Cheap, silent and not power greedy server [closed]

I am going to buy a home server. For some database, file storage, backups etc. Maybe in future I'll put some Java server (like glassfish) there.

I want it to be cheap, silent and not consuming much power. 1 Gbit ethernet would be nice too. I was thinking about fit pc (http://fit-pc2.com/) but it's quite expensive.

What would you recommend?

Wow, that's pricey. You could build your own Intel Atom based "server" from cheap parts off of Newegg or another site. I priced out an Atom 330 dual core system there with decent specs for around $200-250 depending on HDD size.

If you want something prebuilt, I'd check out Nvidia's ION platform, though I think only Acer has out an ION based desktop. ION is essentially Intel's Atom with a nicer chipset and better graphics.

There's a plug computer called the sheeva plug that might do what you're looking for. It runs a linux-based OS on an ARM processor at 5 watts of power, and has a USB interface for peripherals. This might be underpowered for what you have planned, but it's dirt cheap ($99).

Marvell's Sheevaplug website

Personally I'd get something from pcengines.ch a CF Card and a USB disk with it. These boxes have no VGA. Personally I find the easiest way to install is with tftpd end netbooting, very easy with debian. Just fire up a minicom and connect to it.

If you really need more power go with an Atom board. There should be some cheap nettop out there to get up and running

Please see my question about Intel Atom 330, a cheapo dual core processor that comes with Intel mobo (by cheap I mean 80 bucks) - Intel Atom 330 as a server machine

Intel Atoms are designed for netbook use, have really low power requirements - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Atom_microprocessors#Atom_300_series_.28dual-core.29

However, I've heard the default FAN ain't that silent. You could easily fix that by fitting an after market one.