INTEL® Atom N230 1.6GHz
+ 1 * 240-pin DIMM Slot, DDR2 533MHz Max. 2GB
+ 2 * Serial ATA2 3Gb/s connectors
+ 1 * ultra DMA 133/100 / 66 IDE connector
+ 1 * Realtek RTL8102E PCI-E 10/100 Ethernet LAN

Comes with the case, PSU, mobo etc etc. It had a small PCI slot, parallel, 8 USB etc etc.

To make it resilient and silent, I will install s 160Gb PATA disk I have, but it will only be a 'backup' disk. The main system and data is:

2 * SATA to CF card adapter = £10
2 * 8GB Transcend x133 CF cards = £33
(from the auction site)

As a RAID 1 array, PLUS a daily mirror on the IDE disk. That will give me a good mix between security, and silence.

The case and CPU have fans but I expect them to be very quiet since the machine will be idle. The IDE disk will be powered off most of the time...

If the 100baseT is too slow. I will add a cheap Gb pci card to it...

Stuff is all on order, I'll post pics when I get it...

 

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I received the box; added ram and a disk, and installed debian. That was the 15 minutes easy bit.
Since then tho, I've been trying to turn the fans off, or to scale down the frequency etc. Truns out that either the Atom 230 doesn't support it, or the bios from Jetway is crap. I think there is a combination of both.

In any case, the little box is cute, but it's twice as noisy as my overclocked quad core full fat workstation, so that won't do.

I asked for support to see if someone knows of a solution, otherwise I'll return the box...

:/

 

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Well I made some progress here

+ The only 'controlable' fan header is the "cpu" one that ships with the 40mm fan of the chipset in.
+ the CASE fan is plugged on the sys1 one, and /that/ one id always full speed.
+ The 40mm fan has about 3 speeds I managed to measure : off, 1900, and full 4000+ rpms
+ The bios doesn't know about that and has it full speed all the time

So, I inverted the two fans, and magic, it worked ! The case fan I now run at ~1400rpm, and it's a hell of a lot quieter. The chipset fan is full speed, but it's not as audible being in the case itself..

So it's not /ideal/ and it's still noisy, but it's getting there...

 

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Where are you installing the server? How quiet is it? The reason I ask in my son and I have a lot of files and I'd like to store them on a server but the router is located in his bedroom.

Currently I have a USB HDD connected to my Airport Extreme that my MacBook connects to but this isn't very big and is useless for the PCs in the house. This drive makes a whirring noise that would keep me awake (not him though! ) so I would like the server to be quiet. Preferably quieter than the USB HDD.

It is still audible, but nowhere near as bad as before. The most audible noise now is the 2.5" disk parking (click). That should be solved when I get the CF cards installed.
I also know that there is still a way to make that chassis quieter; the temperatures don't go over 47C during a heavy kernel build -- thats with the case fan running at it's slowest setting of 1500rpms.

Now is it going to be less noisy than your usb disk, I don't know... is there a fan on your disk ?

 

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Ok, so returned the original Jetway case/mobo barebone. It was just too noisy in the end, and the case was too small. No room inside for cables, estras and such.

I received the new mobo and new case. The case is the Noah Mini-ITX Case and is far superior ! Good metal case (including front door), roomy but still very small on the shelf. 80W PSU, 80mm fan, room for the PCI slot (with a raiser).

The new mobo is the Jetway JNC92-230-LF -- it's a 'generation 2' atom board, diverging from the Intel design. It has Gigabit to start with, has PWM control over the 3 fan, has a 'daughterboard' where you can add stuff and so on.
It is otherwise equivalent to the previous one, same chipset etc, so I just transplanted my drives and off it booted.

Thats the lesson of the story here, you have to consider the ration space/expandability