Considering a Windows Home Server 2011 Build

[DeaconFrost]

I'm thinking with 4 1.5 TB drives, I'll still have a little over 4 TB of usable space in a RAID5 array, so that will be far more than I had with my older WHS 1.0 build. It gives me a little piece of mind knowing I have built-in redundancy from a tried and true technology, plus my backups.

 

[pparks1]

The hardware arrived in full and the box has been assembled. This thing is drop dead silent The only noise is a subtle vibration from the hard drives in the case. It's about as noisy as my laptop

Here is the starting point;

Here is the internal wiring;

Overall, i'm quite pleased with this case for $39. It's nothing fabulous, but it's got cutouts behind the CPU for adding coolers, it's got cut outs through the back for wiring. It's got space between the back panel and the motherboard tray to hide all of your wiring. It doesn't seem to have sharp edges, and the included 120mm fan is silent. For $10 more (Elite version), it had tool-less drive bays and a second 120mm fan. For you fan fans, you can add up to 7 case fans on this chassis. It has room inside for 3 x 5.25" drives, and 8 x 3.5" hard drives.

My only complaints with the case are
1) Very light, thus no real sound absorption (I expected this on a cheap case)
2). USB panel in the front is mounted upside down and cannot easily be changed.

 

[pparks1]

I've got Windows 7 loaded at present time, all drivers installed. For a low power CPU, and the fact I am running on 5,400 RPM green drives for my OS, this thing really scoots. Box is silent and CPU running between 35C and 45C on stock cooler and fans are all dialed down by the OS. I really like the Intel desktop utilities application, quick and easy place to go to see versions, temps, fan speeds, smart status, etc.

Ran WEI and scored a 5.1. My CPU got a 6.9, my memory a 7.4, Aero graphics 5.1, Gaming Graphics 5.8 and HDD a 5.9. I'm really happy with these results for this box and the fact that it's running integrated graphics.