On 14/08/2015 12:54, A. J. Trickett wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I need to replace a small home server, and I've come to realise I
> don't actually need a full desktop sized box, as it won't be
> running X, and all it needs are a paired hard disks.
That's as I concluded some years back.
I mulled over the pros and cons of a Linux box versus an
over-the-counter NAT. I've used a couple of the latter in the past, but
was never, personally, very happy with them.
I built a fanless mini-ITX machine using parts from here:
http://www.linitx.com.
http://linitx.com/search.php?keywords=fanless
My machine is a 600MHz single-core via "i686" CPU, which is mostly fine
for me. I used a single 2.5" WD "Green" and the whole fileserver takes
around 12 or 15W IIRC. Headless means there're no graphics, so no CPU
or electrical power wasted there. I used a case that had a fan and
use that only if things get warm (and my office is pretty warm in
mid-summer). The fan rarely runs.
If building one again now, I'd probably go for one of the Bay Trail or
Atom CPUs. I doubt a quad-core would be needed as much throughput is
likely disc, Ethernet and DMA limited. The CPU/DMA isn't handling bits,
it's handling reasonable-sized blocks, so I doubt you need huge memory
either, for the same reasons.
There are better housing/bare-boners now than I bought then ... finned
cases and the like, that look very promising e.g.:
http://linitx.com/product/jetway-jbc400p93w-bay-trailm-n2807-barebone-system/14362
But ... only room for a single 2.5" drive, though, and only 4GB Ram!
Both of those might be a bit small and are smaller than you ask.
Larger are available, of course, but not finned I think.
G.
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