A couple of additional points to be aware of when building Windows Home Server machine.
1. Check that heatsink!
If you find that your server is running really hot (you’ll know this from either a smart application like Asus’ PC Probe II which gives you temperature readings) or most likely, because the fans are on constantly blowing up a storm!), double check that the heatsink is properly in place. Over the weekend, my fans were on all the time - I checked the processor temperature, and it was about 70 degrees - way too hot. I unscrewed the heatsink, and saw that the thermal paste on the bottom of the heatsink wasn’t covering the whole processor - just a tiny bit. I rotated it 90 degrees and rescrewed it into the motherboard - net result, temperature dropped to 45 degrees - no more being woken up at night by what sounds like a hovercraft in the next room!
2. Hardware Requirements
Charlie Kindel discusses the Hardware Requirements for WHS. I’ve found running an internal GPU with 512Mb to be okay, but make sure you give yourself the option of adding a cheapo GPU just in case. Most modern motherboards will now include a PCI Express slot (need to check my Asus on this actually), but you can still find AGP boards knocking around. Remember, low spoec will do on this.
Charlie also mentions Frankenmachines - if you are experienced and/or you spend a lot of time researching what you’ve got vs what you need, it is a great challenge. For speed and ease, go new! In the UK, Ebuyer, Dabs and Misco all have what you need.
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