My own mini-ITX server acts as our xDSL gateway (PPPoE client), runs apache2 (web), smtpd (incoming email), spam filtering, imap/pop3 (for email clients), cupsd (print server), NFS/Samba fileservers, vpn/ssh (for remote access), manages our backyard kitty-cam, records/reencodes scheduled CBC radio shows off the web, acts as our complete SPI firewall (with custom enhancements), holds/serves my entire online photo archives, and half a dozen other minor services that I've forgotten about.

Needless to say it uses (Debian) Linux for the task, which enables it to just work fine on low-power hardware. The motherboard is a VIA EPIA-CL6000E, chosen because it is totally fanless/silent and has *two* onboard 10/100 ethernet ports, plus a plethora of other built-ins including USB2, VGA, PS2 KB/Mouse, sound, parallel port, and a gazillion serial ports.

I've equipped it with 512MB of SDRAM, which is plenty. It could handle a full GB, but then it would consume more power for no good reason.

Fanless is *very* nice, so I paired it with a snap-on PSU designed for it (also fanless), which is fed from a +12V power brick (no fan there, either). One big (for the day) notebook drive on the inside, and voila -- a nice 24/7 micro-server.

It has been rebooted maybe 5 times in the past 3-4(?) years since installation: basically only when I needed to rearrange the power cords, or wanted to try a newer Linux kernel on it. It has already outlived one UPS, and watched silently as other systems came and went.

It has one now-open PCI slot, that used to house a third ethernet port for a DMZ for an old wireless AP we once had.


The interface/connectors are 100% identical -- no issues there.


That's not a heavy load by any stretch, so go for whatever system you can get that is fanless (silent!), assuming you are pairing it with notebook drives. And look for a motherboard that has dual-onboard ethernet, which will save you a couple of watts of power.

Cheers