Advice on upgrading hardware and software

[ComputerX]

Greetings,

 

I'm looking for suggestions on hardware and OS for my Retrospect server.

 

I have a good case and power supply. I'm looking to replace the motherboard, CPU, and OS.

 

I back up to hard drives, both internal SATA and external eSATA. The external eSATA boxes I have use a SiI4726 port multiplier. They require PCI cards with specific chipsets. (Silicon Image SteelVine series. I have used Sil3132 and SiI3112.)

 

I have the SiI4726/Sil3132 combination running on a couple computers running Server Standard 2003R2 SP-2 64-bit, so I would prefer that OS. But I'm not wedded to the idea. How does Retrospect run on a 64-bit OS? What Windows operating system would you recommend?

 

How does Retrospect handle multiple cores? Would it be better to go with a faster two core CPU, or a slower quad core?

 

Any opinion on AMD vs. Intel? I generally go Intel, just because I like being in the mainstream. I know AMD often has better products for less money.

 

Can anyone suggest a specific MB/CPU combo? My concerns are, in order: compatibility, reliability, reliability, reliability, and cost.

 

I keep a fair number of drives in the case, the current case has seven internal hard drives. Lots of (reliable) SATA ports are a good thing.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Dan

 

(PS I searched this forum, and was surprised to find few questions like this. My Google-fu must be failing.)

 

 

[ComputerX]

100 views and no responses?

 

Can anyone at least respond to the OS question? What OS does Retrospect like to run on?

 

I expect to have one execution running all the time, with an occasional second or third. That makes me think two cores would be better, but I'm not sure.

 

Anyone?

 

Dan