digitaldefector,
I looked a bit into Amahi Server and it does seem that it is comfortable with older hardware- someone mentioned that it runs on an 800MHz with 1GB RAM.
My suggestion is that, especially if you're going to make a business of it, you might consider basing it on a consistent used desktop platform. The best one I can think of would be older series Dell Precisions. these are beautifully made, intended to run 24/7, all have good RAID controllers, and are very close to being servers, all but the low end will have ECC RAM. I have a T5400 and I can plug in Poweredge 1950 ECC RAM.
The lower end models can be very inexpensive. Have a look at >
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Precision-T3400-PC-Tower-Core2Duo-2-66GHz-DC-8GB-NO-COA-/331102078388?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item4d1738c5b4&nma=true&si=NAWeAaGaYaKKEGOcPUlJeO1jylQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
> which is a Precision T3400 with a Core2 Duo @ 2.66 / 4GB RAM. that sold for $41. Not a screamer, and there's no HD or video card which is perfect as you'd want to have new HD's anyway. The Tx4xx series do use DDR2 RAM which runs hot and is harder to find. The Tx5xx series use DDR3.
The idea is that if you specialize in more or less refurbishing old workstations of one type that are already very much like servers, you don't need to research, order, assemble, configure, and troubleshoot. The cost and time is lower and as mentioned, these machines are meant to run all the time and have server functions. If you buy the middle or upper range Precisions from that time, they'll have quad core Xeons- sometimes a pair- and PCI-X slots. There were also a lot of Precisions made with two dual core 3.0GHz Xeons. The PCI-X was found in servers and it's possible to buy fantastic LSI Logic RAID controllers for under $20- these claim to double transfer rates- because PCI-X became PCIe and those old RAID controllers are surplus.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-LSI-SAS3080X-HP-PCI-X-SAS-SATA-RAID-Controller-Card-435709-001-Low-Profile-/370779161625?pt=US_Server_Disk_Controllers_RAID_Cards&hash=item5654290419
> an LSI SAS3080X for $9- that was probably $300 new.
These systems also have robust power supplies- my T5400 has an 875W and a T7400 is 1000W.
You could also come up with a jazzy color scheme and paint these to cover the scuffs, update the appearance, and create the sensation of branding.
Interesting project.
Cheers,
BambiBoom
My second system > Dell Precision T5400 (2008) > 2X Xeon X5460 quad core @3.16GHz > 16GB ECC 667> Quadro FX 4800 (1.5GB) > WD RE4 500GB / Seagate Barracuda 500GB > M-Audio 2496 Sound Card / Linksys 600N WiFi > Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit > (earlier versions) AutoCad, Revit, Solidworks, Sketchup Pro, Corel Technical Designer, Adobe CS MC, WordP Office, MS Office Pro [Passmark system rating = 1859, 2D= 512 / 3D=1097]
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