Mick Brown builds a Windows Home Server
Mick Brown built a low cost system that has plenty of storage space. He says: "the main purpose was to allow all our family photos, videos, movies, music and documents to be stored in one location. I wanted a system that would run constantly and quietly. The WHS is more flexible than a NAS. It sits in a corner out of the way and runs 24/7.
Mick is a family man with 4 kids, and says: "The first is just entering the danger zone (teenager) and our data storage requirements have increased significantly. I have an undergrad IT degree but I don't work in IT. I like my electronic toys. I like building PC's. The WHS is my second attempt. I think a media centre is the next project.
CORE SYSTEM
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E5200 - $109why you chose cpu I wanted a low cost solution that was above the minimum spec required for a windows home server. The E5200 was at the top of the list. It is never stressed by the system.
COOLING: Antec 80 mm Tri Cool fans - $13 Why you chose this cooling solution The CPU uses the stock cooler. The case came with one rear mount 120 mm fan. I added a front 80 mm fan to suck cool air in. I added a side mounted 80 mm fan to blow cool air from outside directly onto the CPU.
MOTHERBOARD: Gigabyte G31M-ES2L - $99Why you chose this motherboard Again I wanted a low cost option. Another reason is that setup of the server requires a monitor. This board has onboard graphics. No need for a separate video card taht would become redundant once setup was complete. I have a wired network running through a router with a gigabit switch and the gigbit ethernet port was a requirement.
GRAPHICS: Onboard - $0Why you chose this graphics card The server runs without a monitor attached. There was no requirement for a graphics card. It only requires a monitor during initial setup and the integrated graphics is more than capable of handling this task.
RAM: Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400 2GB - $52.95Why you chose this RAM This was cheap at the time and provided more than enough RAM for the server. The minimum spec is 512 MB. The system isn't doing any video or audio encoding nor is it required to handle games. 2GB is a bit of overkill but.....
AUDIO: None - $0 No requirement for audio
HARD DRIVE 1: Western Digital WD10EVCS - $177A Windows Home Server is all about storage. I chose the AV-GP series in an attempt to get longer life out of a system that runs 24/7. These drives are designed to operate in a PVR which is a fairly harsh environment. The other alternative was server drives which are very expensive.
HARD DRIVE 2: Western Digital WD10EVCS - $177Why you chose this second hard drive This drive is the same model and capacity as the first drive.
HARD DRIVE 3: Western Digital WD10EVCS - $146Why you chose this third hard drive "This is the third HDD for this system. It is the same model and capacity as the first two. The WHS now has 3 TB of storage. This drive was sourced from a differnet store. It is from a different batch and hopefully won't fail at the same time as the first two. I will probably add a fourth drive soon.
OPTICAL DRIVE: HP 1060d DD writer - $39Why you chose this optical drive I just need a cheap drive to install the OS from the DVD. It is only used now for updates and backup.
PSU: Antec Came with Case - $0 The PSU is an 80PLUS Certified power supply that came with the case and provides more than enough power.
CASE: Antec NSK 4480B - $148Size, build quality, cooling options and noise. The case has ample expansion room if I upgrade components. It has a duct that allows cool air from outside the case to be directed onto the CPU.
Core system cost: AUD $960.95
EXTRAS
MONITOR: N/A - $0I used an old 19" Dell LCD monitor for setup of the system and then disconnected it.
KEYBOARD: Reused old dell keyboard - $0A keyboard and mouse is only required for initial setup.
MOUSE: Microsoft Basic Optical mouse - $0Reused an old mouse as its only required for setup.
OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows Home ServerTher ereally is only one option when building a home server. I hope the next version comes in 64 bit. I looked at the options for storage of our data. I thought of a NAS, but I settled on a WHS for the flexibility and I wanted to see if I could build one.