Computer Setup

So i just build my computer.....well upgraded from quad core 9550 to core i7 now with my old computer, i was thinking of making that a data server, and having my main rig just os and applications and having the serve on a 2 gig connection to the network does that seem feasible. I have 4 1tb hard drives i wanted to do them in a raid 5 however the Intel controller on the x58 chipset will not let me do non boot raid setup so i can only get 2tb max in that setup. The i know on board raid isn't the best but raid controller cards are expensive. I will basically use this server for all my data, website creation movies, and music store. i have my os on a raid 0 2x 300gb veloci raptor. Let me know what your ideas are. My appreciation!!

Having a quad core running as a file server is a bit overpowered....but if you already own it...you might as well continue to get use out of it. It will just consume more energy than necessary for a typically file server.

I'm not sure that I would be concerned with trying to get a 2gbps network connection. A 1gbps link can theoretically transfer about 125MB/s which is more than most hard drives are going to support anyway.

As far as the hard drives and how they are configured...that's all up to you. I would typically just run the discs standalone myself. As you noted, RAID cards are expensive...but onboard software and mobo fake raid just really doesn't bring the performance that I would want.

You can usually set up a non-boot array buy leaving one drive out of the array, and installing the OS to that drive. If you plan to use this as a file server, I would deifnitely consider WHS, as it would pool your drives together for you. If it was me, I'd sell the 9550 and get a lower end processor to handle the server duties, and put the difference towards the cost of WHS.