Toby: The server's role got kind of downgraded when I upgraded my main PC. The server used to be an Athlon 1200 machine with 384MB of SDRAM, 1 8GiB HD (system drive) and 2x120GiB drives configured as 1x240GiB JBOD volume.
I used to dump large downloads on it and run eMule on it to save having my main PC on all the time (an AthlonXP 1900).
When I upgraded my main PC, it became obvious that
1) It was far quieter.
2) It used less power than with the Athlon 1200 server machine or the old 1900.
3) 300GB of HD space is great.
So, the Athlon 1200 got ripped out of the server and in went the 1900 plus as many HD's as I could cram in there (I had 4x40GiB drives in my main PC, replaced with 1x300GiB). It's now got somewhere just under 360GiB of storage in the server and occasionally I do dump large files on it.
My main PC does everything now, because it's so quiet and draws so little juice I don't mind it running 24x7. If I could locate the server somewhere else, I would have that running 24x7 too but I live in a 1 bedroom flat and the only place I could put it out of earshot is the kitchen. Not the best environment for a PC ;)
I used to dump large downloads on it and run eMule on it to save having my main PC on all the time (an AthlonXP 1900).
When I upgraded my main PC, it became obvious that
1) It was far quieter.
2) It used less power than with the Athlon 1200 server machine or the old 1900.
3) 300GB of HD space is great.
So, the Athlon 1200 got ripped out of the server and in went the 1900 plus as many HD's as I could cram in there (I had 4x40GiB drives in my main PC, replaced with 1x300GiB). It's now got somewhere just under 360GiB of storage in the server and occasionally I do dump large files on it.
My main PC does everything now, because it's so quiet and draws so little juice I don't mind it running 24x7. If I could locate the server somewhere else, I would have that running 24x7 too but I live in a 1 bedroom flat and the only place I could put it out of earshot is the kitchen. Not the best environment for a PC ;)