PREAMBLE (you're free to skip it )
Hi people, it's been a very-very long time since i last posted here. So, i have to read a lot of information before i can go up with my exp. in building hackintoshes.
Since i finally got my bachelor->2->engineer exam and now free from university for sure i can come back here.
I'm a 100% Mac user now (Mac mini @ work, iMac @ home, (w)MacBook/2007 when traveling) thanx to this project in the first place.

TASK (no skipping anymore )
I want top build a cheap (compared to xserve) mid-enterprise system, with all the advantages of Mac OS and OSX86Project scene.
Later, when apple will upgrade to Corei7 (i think a year later) i'm buying an XServe. But for now i have to test and prove that MacOS can handle all we have.
I want you people to help me choosing right hardware and the easiest way to install the system (as OOB as possible).
What i expect from installation?
No kext digging and no problems with software update (boot 132 should hell me with that),
all network services 101% stable and accessible, no exceptions (the hardest part),
RAID 10 (three HDD strip - mirrored), maybe even hardware, i'll decide later.

I've found two pretty nice motherboards (from the hardware point of view):
Gigabyte GA-EP45-DQ6 and Asus P5Q Premium

Why those two?
6+4 SATA ports (though i seriously doubt 4 silicon ports will work with mac os)
4 gigabit ethernet ports
perfect expansion (though i doubt i'll need it since there is everything i want)
and the last and maybe most important - those two are supposed to be over-clockers boards so in base config. should be rock-solid-stable.

I currently have the Asus-one, but there is no problem in changing it. I haven't tested it yet.

Suggestions? Maybe other board + RAID controller + network controller/s?
Fell free to post links to the tutorials/forums too (i'm reading those already, but i can accidently skip smth.)
Cheers!

Addition ONE.

I've been through several topic's. This is what i've learned so far.
My thoughts on how the system would work.
Theory only.

Accumulate needed kexts to a flash drive "A"
Install with boot132 package
Apply apple software update to 10.5.5 (since i have retail 10.5.0 install DVD)
Make a boot132 flash drive "B" with kexts from flash drive "A"

Anytime i need to boot the system - use the flash drive. Since it is a server one - i wont be booting it often I'll need a backup of this flash-loader (maybe even two pieces). One "main" will be permanently attached to the server.

Why flash?
I don't want to "kext" the system as i did before. I want the installation to be 100% clean.
I don't want to move all kexts to 200mb efi part of the partition either since i cant predict how would RAID 10 behave in case of a disk failure, and don't want to mess with something apple does not use, though i believe it is safe.

Why backup flash?
This is server, downtime is not an option. Flash drive could be damaged by accident. Who knows...


NOTE to admins / moders: I just want to post my progress like this, not making huge one post, i kinda hate those. Feel free though to erase my further posts and add them to the first.

First of all get a comparable system that is similar to Xserve specifications :-

1x Optical
3x Harddrive
2x Gbe Ports
1x Firewire

For me i'd go for EP45-DS3 as it's almost similar to the specs above with cheaper price...

1x IDE
6x AHCI SATA
2x Firewire
10x USB

If you'd wanna go for RAID features get a Hardware RAID card instead (Areca, LSI, Promise, HighPoint, etc...) don't expect a stable performance from a SoftRAID...

In terms of comparison do compare base on similar hardware...

Hey osx86_noob,
thanks for sharing basic thought's and let me teach you a bit then ;-)
I've worked with hardware for past several years.
I know all mac specs inside-out ;-)

I wrote, that i want to run RAID 10, which requires even number of drives with minimum of four for lvl 10. In my config - six drives.

Why not RAID 5 used in XServe?
Basically because of the poor performance in random write sequences and the "write hole". You can find more in wiki, or you can look for Cary Millsap's articles about RAID technologies.

Next, i know very well of similarity of the motherboards, and i suppose Gigabytes are the most popular ones (might i be mistaken?). I've wrote in the initial post, that i have chosen one of those for their overclocker tendency so i suppose this will crucial for 24/7 workload, but this is just my personal opinion based on several reviews over the web.

I've never heard "Areca" or "HighPoint". And as i understand, mac os support natively Areca-one? I'll dig a bit here

Addition TWO

I've completely read the Asus P5Q xxx (this one i HUGE...) and the Gigabyte GA-EP45-DQ6 topics.
As for ASUS i have on my hands - i'd have to modify BIOS in order to make it OSX86 compatible in the way i want it to, and patch every single next BIOS, which automatically makes this board inappropriate. Sh*t happens, i got it with great discount.

I'll change it for GA-EP45-DQ6 and see what can it do.

I also came across Intel X58 chipset topic, look's like OSX is working right now on this CPU's. This makes my dream about Core i7 XServe more real. Only high cost of components keeps me from switching to it directly.

I found RouterBoard RB44GV (4 port gigabit PCI card) with drivers for MacOS, which would make my life easier - making great router.
I don't clearly understand how can this one work though, cause PCI slot has max throughoutput (32bit * 66.66mhz) ~ 266MB/sec, while 1Gigabit port ~ 131MB/sec so the bus itself will be able to handle only two controllers (@ max speed), am i wrong?

Areca controllers in their data-sheet have MacOS supported, but not bootable (WTH?).