[nylug-talk] Slim home server for samba and subversion (and possibly IMAP)

[Alexander L. Belikoff]

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OK, it's usually considered bad style to reply to one's own letter, but
that's the only way to cover all of the responses...

As I said, I already run a server with a fairly low footprint (Asus
Pundit). I am pretty happy with it functionality- and stability-wise.
There is absolutely no reason why I would switch it for another
"regular" PC. So those are out of question.

Mac Minis and other gadgets that come with smallish (yeah, I know - my
first "real" hard drive was whopping 5meg) drives with no replacement
option are also out of consideration. Yes, I know about Firewire, USB,
and external drives but somehow I don't fancy having *two* boxes, each
one with it's own power supply instead of one. This also rules out the
ultimately hackable NSLU2.

Old laptops - well, same reason as above. I doubt, there are affordable
500+Gb 2.5" drives. I also don't think they are as reliable as their
3.5" cousins. This is in addition to the questional reliability of old
(and used) hardware and potentially mediocre power and noise
characteristics. Overall, I just don't see much benefit of this option
compared to what I already have.

Energy-efficient PCs (EPIA etc.). I know nothing of those - this is one
of the reasons why I started this thread. Apart from general wisdom, has
anyone used them in the field? What are the practical models out there?
How expensive are they?

Finally, there are the beefed-up NAS enclosures, that can be hacked to
run servers, like the LinkStation or Kuro Box. If they are capable of
serving files reasonably fast for practical home purposes (iPod sync, no
streaming) as opposed to doing it merely as a proof of concept, then it
might be the solution I'm looking for. But again, it would be very
interesting to hear from the other people using such devices.

I've already burned myself once plopping $130 on a MediaGate "media box"
enclosure, which also had a dedicated hacking community and glowing
reviews, only to find out that it performs only so-so (for reasonably
comfortable living room usage) and that it's UI is absolutely horrendous
usability-wise. I'd rather not repeat such a mistake. :-)

- -- Sasha
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