A Frustrating Journey
It was time to put together a box I could use as a virtual server testbed. The box would be used to run virtualization software so I could run various Windows and Linux virtual machines for testing purposes. This article covers the hardware and software I selected to run the testbed. Read the rest »
My primary Windows Computer is a home built one I put together about a year ago. It started out as a Vista PC build but soon got some significant upgrades to bulk up its processing power. Most of those original parts were recycled in a PC I built for my parents. Still, despite being recently purchased most of the parts are no longer available, having been superseded by newer models. Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-E7AUM-DS2H LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 9400 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600, 2.40 [...] Read the rest »
As hard as it is for me to fathom, my 12TB Windows Home Server grew to 13TB back in April, just two months after the initial build. Now, less than 2 months after that I was running low on disk space again. When I built the server I figured the disk would last me awhile. I hadn’t intended to turn on file duplication and instead rely on backups, giving me lots of space. Well, since I had the space I did turn on file duplication, figuring I’d turn it off [...] Read the rest »
I needed to do some PC work and swapping for my parents. To do this I needed a place to store files and backups. I decided a Windows Home Server was ideal for this although the cost of one would be a problem since the need was temporary. So I looked for a solution that would be low cost by using what I already had available or could use elsewhere once I was done. I decided to base the Windows Home Server on the MSI Wind PC Intel 945GC 1 [...] Read the rest »
I finally finished building my 12 TB Windows Home Server and migrated the data from my HP Mediasmart home server. The goal here was to replace my existing HP EX470 server with 6 TB of disk (2 of which where external USB drives). I was outgrowing the server and wanted something bigger, faster and better so decided to build it myself to keep costs down. The Windows Home Server itself doesn’t need a lot of high-end hardware. For my needs I just need lots of disk and gigabit Ethernet. Here’s [...] Read the rest »
Well, I put all the parts together and have Vista running on the PC. There’s plenty of info about putting a PC together already on the net so I’m not going to get into the details. The case had plenty of room so getting the motherboard and drives in wasn’t a problem. The cover is held on by one thumbscrew but it fits securely and is easy to remove. The only hitch I had was the lack of an available SATA power connector for the DVD reader so I had [...] Read the rest »
We won’t talk about how long it’s been since I built a computer, but let’s just say that the ATX form factor probably wasn’t even a twinkle in some engineer’s eye at the time. I’ve been eager to get back into it and also get a relatively low cost Windows computer that I could tinker with. Another thing I remember from those old days is value is more important than rock-bottom cost, cheaply made parts extract payment way beyond their price. So here are my requirements for this computer: Quite [...] Read the rest »