Hardware for a home server running Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V or Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2

Posted by David Hayes on Super User See other posts from Super User or by David Hayes
Published on 2011-01-05T00:23:48Z Indexed on 2011/01/05 0:55 UTC
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Hi, I'm planning to build a server to do the following

  • Act as a file server (videos, pictures music)
  • Run Squeezebox server
  • Run Zune Software to allow wireless syncing to Windows Phone 7

I'd also like to aim for

  • Low power usage (i'd settle for less than the 90-100Watts I'm using atm
  • Flexibility, I might want to add a web server or sharepoint or...
  • Something I can learn/test on, work is mainly a Windows shop but I do have Linux experience too
  • I'd like to take a look at App-V (application virtualization) too
  • I'd like it to cost less than $1000
  • Quiet would be nice but not essential (it'll be in the basement)

I'm thinking of getting a technet subscription to get access to Windows Server 2008 R2 at a reasonable price ($199) So my plan was this

  • Get a bunch of 2TB Caviar green drives to RAID up (RAID 1 or 6 probably)
  • Get a Quad core CPU (Intel i5/i7 probably)
  • Install a Hypervisor
  • Install w2k8 R2 Storage Server for a NAS
  • Install Windows 7 Pro to run Zune/Squeeze box
  • Install any other machines I want to play with

Questions

  • Can anyone see any issues with this or have any better ideas?
  • Do you think I'd need an i7 over an i5?
  • Is 4 cores enough/too much?
  • Can anyone sugest a nice, reasonably priced case that will hold 6-8 drives and stay cool
  • Should I wait for Sandy Bridge parts?

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