Hardware Talk :: Suggested Min-ITX config for home webserver?

I would like to buy one of the mini-ITX systems to run a personal webserver out of in my home office. I'm imaging running a system with a hard disk, either inside the box, or in an enclosure connected to the box via USB (I am already running something like this with a Linksys NSLU, but the box is underpowered and the ARM Apache and PHP implementations are buggy). The system needs to be almost or completely silent, because my home office is also my spare bedroom that gets a lot of use.

Which of your system configurations would you recommend?

Thanks,
Tim

I've found out that basic laptop with DSL and enough big USB stick are quite a silent solution. The more you have ram also the less it will use your HD as swap space.
I've been using my laptop as testing machine for my portable server USB plug. I always keep it powered. I makes no sound at all when I'm not using it.

Also 'toram' boot option keeps your CD-drive silent too. ;)

Your laptop must be a lot quieter than mine. I am still interested in a quiet Mini-ITX system.

I have a Toshiba notebook (600MHz PIII) that frequently spins the fan when it's idle - not much noise, but definitely not silent.

The hard drive has been the biggest noise variable for me for otherwise quiet systems. I don't have any 2.5" drives newer than about five years old, so I don't know how quiet newer drives can be, but I put a 20GB drive in a notebook a few years ago that I could hear spinning from across a large room. I later bought another 20GB drive (same speed, 4200rpm?) to put into an external case, but when I noticed that this drive was MUCH quieter I put this one in the notebook instead. Now I can't tell if the notebook is on unless I'm close enough to touch it.

I've noticed that in hard drive reviews on Newegg.com, users sometimes comment on whether a certain drive is noisy or quiet. Does anyone else know how to tell ahead of time whether a particular drive will produce a lot of noise?

I guess no one has ideas re Mini-ITX systems?

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