Hi, I'm looking to purchase a small server for my house. I have about 2-4 computers that will be accessing the server on a given day. The basic need for the server is data backup and consolidation. It is of utmost importance that certain files and databases are kept safe. I will also be using it to host a home domain(just AD, no webhosting or anything) and I would also like to use it for VPN and Remote Desktop. Please help me to 'decide' which system below looks better. My main questions are about the processors, and the RAID/Datasafe solutions. Is Xeon really better than the D? Can I expect any of these systems to perform much better and protect my Data? I have not heard too much about Dell Datasafe, but it seems pretty good...
Thank you!!! P.S. All are priced within $100 of each other so price is no option.

Dell Precision 380:
-Intel® Pentium® D 920, 2.80GHz/800MHz/2x2MB L2 cache, Dual-core
-2GB, 667MHz, DDR2 SDRAM Memory, ECC (2 DIMMS)
-2x250GB SATA 3.0Gb/s with NCQ and 8MB DataBurst Cache™ for RAID 1.

PowerEdge SC1420:
-Intel® Xeon™ Processor at 2.8GHz/2MB Cache, 800MHz FSB
-2.0GB DDR2, 400MHz, 4X512MB,Single Ranked DIMMs
-CERC 6-Channel SATA RAID Controller
-2x250GB 7.2K RPM Serial ATA Hard Drive

XPS 400:
-Pentium® D Processor 940 with Dual Core Technology (3.20GHz, 800FSB)
-2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz- 2DIMMs
-DataSafe 250GB (Includes main hard drive plus a hidden reserve hard drive)

You'll get way more bang for your buck if you build it yourself, and then you can build it exactly to your specs. For example, since it's a server get a cheap PCI video card, and put the money you save in to a better processor.

Personally I prefer AMD over Intel. Again, you get more bang for your buck.

I'd agree w/ building one, unless there's a reason you need to buy a pre-built. Xeon chips aren't really necessary for your purposes; they're really designed more for server farms, web servers, and other enterprise applications. You'll get more bang w/ a standard CPU. I also agree w/ AMD due to personal preference, however I remember reading a short time ago that Intel is dropping their prices quite drastically.

That being said, of the systems you mentioned, I would consider the 380. It has a higher RAM speed, plus ECC, and RAID. I don't know anything about the DataSafe but it sounds proprietary so I would be hesitant to trust my data somewhere I may not be able to get to.

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I have to agree with the other guys to build one. I currently run a server at home that stores files, host a website (It not public it just for testing and playing with but it still runs the service), FTP server and since I store media files there most of the time I'm connected to it via wireless connection. I would have to say that this server does a lot for me and it runs on 1GB memory, AMD XP 1GHz, and has 1.7 terabyte over 5 hard drives.


I build it for next to nothing (I did have some things from my other computers that I had upgraded) But I have never had a problem with it's performance.

I also have to agree with crystalattice on the servers below
the Dell Precision 380 looks better over all.

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You probably wouldn’t notice the difference but the XENON system is the better of the three processors. But if yea do take into consideration the option of building a server your self I would recommend the AMD OPTERON processor family. You may want to use a 64bit system; this will eliminate the memory restrictions. 64bit will allow you to use 16Gbs of RAM. Most often a few more sticks of RAM is better used in a server than a very expensive 15,000 Rpm SCSI drive. Not to mention that RAM is relatively cheap these days. If you do choose to use 64bit then AMD’s OPTERON is definitely better for 64bit processing compared to the XENON.