server\salvage build please help!

taylor laidlaw

Honorable
Jul 23, 2013
3
0
10,510
so lets start with the parts I have, I have an:
I3 -2120
6 gigs of Kingston ddr3 1333 value ram
a 140gb ssd
various hdd ranging from 1tb to 2tb
not concerned about raid to much will be using cobian for my back ups
and Windows 8 Pro 64

this machine will be headless in a cabinet

I have been using it to rip dvd's (possible blu ray upgrade in future)
and then convert to manageable mp4 with handbrake and server it all up with plex to as many as 3-5 clients at once.

also using it as a file server to store and back up my 10,000+ picture and home videos along with a carbonite backup.

looking for a stable micro atx MOBO
a reliable PSU
and a quite, high airflow and hdd dense micro atx case

also do you think the cpu ram should be good for what I do.

I know when I convert the video files it maxes out the I3 but the system still handles it.
 

taylor laidlaw

Honorable
Jul 23, 2013
3
0
10,510
thank you for your contribution, but I would like to stick with Windows for these reasons:
I RDP into the system to preform ripping\converting and remote support (via Logme in) for my family when neccary.
I am very familiar with Windows and I have used Freenas before and I did a good job but I wanted more from it.
I utilizes the server as a computer to preform action when I do not want to use my laptop like a long file transfer, download or ripping/burning/converting discs....

just a little more insight to my situation
I started off with an old Dell SFF pc running FreeNAS as a single user experiment.
then I got lucky and was given a Western Digital NAS with Twonky media server built in. but I wanted more flexibility so I again was given from in laws business closing a 1 year old gateway with the above mentioned hardware. and now I want to rebuild for stability and some minor upgrades and tweaks.