How-To Geek

Hello,

I am about to embark on my first real computer build, and I was hoping some people wouldn't mind checking out my parts list for me. The goal is a high-capacity RAID1, but otherwise bare-bones network home file server, hopefully for around $500. It will only serve a couple PCs at the most at any one time. The drive capacity, RAID, and cost are the most important factors to me. Secondary considerations would be something that runs somewhat cool, quiet and with low power usage. I reason that since the sole purpose of this machine is a file server, I can scrimp on the typical performance features in order to keep cost down. Here's my list (all prices are before tax, shipping, and rebate)...

Motherboard/Processor/RAM:
ECS GF6100-M754 (Micro ATX, Athlon 3200, 512 MB RAM)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/.....6813135082
$84 (really a sweet deal with a $20 rebate right?)

CPU Fan/Heatsink:
MASSCOOL 5F263B1M3 80mm Ball CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/.....6835150010
$13

Case:
APEX TX-346 ATX Mini Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/.....6811154050
(I'll probably order this from Amazon instead since it's cheaper with free shipping)
$40

Power Supply:
(The case comes with one, but its probably not very good)
Rosewill RV350-2 350W ATX 2.2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/.....6817182023
$20

Hard Drives:
Western Digital Caviar GP WD10EACS 1TB 5400 to 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/.....6822136151
$170 X 2

Network Card:
TRENDnet TE100-PCIWN 10/ 20/ 100/ 200Mbps PCI Ethernet Adapter 1 x RJ45
http://www.newegg.com/Product/.....6833156107
$10

OS:
Probably Ubuntu

As far as I can tell, the motherboard has all I need for RAID1 (two SATAII ports). Any thoughts and advice would be much appreciated. Thank you all in advance for your time.
~Mike

If you are building a file server go with a ATX board rather than mATX, you will have a lot more SATA ports (probably 6) for future hard drives (also make sure your case can fit them).

Also you definitely want a Motherboard with DDR2, and I am not sure that that motherboard supports raid. just because it has two ports does not mean it has a raid controller. Sadly I can't get the spec part to work on newegg to check for you.

yup it certainly has raid,
i also suggest u get ddr2 ram, approx 1-2 gig ram will be good
i personally would go for xp pro but it would add extra cost and everyones tastes are diff so yeah
i suggest u get a good quality network card since this is a file server
make sure ur case is big enough to allow for future upgrades and i support johnhills idea to go for a ATX board

come back and tell us how it all works out

Good Luck
DRIFTA