John,

In message <17555 dot 5281 dot 777573 dot 705064 at stoffel dot org>, John Stoffel
<john at stoffel dot org> writes
>I've been looking for a home server box, something that's got a serial
>console, plenty of memory, dual disks (for RAID 1) and a resonable
>processor.  Something that I can stuff in a corner where it won't make
>much noise and just serve up stuff:  NFS, CIFS, MySQL, HTTP, PHP,
>etc.  A nice home server.  Doesn't need sound, video or anything like
>that.
>
>A need for a KVM setup is a deal breaker.  I keeping thinking an old
>Solaris UltraSPARC would do it, but it would be too loud/power hungry.
>
>Boy, I do want everything!  :]

I'm currently using Compaq SFF machines as servers here.  I have a
Deskpro EN SFF 733MHz running Linux with 2 x 250Gb SATA disks (with a
PCI SATA controller) - one disk sits in the CD-ROM bay in an adapter.

The other machine is a Compaq EVO D510 SFF 2GHz P4, again with two disks
but 2 x 80Gb Maxtor IDE quiet ones on the built-in controller and again
one of them sits in the CD-ROM bay.

Both machines have a 'Network Server Mode' which allows them to boot
'headless' without keyboard, mouse and monitor.  I have a Compaq KVM so
mine don't need to be set in that mode.

I picked the EVO up for £100 on eBay recently.

Incidentally, I'm using a 350MHz Compaq EN SFF for m0n0wall, with an 8Mb
Nikon CF Card.

These SFF machines are reliable and are generally quiet - a lot depends
on the disk and the processor fan on the EVO winds up when doing heavy
processing.

HTH,


                                Neil.

-- 
Neil A. Hillard                E-Mail:   m0n0 at dana dot org dot uk