Media Server for a Noob!

[R.Youden]

I am looking to build a media server to go with my AppleTV. I have a load of music / photos / videos that I keep on my Mac Pro and stream through my AppleTV. This solution is OK but I really don't want my Mac Pro running 24/7 as it is quite expensive and that is really not what the machine is for. Anyway this is what I have in mind:

 

A small case such as the Chenbro mini-itx case.

 

Running OSX on the internal 2.5"HD with my media stored on the 4 internal 3.5" HDs, maybe in a RAID configuration. Has anyone any experience with the Chenbro, it looks pretty solid to me. Also can someone recommend a mini-itx mother board for this project. Ideally I am after something as cheap as possible. It will be a headless unit so everything will be done via remote desktop.

 

I suppose the only issue is that the Chenbro does not contain room for a PCI RAID card, so the motherboard would require 5 SATA ports (1 for the boot drive, 4 for the RAID). Can OSX support software RAID or do I need a hardware solution.

 

Sorry of these are all really stupid questions but I would be really helpful for any advice.

 

Thanks.

 

Richard