building cheap, compatible boxes for home lab

[cleverhandle]

I'm looking to assemble a small home lab (probably 3 machines) for network experimenting and MCSE practice. I don't need great performance, obviously - just small machines that play well with Linux and the Microsoft server OS's, and preferably as cheap as possible without being torturous to use. I know I could probably get the best deal buying used machines or going through eBay, but I am willing to spend an extra couple hundred dollars not to have to deal with varying configurations. Here's what I'm thinking so far:

CPU: one of the lower-end new Celeron's, perhaps? Or maybe a P3? Depends a lot on the choice of...

Motherboard: Here's where I really need help. Is there a good video/LAN integrated motherboard out there (preferably Intel, or at least an Intel chipset) that would 1) not give me any kind of compatibility issues and 2) not cost more than the separate components?

RAM: 256MB of whatever is appropriate for the mobo. Maybe 512MB for one machine if I want to set up Terminal Services.

Hard Drive: maybe I'll get some used ones, since I really don't need the space and speed of modern drives, and they don't generally present compatibility problems.

Case: Enlight mini-ATX w/250W PSU - cheap and small. Power should be adequate for a barebones system.

Monitor: I'll buy some used 15-inchers locally

Video: hopefully integrated, otherwise the old 32MB ATI Xpert

Sound: unnecessary

LAN: hopefully integrated, but if not, I need recommendations.

Floppy/CD/mouse/keyboard - generic


Any advice is, of course, greatly appreciated.

 

[Burtomat]

I work for a major repair computer retail chain and we have contracts with some local companies for PC repair.

In my personal opinion, you are limiting yourself by sticking with an Intel chipset. You can get a SiS735 board (i.e. K7S5A) with integrated LAN for around 60 bucks online. Pair that with 60 bucks for a 1 GHz Duron and you're set. If you still insist on an Intel, most of the corporate machines we handle have i810 or i815 chipsets. That means Celeron or P3, but if you want cheap, Celeron only. Some of the newer machines are i845 P4 machines with PC133, but still not cheap. When people ask us to build them cheap, reliable machines we use an ECS K7S5A with a Duron and PC133 paired with Windows 2000 Pro for an inexpensive workstation. If ECS isn't your cup of tea, MSI makes a good board at a good price. Sure, ASUS boards are great, but still expensive. As for an Intel-based board, the MSI 815ET Pro is around 100 bucks. That's my 2 cents.

 

[bigshooter]

When i had my home lab of 3 machines, i got a special of a kt133a mobo (biostar with integradted video) 128megs or pc133 and duron 750 for $129. This was a good deal at the time since it was a while ago. I then added 3 ten gig drives adn 3 linksys network cards. I had some ram left over from other systems that i threw in, but other than that i was fine. You don't need more than 256 megs of ram for test systems, especially with the price of stuff today. Also don't buy intel. You'll end up spending more money for something that isn't any more compatible with win2k server than AMD, especially if it's jsut for a test lab. My computers did everything they needed to, I basically used them for learning Exchange 2000 and migrating from Exchange 5. Just check for whatever the cheapest stuff you can find is. No matter what you run... 256 megs will be enough ram, and you don't need anything faster than 600-700 mhz for a processor. It might take a little longer to do some things, but if you're using the lab just for learning, you won't be taxing the system that much. Remeber you can always upgrade if you NEED something later.

edit: Make sure you get at least a 17" monitor. That's where your money should go. A 15" for long periods of time really sucks, and if you are going to use TS, then you'll want a bigger desktop. Also you might not even want to get cases as long as you have power supplies. I just had my machines on a wooden rack that I had set up. I wasn't too concerned about them and thought it looked cool anyways.

 

[Pariah]

Try these:

Shuttle

Very small size makes them convenient if you need a bunch, and very cheap considering almost everything is integrated.