I am going to keep this post short and sweet. Here is my pick of hardware, (What I feel is the best bang for your buck) for a home server. I will put together a $400 base build and I will list some extra's you might want to pick up if you have the cash..

CASE $30: APEX PC-389-C Black Steel ATX (no frills case, had to go cheap... but there is plenty of room for modest upgrades down the road...)

PSU $40:  Rosewill Stallion Series RD400-2-SB 400W (400w may not seem like a lot but this should handle our system just fine. You could even upgrade to a middle-weight graphics card down the road and be ok)

When building any kind of computer, the first task is deciding on what hardware to purchase. There are several different routes you can take when it comes to building/buying a home server. I have listed what I consider to be the three most common options.

The first, and perhaps cheapest, is to buy a pre-built server from HP, Gateway, Dell, or any other number of major manufacturers... In most cases these devices will have a dual-core Intel Atom processor at best. They have a low power draw, are relatively quiet, are usually pretty small, and can be found for under $300 if you look carefully. Many of these run a full copy of Windows Home Server and therefore offer quite a bit of functionality in that regard. The downside is that in many cases they don't even have a display adapter; you have to "remote desktop" in to the unit if you want to do any configuration. This also means doing anything that requires a graphics processor goes out the window. No games, no photoshop... etc. Furthermore, the Intel Atom isn't exactly a powerhouse processor which can heavily limit some other functionality. Finally, their often small form-factor, while convenient, doesn't leave much room for upgrades. A better, albeit more expensive, route to take is to look into building your own Mini-ITX machine if you want something in this size with some more kick.

Finding a "place" for your home server  may prove difficult...

In the near future I want to write an article or two on how to build a LOW cost powerhouse home server. But before I do that, someone is going to ask, "Why a home server?" (Or why a server at all for that matter?) The answer to this question could go in a LOT of different directions so I figure I will just give you the reasons why I have a server set up at our house. Other can share their own reasons in the comments if they feel so inclined...


Here we go, my Top Four Good Reasons:

1. For School - this probably won't apply to too many of you but I personally am an IT student. I am learning all about this stuff, and by virtue of that it helps if I have at least some of the stuff I am learning about.

2. For Fun - this item will probably catch a wider swathe of my audience. If you came here to hack your WDTV, you probably would have a lot of fun playing with a server. Granted, another piece of technology to...