Home Server - Power Consumption

[coolVariable]

Looking into building a new home server vs. just using an old dell desktop.

Option 1 - old Dell desktop:
The desktop is an old P4 dell and I was afraid of power usage but it idles around 70W.
My concerns otherwise are the low number of USB ports and the lack of SATA (all PATA baby!). I could obviously add a USB add on card and a SATA controller but those would be maybe a ~$40 upgrade.
Another worry is that I would probably put this server in the attic where it can get pretty hot in the summer - a toasty P4 with Dell cooling might not be the best solution.
Sell value of the whole desktop is maybe $35.

Option 2 - new server:
Of course it's always fun to build a new system, eg around one of those AMD APU's which seem pretty low wattage. I would also look for a board with plenty of USB connectivity and SATA is now of course standard, though I am probably looking at $200+ for the build and I am not sure if the power savings are even that much ...

 

[zerogear]

I'm using a C2Q Q9550S (65w) with a itx mobo and 16 drives, totaling about 110w (idle). I don't know if it's worth pouring money into another build, unless you have something you want to do with it, asides from it being a file server. (Transcode/VM Server, etc)

 

[Ken g6]

A cheap, atom-like system would seem to suit your needs. Here's a cheap refurb AMD E-450, $165, no OS.

 

[Phantomaniac]

It really depends on your intended usage. What do you need the server to do? Filesharing, torrenting, media streaming, web/game serving, virtual machines, etc. A P4 could probably only handle the first two of those. Also how many HDDs were you planning on installing now, or in the future? I think most Dell desktops only hold 2 HDDs.

Personally I would scrap the P4 unless you are on a very tight budget.

 

[coolVariable]

I was probably going to use it as a WHS for backups, with some file sharing and media serving. I am also planning to run zoneminder in a VM as a security system with 8+ USB cameras.
Aside from the zoneminder usage, there would not be a lot of heavy activity. The P4 is old (and usually seen as a power hog) so I am not sure if it can handle zoneminder with so many cameras. At the same time the power consumption for the P4 is not bad ... that's the same watts/hr as my mediacenter PC with 2 HDDs and a low wattage AMD 5050e.

 

[Phantomaniac]

If you plan on doing any sort of virtualization I would just build a new system. To my knowledge no P4 supports virtualization extensions (VT-x/VT-d), which is a major blow to performance.

 

[mfenn]

The costs for any significant amount of storage space will outweigh the costs of the server itself, so you might as well build something new with modern interfaces. Unless you have lots of disks laying around?