I really like the HP Microservers. They're just awesome. However they are limited to 8GB RAM (16GB unofficially) and I am looking to build a 32GB server with at least 3x 3.5 drive bays.

Could someone suggest a case (and power supply) that would allow me to achieve a small, silent, 32GB RAM, 4x 3.5 bay server??

Nothing "small" sporting 3 HDDs can be silent out of the box. If it is, i assume you and i cannot afford it.

Besides, why exactly do you need 32 GB Ram? Just file sharing could be done with 2 GB RAM and Samba/Linux. And if you do not plan on using MS Server 2012 or 2008, you'll probably never use more than 6 GB on actual RAM anyway.

Bottom line: You want small, silent and many HDDs. Pick any two you like.

Thank you for replying Pappnaas.

I need the 32GB for running multiple virtual servers including Exchange 2013 which is very RAM hungry. It is only for home in a lab environment.

Maybe not silent, but as quiet as possible.

Is the SilverStone Temjin TJ08-E still the mATX favourtie?

I understand now. Going VM you'd want to maximize I/O power too, so the best solution would be buying big enough SSDs.

On the other hand, take a look at the fractal design Node 304

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6470/frac ... the-future

If you add a PCI-E SATA3 card, you could build a reasonable quiet PC or you'd have to use the SATA offerings of current mITX boards. Chip in an i5 or i7 and make the storage as fast as you can afford it.

PS: Exchange uses both, tremendous amounts of memory and pure I/O power, so it is not always RAM being the bottleneck.

Thank you again for the reply.

I was looking at iTX cases because they are neat and tidy.
However I cannot find an iTX board that supports 32GB RAM that is of reasonable quality (Intel/Asus).

I came across an AsRock board that was iTX and 32GB RAM, but I have never heard of AsRock and suspect the quality to be poor.

I think I will just give in and purchase a microserver.

Case,
Similar to the TJ08-E SilverStone SST-PS07B Black Steel / Plastic with Aluminum Accent MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case, cheaper and easier to change the fans as its twin 120mm fans, can hold 5x 3.5hdd and 1x2.5 as long as you dont use tall heatsink memory and your cpu cooler doesnt overlay over the ram. Another good option is Fractal Design Define Mini, it should be easier to work with as its a more standard layout, but the size is very similar to a ATX as the gains is mostly just the two PCI slots less in heght.

PSU,
SeaSonic SSR-360GP would be my pick, its cheap and should be more than enough for a 3hdd server build easily. Its been review by SPCR Seasonic G360 PSU: High efficiency & performance, and other good PSU review sites like JonnyGuru Reviews - Seasonic G Series 360W and Hardwaresecrets Seasonic G-360 Power Supply Review, to me paired with PS07 a great cheap combo for a server. But if you feel you want something better, and willing to spend more, KINGWIN STR-500 or SeaSonic SS-400FL2 (crosscheck the length if you do go with PS07).

Mobo,
Although you didnt asked, i just want to point out savings into going PS07+G360 i would invest it on a good server grade mobo, something like SUPERMICRO MBD-X9SCM-F-O LGA 1155 Intel C204 Micro ATX Intel Xeon E3 Server Motherboard and its micro atx. Or if you dont care about sata III among other things, in order to save some, SUPERMICRO MBD-X9SCL-F-O LGA 1155 Intel C202 Micro ATX Intel Xeon E3 Server Motherboard

Memory,
In case you go with the supermicro mobo, at the begging there werent many choices for ECC unbuffered memory and kingston was one that work well, since you want 32gb, there is new version of what i bought, Kingston 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Unbuffered DDR3 1333 Server Memory Model KVR1333D3E9SK2/16G

Fans,
I would test first whatever came with the case, and if you find you want more quiet try to undervolt them, if they dont play nice, then i would go with Nexus BASIC D12SL-12 and undervolt them. I woudlnt recommend PWM fans with the supermicro mobo i suggested, in my case i had endless loop of top to min rpms every 10sec.... i google it and was a common thing with supermicro mobos and scythe fans.... i reported it to supermicro and they were very nice, but they said to wait for a bios fix... i just couldn't wait and swap all my fans on my build, so for this alone i would go with the good and old trusty nexus basic and undervolt it to your liking.

Thank you for the advice Abula!.

I use a Lian Li PC-Q25B case. It has 5 hotswap bays. I'm using a P8H77-I from Asus. Like most miniITX boards it has only two DIMM slots, so I guess you're stuck with 16GB. The board has 6xSATA connections, so you can use all 5 3.5" bays, and still have another drive for boot/system drive. I use a SSD mounted in one of the bottom fixed bays.

AsRock make decent boards, they were originally an offshoot of Asus.

I am not sure about silent but for a small server/lab, the layout of this case looks nice:

http://www.supermicro.com/products/chas ... 1D-300.cfm

Of course I found that one after I spent a bunch of time modding a cheapo case and winding up without the sideways HDD tray which means swapping will be a much bigger hassle in my case.