Low Power Consumption File Server

I'm looking for some advice from people who have investigated this in the past. I want to build a file server which will run 24/7 and I want to focus my efforts on reducing the power consumption and maximize the overall stability for data preservation.

I dont need a ton of space initially. (2) 1 TB drives is what im starting with. My plan is to go with 2 green drives setup on Raid 1. Later as my space needs grow, I would add 2 more drives and move to RAID 5.

I also plan to buy and install an 80GB SSD for the boot drive. This drive will also be serving as my AD DC, FTP and low bandwidth family web server.


I have my HDD requirements covered for right now. My real interest here is getting suggestions on a motherboard/cpu/memory combo which will help me minimize my power consumption and maximize reliability. It does not have to be fancy, Duo core would be fine unless I can find better for a similar price. Bang for my Buck basically.

I prefer Video/Sound to be onboard, nothing special. I do need/prefer 1GB LAN and I'm debating on using hardware raid 1/5 off the MB or using a raid controller.

Any suggestions on MB/CPU/Mem are welcomed, thanks in advance.


Edit: Also, just an FYI - Im going to be using either an Antec 300 or 900 mid tower case for the build.