On Sat, 29 Sep 2007, Timothy Murphy wrote:
I'm planning on getting a home server, serving httpd, ssh, mysql, dovecot, etc, and running Fedora 7.
I'd like something using as little energy as possible, given that I need 200-300GB in disk-space. But I don't need a monitor (or graphics card).
Is anyone running such a system? If so, I'd be interested to hear the hardware details.
I have been running for four years a VIA C3 800Mhz computer, with 512MB of RAM, and a pair of 80GB IDE drives. It pulls 45 watts from the wall when idle - and 55 when 'crunching' away.
A current system could be a PC-Chips M789CG motherboard.
Sure its not fast, but works well as a university department listserve for the students, a web site running moodle, and a file server for the staff.
For me, it was the lack of noise from the box that drove me to the VIA C3. There is a passive heat sync on the CPU - with a quite case fan clearing the heat.
I suspect that once the drives spin up, they don't draw any more then 9-10 watts.
Also, match the power supply to the load. If you only need 50 watts, do not buy a 400 watt power supply. I think I have a 150 or 200 watt power supply in my VIA C3 computer, LPX form factor.
ed