Y'all need one of these...

[LoneWolf]

The HP MediaSmart EX490.

The size of a small toaster. Windows Home Server = All the awesomeness of Windows Server 2003, all the incredible awesomeness of Server 2008R2's backup mechanisms + ease-of-use so good you'd forget the box existed if it didn't have cool multicolor lights you could program.

Four hot-swap toolless drive bays. (I have the stock 1TB drive, plus three 1.5TB drives internally)

One eSATA port supporting multiplexing for up to 5 external hard drives in one enclosure. (I have an enclosure with one 2TB drive to back up the box)

Gigabit ethernet for lightning-fast backups

Supports bare-metal backups of Windows and Mac systems. Already tested this when going from a RAID-1 to a RAID-5 on my main desktop rig at home, and it works --with Windows 7 x64 Enterprise.

Supports media-streaming, iTunes-serving, and a ton of other great things.

Supports folder-duplication, which shadow-copies your files so that if one drive fails, you're still okay.

Have owned this since just before Christmas --and it is da bomb.

P.S. Hi all --Good to see yous guys again.

[Ian]

I've been meaning to build my own for a couple of years. I'm currently running Server 2008 at home and its over kill for what I need.

[LoneWolf]

The big thing about HP is the Mac support, and some additional extras only they offer. I looked at building something (I have a Technet subscription, and one install of Windows Home Server is part of the package) but to get hot-swap drive bays and the right case really bumps up the price. If you don't need those though, DIY works well. A dual-core Celeron with 2GB of RAM is more than enough.

I got a $50 off discount code during the pre-Christmas shopping frenzy, so it brought the price down. HP also just introduced a new add-in so you can save content off your Tivo. I just ordered a Premiere XL, and because I had a very ancient Series 1 lying around with a lifetime subscription, it was grandfathered for a one-time transfer. So I pay for the Tivo, and get the subscription for free.

[hoxlund]

Damn man, need to start my NAS box too, looks like a good start

Built my popcorn hour a-200 already, has 2tb WD EARS in it