My new Windows Home Server

I was on the beta program for Windows Home Server and ended up loving the product.  I ran the beta on an old PC that I had with a Via C3 processor, but it was a real dog performance-wise.  For my finished home server, I built up a new machine consisting of:

1. AMD BE-2300 45W TDP CPU with ECS Geforce6100SM-M motherboard from Fry’s ($88 when I bought the combo months ago.
2. Earthwatts EA-430 (I wish it were a 380W unit for better power conversion efficiency at the low powers that is being drawn from it) for about $20 after rebate
3. 1GB HP DDR2 ($15 after rebate)
4. Ultra MicroFly case (need to quiet down the rear exhaust fan though) for $40 after rebate
5. 500GB WD RE2 HDD that was a spare.  I wish it weren’t such a power hog, but it was available.  I’d rather get a more efficient Hitachi P7K500 or WD GP2, but I wanted to save money for the holiday.
6. Windows Home Server operating system for OEM builds (paid about $160 or so)

It’s ironic that the OS costs about the same as the hardware.  I would love to have used an open source build of a home server with the functionality of WHS, but unfortunately it doesn’t exist yet.

The build was easy, and I simply “dragged and dropped” my shared folders from the old server to the new one over the network.  The ECS motherboard isn’t GbE Ethernet, but neither is the rest of my network.  I reinstalled the WHS Connector on each client PC and all the backups are working fine.

With AMD’s Cool’n'Quiet software reducing the voltage and clock during periods of low load, the new WHS runs at 37-38W most of the time, which is about what the old Via machine used, which is a pleasant surprise.  If I get around to it, I’ll try a PicoPSU to lower the power draw even more.