I bought myself one terrabyte of new storage last week from eBuyer, as well as an extra fan to cool the disks

I ran into a couple of problems, the primary one being that I can’t use the built-in RAID controller on my motherboard, as it’s only SATA1, not SATA2, which is twice the speed. The drives do work on SATA1, but that defeats the purpose of buying fast drives! So I’m left with some left-over drives, as I can only plug in 4 at a time.

As it happens one of the four new drives has a big problem. Windows installed onto it very slowly, and it had issues… The PC would just freeze doing pretty much anything. So I’ve arranged to RMA it for a refund from eBuyer

But everything is fine now - I have a 200GB partition for Windows, my profile folder and programs, and a 30GB partition for Linux (and a 2GB swap partition for Linux too). Another 250GB drive for downloads, and the last one for Games. My other 250GB drive has my music and some old backups on it.

The next motherboard I buy will have at least 8 SATA2 (or better, if SATA3/4/5… is out by then!) ports, as well as at least 4 SATA2+ ports on a RAID controller to allow for future expansion

So the grand total of storage capacity I have here, and in my colocated server, comes to about 2.5TB*

* It would be more, but my 300GB Maxtor Onetouch died recently.

For those that are interested, here are the specifications of my various systems and servers:

Main System
Case	Antec P180b (Limited Edition)
CPU	Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 2.66GHz 12MB L2 Cache
CPU Cooler	Thermalright Ultra Extreme 120
RAM	4x 2GB OCZ Reaper-HPC PC2-8500 1066MHZ 5-5-5 2.10v
Motherboard	Gigabyte X48-DQ6
PSU	Antec Quattro 850W
Harddisk 1	Samsung SpinPoint F1 750GB SATA2 32MB Cache
Harddisk 2	Samsung SpinPoint F1 750GB SATA2 32MB Cache
Harddisk 3	Samsung SpinPoint F1 750GB SATA2 32MB Cache
Harddisk 4	Samsung SpinPoint F1 750GB SATA2 32MB Cache
Harddisk 5	Samsung Spinpoint 500GB SATA2 16MB Cache
Harddisk 6	Samsung Spinpoint 500GB SATA2 16MB Cache
Harddisk 7	Samsung Spinpoint 500GB SATA2 16MB Cache
DVD±RW	NEC DVD±RW/RAM 4570A
Graphics Card 1	HIS ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 2048MB GDDR5
Graphics Card 2	HIS ATI Radeon HD 4670 512MB GDDR3
Card Reader	Mitsumi FA404M 3½" 7-in-1
Bluetooth	Belkin Bluetooth 2.0 Dongle 100m
Mouse	Razer DiamondBack Plasma Limted Edition 1600dpi
Mouse Pad	Everglide Destrukt
Keyboard	Apple Wired Keyboard
AV Receiver	Cambridge Audio Azur 540R
Front Speakers	Eltax Symphony 6.3
Centre Speaker	Mordaunt-Short 905i
Rear Speakers	Mordaunt-Short 902i
Subwoofer	Mordaunt-Short 308
Interconnects	Cambridge Audio Digital Coaxial
Cabling	Gale Symphony 200
Headphones	Sennheiser HD555
Spare/Old Headphones	Sennheiser HD477
Outdoor In-Ear Headphones	V-Moda Bass Freq
Sport Headphones	Sennheiser Sport MXL70V
Monitor 1	Dell UltraSharp 2408WFP 24" 3000:1 6ms
Monitor 2	Dell UltraSharp 2408WFP 24" 3000:1 6ms
Monitor 3	Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP-HC 24" 1000:1 6ms
Joystick	Saitek X52 Flight Control System
UPS	APC SmartUPS 1KVA (1000VA)
Mac Mini
Case	Mac Mini
CPU	Intel Core 2 Duo 1.83GHz
RAM	2x 1GB Apple SODIMM DDR2 667MHz (Dual Channel)
Monitor 1	Dell UltraSharp 2408WFP 24" 3000:1 6ms
Graphics Card	Intel GMA950
Harddisk 1	80GB 5400RPM SATA
Harddisk 2	Western Digital 250GB SATA2 16MB Cache
DVD Drive	Apple DVD-ROM/CD-RW
DVB-T Tuner	Elgato EyeTV for DTT USB (Re-branded Hauppauge WinTV Nova-T) — Using EyeTV 3 software
Laptop
Case	Acer Aspire 5670 Series (Specific Model: AS5672WLMI)
CPU	Intel Core Duo T2300 1.66GHz, 667MHz FSB, 2MB L2 cache
RAM	2x 1GB Crucial DDR2 SODIMM 667MHz (Dual channel)
Screen	15.4" WXGA CrystalBrite 16ms Widescreen 1280×800
Graphics Card	ATI Mobility Radeon X1400
Harddisk 1	80GB 5400RPM SATA
DVD Drive	Pioneer DVD±RW/RAM
Colocation Server (Running this site!)
CPU	Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4GHz
RAM 1	2x 1GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2 667MHz
RAM 2	2x 2GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800MHz
Motherboard	GigaByte GA-965G-DS3
Case	1U QueenServers RM-140
PSU	Emac 1U 300Watt
Harddisk 1	Samsung Spinpoint 250GB SATA2 16MB Cache
Harddisk 2	Samsung Spinpoint 250GB SATA2 16MB Cache
(Currently Dead) Fedora Core 6 Linux Server
CPU	AMD Athlon XP 2000+ Socket A
RAM	512MB Corsair PC2700 3-3-3-8
Graphics	Gigabyte GeForce 2 MX200 32MB DDR
Motherboard	Asus A7N8X-Deluxe V2.0 nForce 2
PSU	FSP 480W
Harddisk 1	Western Digital 160GB 8MB Cache SATA2 [RAID 1 with Disk 2]
Harddisk 2	Maxtor DiamondMax Plus10 160GB SATA 8MB Cache [RAID 1 with Disk 1]
UPS	Powercom KING 1KVA (1000VA)
UPS2	Trust 600VA
HTPC
Case	Antec Fusion v1
CPU	Intel Pentium DualCore E2160 1.8GHz
CPU Cooler	Zalman CNPS8700 LED
RAM	2x 1024MB Corsair XMS 4-4-4-12
Graphics	Gigabyte GeForce 8400GS 256MB GDDR3
Motherboard	Asus P5K-VM S755 (Intel G33)
PSU	Antec EarthWatts 380W
Harddisk	Samsung SpinPoint 250GB SATA2 16MB Cache
Spare PC
CPU	Intel Pentium 4 2.0GHz Socket 478
RAM	512MB DDR RAM
Graphics	Intel Integrated Graphics
Motherboard	Generic Intel Motherboard
PSU	Unknown
Harddisk 1	Western Digital WD400 Caviar 40GB PATA 2MB Cache
Spare 1U Rackmount Server
Motherboard & CPU	VIA mini-ATX - Unknown CPU specs
RAM	256MB PC2100 DDR RAM
Graphics	Integrated Graphics
PSU	1U PSU
Old PC - Still to be backed up and re-purposed
CPU	AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Socket 939 Toledo Core @ 2.8GHz
CPU Cooler	Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro
RAM 1	2x 1GB Corsair PC3200 3-3-3-8
RAM 2	2x 512MB Kingston PC3200 3-3-3-8
Graphics Card	Gigabyte GeForce 7800GT 256MB GDDR3 ViVo HDTV
Graphics Cooler	Zalman VF-700 Cu
Motherboard	Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe nForce 4
Northbridge Cooler	Zalman NBF47
PSU	Hiper Type-R 580W
Harddisk	Western Digital 250GB SATA2 16MB Cache
DVD±RW	NEC DVD±RW 2510A

Other (Unused/Obsolete) Hardware:

• CPUs
  • AMD Opteron 144 Socket 939
  • AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Socket 939 Venice Core
  • AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Socket 754
  • AMD Duron 850MHz Socket A
• Motherboards
  • DFI LanParty UT S754 nForce 3
  • Asus K8N-VM S754 nForce 4
  • Chaintech 7AIV5 Socket A (VIA Chipset)
• RAM
  • 2x 512MB Apple Mac SODIMM DDR2 667MHz
  • 2x 512MB Acer/Samsung/Generic SODIMM DDR2 667MHz
  • Corsair 256MB SDRAM 133MHz
  • Corsair 128MB SDRAM 133MHz
  • 2x 512MB Corsair PC3200 3-3-3-8
• Hard Disks
  • Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 80GB PATA 2MB Cache
  • Hitachi Deskstar 160GB PATA
  • Western Digital Caviar 80GB PATA
  • Maxtor D740X-6L 80GB PATA
  • Western Digital Caviar 10GB PATA
  • Maxtor MaxLine III 300GB PATA
  • Western Digital 250GB SATA2 16MB Cache
• CPU Coolers
  • Scythe Ninja Revision B
  • 2x Intel Core 2-era stock HSF (brand new un-used)
  • AMD Athlon 64 stock HSF
  • Gigabyte 3D Cooler Ultra GT
  • 1U cooler for s754/s939
• Peripherals & Accessories
  • ViewSonic VX912 19" 500:1 8ms
  • 2x PCI-E 1x SiliconImage SiI3132 - 2x SATA2 RAID0,1,5,10,JBOD
  • Zboard
  • Microsoft Internet Keyboard Pro
  • Mirosoft IntelliMouse Optical
  • "iCute" Modded ATX Case
  • Generic ATX Case
  • Vantec 5¼" Silver Fan Controller
  • 4x Akasa Blue Light-up 80mm Fans
  • 4x Akasa 12" UltraViolet Cold Cathodes
  • 400W Generic PSU

While looking around on my hard disks for files and folders to delete in order to free up some space, I found a screnshot of how my desktop used to look, exactly a year ago tommorow!

Here it is!

If you want some info, this is what I can remember :P

Window Blinds theme: K-Tek
Object Dock theme: Apollo (I think, possibly modded)
Windows Icons: K-Tek
Wallpaper: K-Tek

I think there was a mouse cursor scheme too, probably with the same name.

All these skins can be found at WinCustomize.com

- Fr3d