I'm installing a whole house audio system that will be powered by a computer that's running 24x7. I have a Zotac Ion board with a dual core Atom processor that came with a 90w laptop-style power supply. The initial thought was only a very efficient computer that would run all day. I'm going to put a touch-screen monitor in my kitchen wall that will control the music and will also let me watch OTA TV, browse the web, check weather and traffic and possibly run a camera on my front porch. The more I think about it, the more I want this box to serve as a NAS as well.
My networking skills are horrible. I can build and diagnose PC problems very well but I've never had to do much networking, therefore, I don't know the best approach to this. I will be running Win7 64-bit Pro. I have two laptops, a gaming PC and a 360 that I would like to have access to the Atom computer running 24x7. Inside the Atom PC will be an Intel X25 40GB SSD boot drive that will hopefully make using the computer much peppier. I will also have two or three 2GB internal drives to house all the music and all my movies and TV shows.
I'm just looking for the best way to accomplish this. I'm thinking it's going to be rather simple and just make all the Atom drives network accessible, except for the SSD that will only house Win7 and a few apps I want to run quickly. Does this sound like the way to go, or should I make a separate NAS?
Lastly, the Zotac Ion board I have runs around $170. I have a P35 board + E4300 CPU collecting dust as well as a new 430w Earthwatt PS. The thought was power savings with the Atom but if I could somehow put this computer to sleep and allow it to wake up very quickly when someone wanted to access things that would work well. I could sell the Zotac Ion board and just use what I have. Plus, having the beefier power supply would probably be nice with all the hard drives and the E4300 is probably 5x faster than the Atom!
Thanks for any insight!
My networking skills are horrible. I can build and diagnose PC problems very well but I've never had to do much networking, therefore, I don't know the best approach to this. I will be running Win7 64-bit Pro. I have two laptops, a gaming PC and a 360 that I would like to have access to the Atom computer running 24x7. Inside the Atom PC will be an Intel X25 40GB SSD boot drive that will hopefully make using the computer much peppier. I will also have two or three 2GB internal drives to house all the music and all my movies and TV shows.
I'm just looking for the best way to accomplish this. I'm thinking it's going to be rather simple and just make all the Atom drives network accessible, except for the SSD that will only house Win7 and a few apps I want to run quickly. Does this sound like the way to go, or should I make a separate NAS?
Lastly, the Zotac Ion board I have runs around $170. I have a P35 board + E4300 CPU collecting dust as well as a new 430w Earthwatt PS. The thought was power savings with the Atom but if I could somehow put this computer to sleep and allow it to wake up very quickly when someone wanted to access things that would work well. I could sell the Zotac Ion board and just use what I have. Plus, having the beefier power supply would probably be nice with all the hard drives and the E4300 is probably 5x faster than the Atom!
Thanks for any insight!
