Should I use this hardware? HP Proliant ML350 G5 QuadCore Xeon

[nort]

My office just upgraded its server from an old HP Proliant ML350 G5 QuadCore (only one processor). Right now it only has 4gb of ram, and it has the 2.5 SAS setup with a few smaller drives meant for backups. My employer has said that I can have the old box for $100.

I'm looking to create a home NAS for a media box, transmission DLs, a webserver and time machine and windows backups for four different computers.

Is this thing worth the hassle? I thought i'd put in 6 3TB SATA drives, and upgrade the RAM. I'll have to buy some bracket hardware or a sATA Hot-Plug Drive Cage to set it up, but i'll have to figure it out.

In terms of price/effort, I know it may just be easier to build my own boxe from scratch, but I also like the idea of tinkering with some older hardware.

I checked the forums, but only a few posts about the proliant ML350. Any thoughts on what a freenas noob should do?

 

[cyberjock]

I'd look at the cost of upgrading. If it uses DDR2 I'd just give up on it. The cost of DDR2 over DDR3 makes upgrades very non-economical. Remember that RAM is king for ZFS. This is by far the most limiting factor when people think they are going to reuse old hardware.

A quick search shows that the system probably uses FB-DIMMs. So I'd shy away fromit unless you can easily upgrade to 16GB of RAM. Also, make sure the hardware is actually compatible. If you're forced to buy a NIC and SATA controller that eats into the potential gains from reusing old hardware.