Recommend me parts for an always on computer

[Cellwind929]

I'm looking to build myself a computer thats on 24/7 and will do my file serving, streaming, and tv recording. Right now I use my desktop to record tv and store my files on a single 500 gig drive. I'm coming real close to outgrowing this and would like to move those tasks to a separate computer. Also, the current desktop throws off too much heat so a low power rig would let me throw the desktop into hibernation or whatever. I'm also going to do all of this in Linux.

Here are my wishes and needs:

Low Power, low heat, my room gets hot enough as is, due to being on 24/7
Low cost, looking towards the 200 to 300 dollar range excluding drives, open to higher priced ideas
Ability to stream videos across a local network to xmbc, daap, etc
Ability to record tv shows, using single tuner for now, dual later
Thinking about software raid 5 for redundancy
Expandable so more drives can be added later

I'm unsure what platform I should be looking for or what I should be doing for parts. itx? microATX? fullATX? AMD vs Intel? I looked at NAS solutions coupled with an itx board to do the streaming, but the problem there is having enough power for tv recording, plus NAS boxes that do raid 5 are expensive. A roll your own server sounds more suited to my needs.

Heres the parts list I have now:
Current desktop:
CPU: opteron 165
RAM: 2gigs DDR OCZ cant remember timings
Mobo: DFI Lanparty Ultra-D
TV tuner: ATI theatrix 550pro
OS Drive: Raptor 74gig
Storage: IDE 320gb, IDE 80gb, SATA WD 500gb, USB 320gb

Spare Parts:
2x P4 2.4 Northwoods
P4 2.6 celeron
Micro ATX socket 478 board, 3pci, 2IDE, no Sata (Celeron board from an Emachines)
Full ATX socket 478 board, 5 or 6 pci, 1x agp 4x, 2 IDE, no sata
Full ATX socket 478, 3 or 4 pci, agp 8x, 2 IDE, no sata
PCI sata card, 2 port
2x 40 gig IDE drives
1x 5 gig IDE drive

Willing to buy brand new everything, just wondering if anyone would recommend something crazy with the old parts or my current desktop. I'm not sure about relying on the old parts as they are second hand and don't know how long of a lifespan they have left.

I was thinking the X2 EE BE AMD processor thats rated for 45w, along with a compatible motherboard and ram would be a good platform. I've also considered waiting on the new 45nm Intel parts and building a new desktop, and reusing the opteron and 2 gigs of ram, getting a different s939 mobo that isn't a power hog like my DFI.

I'd definitely like to hear different recommendations on how to tackle these needs.

Thanks!

 

[LeonarD26]

Hey Cell, just wondering if you decided on your new 24/7 server build.

I'm hoping to setup something similar and am very curious what you came up with. I also have a opteron 165 laying around, but that's a pretty power hungry cpu for this task.

 

[LeonarD26]

oops! double post...

 

[Cellwind929]

Right now I'm leaning towardsthis AMD 45w X2 for a processor. Probably going to pair it up with a full ATX motherboard that has 4+ sata ports and gig lan. I'm also leaning towards 750gig drives, starting with three of them.

I have trouble pulling the trigger on this build though because something 3x as efficient will come out a month down the road.

 

[myocardia]

I would definitely be looking at something more along these lines, or what I chose, one of these. Note, the processor in the one that I bought is about twice as fast as the processor in the first two, even though it runs at a slower speed.

 

[Cellwind929]

I've looked at the D201GLY2 intel board. It looks perfect for my needs, problem is, I want to record tv on the server too. So to have software raid 5 and tv recording, I'd need to use the PCI slot for a Sata controller card, and hook up a tv tuner card to USB. I'm not sure the 1.5 celeron can handle software raid 5 and tv recording without barfing on itself. If I weren't trying to record tv, I'd probably go with that board. I'm actually considering dropping my tv recording requirement for that board.