Need help finding the perfect system

[lees1183]

Hi,

I am new here. I am not new to computers, but I am new in the sense that I do not know what is out there nowadays. The following is what I want in a system:

1. The system will be used as a (debian,centos, or gentoo) linux server for raid1 storage, ftp, ssh, httpd, svn server, etc.
2. decent CPU
3. mini form factor (maybe a booksize or something)
4. 1TB raid1
5. 2-4GB ram
6. dvd writer (not necessary)

I do not need a vid card, integrated is fine, two NICS would be optimal

and i need it to be quiet, and cheap. i care mainly about disk space and raid1, and it can be software, i just need the case to be able to fit at least 2 SATA drives


Anyone know of any good suggestions? thanks much

 

[IlllI]

#3 and #4 together would be difficult to accomplish i think

 

[lees1183]

i can live with software raid, but I get the feeling you mean fitting two 3.5 SATAs into a booksized case. In that case, what else is out there that doesnt take a big footprint?

This system will be mainly data bound meaning that I dont need high CPU speeds. Anything moderately modern should suffice. Is there anything out there that is smaller than those Shuttle cases but bigger than the MSI Wind ?

 

[WildW]

A shuttle case isn't that much bigger than a (small) motherboard with a couple of 3.5" drives above it, but I suppose it is a bit more cube-like than it needs to be. If you want smaller, would you consider a wider but not as tall micro-atx case, or are we talking ITX size?

Just as a thought, it looks like you can buy a backplane to fit 4 x 2.5" hard drives in a single 5.25" drive bay.

e.g. http://www.electronicsshowplac...ackplane-p-194280.html

Then just add 4 x 500GB sata laptop drives. Not a "cheap" solution perhaps, but would let you fit 1TB mirrored raid in a smallish case - say a skinny micro-atx. If you want ITX I'm not so sure - they don't seem to have 5.25" slots.