I guess the priorities are low power consumption, reliability (RAID-5) and 24/7/365 stability. The functionality I really need is:
- Gbit Network Card (NIC)
- RAID-5 (for at least four SATA drives)
- IGP (as integrated graphics should save both power and $)
At first I was thinking Intel Atom, but it appears to lack RAID-5.
VIA Nano is about as expensive as a proper Intel C2D or AMD X2 system and I'm not even sure VIA Nano has RAID-5.
Intel Core 2 Duo Mobile CPUs are very low-power, but about three times as expensive as a 45W AMD Athlon X2 CPU.
So I'm currently leaning towards a 45W AMD.
2. If AMD X2, what motherboard would you suggest?
Remember, this is not an HTPC. No fancy features such as hardware video decoding, 7.1 sound, etc is required. Features like that will probably be deactivated (to save power) if possible. The board won't have to be a good overclocker as I doubt any overclocking will be necessary. Again, rock solid stability is a must of course.
Thanks!