Making a new Windows Home Server

[Unclejunebug]

I'm going to be building a home server in the next few weeks but I'm new to the idea of picking out hardware for server use and configuring everything correctly. The server will be used for Windows and file backups so it seems to me that not much power will be needed in order to do what I need to do. My goal is to build something cost effective and low power since it will be left on 24/7. I would also like to setup a RAID 5 array with some Samsung Spinpoint drivers for all the backup storage so I can have some level of fault tolerance since my wife will be storing a lot of family documents/images/videos that I would hate to lose.

My initial thought was to use a combo from newegg and I thought this one looked like it would fit the bill (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.679918). It's a full system with a good PSU which is rare for a combo this cheap.

I also saw this board though currently on sale at newegg and thought of building a system around it...

BIOSTAR TH67B LGA 1155 Intel H67 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138308)- $60

I do prefer Intel to AMD but I really won't be directly interacting with the server all that much so either should work just fine.

Anyone have any input on good hardware choices? Are there compatibility issues between desktop boards and Windows Home Server 2011? Anything I should watch our for/take into consideration?

EDIT: Dang, just realized the mobo in the AMD combo doesn't have integrated video. Hmm.

[~~ArdEnuff~~]

I'd advise a low power setup like Intel Atom or similar coupled with eco/green drives.

[PXT263]

How about this?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.687210

The i3-2100 has built-in Intel HD Graphics 2000. The motherboard has a VGA and DVI out.

[Unclejunebug]

How about this?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.687210

The i3-2100 has built-in Intel HD Graphics 2000. The motherboard has a VGA and DVI out.

That is a nice combo, the only issue is that the motherboard doesn't support RAID. I could get a RAID card but I'm trying to avoid the added cost.

[PXT263]

Well then, custom build here we go.

$59.99 (Shell Shocker) - BIOSTAR TH67B microATX (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138308). It supports RAID 0/1/5/10.
$124.99 - Intel Core i3-2100 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115078)
$26.99 Mushkin Enhanced Essentials 2x2GB DDR3 1333 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146748)
$49.99 Rosewill Challenger ATX Mid Tower Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153). Now I know it says it's a gaming case, but you can fit quite a few hard drives in there. It also has good ventilation.
$130.17 SeaSonic X series SS-400FL 400W 80+ GOLD (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151097). I know this PSU is a bit expensive, but if you're going for 24/7, might as well cut that energy bill down. Plus it saves the environment!

$18.99 Samsung CD/DVD Burner (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151233)
$59.99 Microsoft Windows Home Server 2011 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832416443)

Total before hard drives: $471.11

Now I know you want Spinpoint F3's, but what's the point in a home server that's running 24/7? Might as well get some Eco drives to lower heat.

$54.99/ea SAMSUNG EcoGreen F2 1TB 32MB Cache (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152173)

[Unclejunebug]

Now that's more like it! I do like this build. I have been debating whether to go with the i3-2100 or the i3-2100T. The i3-2100T is a little more expensive but it's 35W compared to 65W which would be nice for both heat and power consumption. And 5400rpm drives are probably the better choice.

How about hardware compatibility with Windows Home Server? I've never used the OS or the 2003 version so I'm not very familiar with how much hardware was compatible with the old version and how much to expect will be compatible with 2011.

EDIT: And as far as the case goes, I don't care what it looks like as long as it can house the amount of drives I'll be using. Probably 4 total.

[PXT263]

The Windows Home Server is x64 and the i3-2100 and the i3-2100T both support 64 bit OS's.

I don't see what's wrong with the i3-2100T, if you're willing to pay $10 more.

The Rosewill Challenger can support up to 5 of those 1TB drives.

[Phosphor94]

You're going at this all wrong, you could REUSE a computer as a Windows Home Server.

But if you are going to be getting a NEW computer to use as any sort of server, then the best options is to BUY a server,

This is more than enough for file storage and backups. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16859105954) You are limited with RAID options (0-1) but you can have up to 4 drives, so you could easily get four 2TB in RAID 1 and have 4TB of usable space with no worry of losing data. But, that doesn't mean anything if you are going to have this server running 24/7 with consumer drives. You need server drives *Seagate Constellation is what we use at work* which cost upward of $200. Also, with that server, the power consumption is ULTRA LOW!

I myself am currently doing an I.T. traineeship and working with a lot of servers, I just installed and am starting to configure Windows Small Business Server 2011 on my first gaming rig *E8400, EP43-DS3l, 500GB HDD, 1TB HDD, 4GB RAM, GTX260, 550w PSU* just to get some experience with servers.

[PXT263]

Though I hate buying pre-assembled stuff, that looks pretty good, though I wonder if it comes with a SATA drive.

[Phosphor94]

Though I hate buying pre-assembled stuff, that looks pretty good, though I wonder if it comes with a SATA drive.

Buying a pre-built desktop computer and buying a pre-built server are COMPLETELY different things though, every server I have seen or worked with have been HP or Dell or IBM or Lenovo or Acer, none at all have been custom built servers and while it is possible to do, it is in no way cost effective. *Actually, I have seen custom built computers used for security cameras*

It comes with a SATA drive, I don't exactly remember which drives HPs tend to come with, it would be a Seagate though.

[Unclejunebug]

You're going at this all wrong, you could REUSE a computer as a Windows Home Server.

This was my original plan. I have an old P4 system that I was going to use but the mobo has no PCIE slots or SATA ports and the CPU obviously doesn't support 64bit OS's and finding WHS 2003 is getting increasingly more difficult. I also have a Q6600/Mobo/RAM combo laying around but I was planning on selling that in the near future.

Maybe getting a PCI controller card isn't the end of the world though. These two are reasonably priced (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=Property&N=100007607&IsNodeId=1&PropertyCodeValue=1932%3A18488%2C1935%3A12552&bop=And&CompareItemList=410|16-102-065^16-102-065-S01%2C16-124-034^16-124-034-TS) and the Syba actually supports RAID 5. Although I'm starting to rethink the need of a RAID array. I really was wanting to do it just to do it but maybe it's not the most practical thing to do in this application.

The PCI controller card would also be the cheaper option. I would just need the card, HDs, and a new PSU.