Advice on hardware for low power linux server

[drawflex]

Had a little play with ubuntu in the past on a multi-boot on my main rig... but due to it being a power hungry gaming machine, am now planning to build a small, low-power (always on) linux home server... mailnly as a project to fuel my new intrest in home automation and security,i'd like it to act as a'node0' ,simple home media server, security, serve web pages for monitoring status, stream/record cctv camera feeds and TV, access control , control x10 devices, lighting, respond to remote commands via email/text or bluetooth...

i'm doing loads of learning at the min in this field but am unsure of the base hardware resources (Mobo/cpu/ram) required for this kinda thing.... i know it's gonna be a lot to learn and set-up , but keeps me out the pub right ? :)

i'm eager to start but need the 'box' to get tinkering with... i was wondering wether something cheap-and-cheerfull, like a mini-itx setup with maybe an atom with on-board video chipset would be man enough for what i want, as i'm guessing simple home controll is pretty light on resources... streaming cctv and tv around the house and over web maybe not ? ?
.. course i'd need the extra trimmings like a CCTV capture card,and x10 gateway... but don't wanna build an underpowered box and realise half way through i need to start from scratch, or be stumped without drivers..... power consumption is a very big issue, also footprint... and cost of course.

Had plenty experience in setting up windows machines but a bit wet when it comes to linux, in fact linux command line experience is nearly zero... i'm handy with the electrical side of things though... work as a service engineer for a scissor lift company, (am pondering a possible carreer change into this field though) also gonna do garage door, front gate and thinking about installing hydraulic bollards in the driveway... got loads of ideas and gonna use my home as a test project

Anyone with any info or direction on this please gangsters ? Any links or pointers towards noob friendly comunity apreciated.

As it's gonna be used for security and home monitoring , i've thought of powering it from a DC battery system (12-24v probably ) trickle charged from the mains, to guard against total power failures, even then maybe kick-in a small emergency backup generator for essential things like home lighting, access control, ... and the beer fridge :) But DC PSUs seem very expensive... anyone recommend one ? Building one stable enough is probably out of my scope.

Anyone built a linux home automation server setup before ? A lot of the info about is not newb friendly.
After recommendations on hardware please , and a distro with modest system requirements, the scope to do what i want, and enough support for me to learn along the way.......EDIT........After researching distros i think it's It's between Ubuntu, Mandriva, and OpenSuSE don't really know one from the other atm, but aim to learn FAST and wanna start on the right foot as it'll be lost time for me...... any pointers ?

[Hairlocks]

The problem you have is that linux, home automation and noob don't go together at the moment. I would start with the simpler items to setup first.

With the amount you are trying to put on the one server, I would learn about Virtual Machines, and installed each piece of software on a different one. This will make upgrading the hardware later easier and mean you can bugger about with one piece of software and it dependencies without effecting the rest. Ubuntu seems to prefer KVM.

After you have learnt KVM I would install mythtv (if you want to record TV). This has got a lot easier to setup (I have been using it since 2003) but is still complex enough to give you some experience. Mythtv also has a good support comunity around it as well. If you are will to google for the answers first, and read the manual.

Next I would use Zoneminder for the Security Cameras. I haven't tried this myself yet and read mixed reports on the the stability of it (may need to regularly reboot the virtual machine). Was has stoppped me so far is the cost of cameras (most cheap web cams don't work in linux) and network cameras cost more than ?100 each.

Mister house for the X10 control will probably be a lot of work, and really looks like it is for programmers too me. By the time you have got this far Open Remote my have a working solution for you, there are no installation instructions or support community yet though. There end goal is a nice user interface though. (iphone, android, iPad, etc)

I am about to build a house and am planning on building my own system using the arduino and the X10 is too simple and limited for me and the other solutions like KNX are far too expensive. (?120 for the light switch, etc..) there are a couple of people at Solar Panels - Photovoltaic Solar Panels & Solar Water Heating Panels (http://www.navitron.org.uk) in the forum under home automation who have started down this road. When I have mine working I would then plan to write an API for Open remote.

As for Hardware I would use a clarkdale M55 board with the on CPU graphics, the MSI has the lowest power requirements and is not much higher power requirements than an atom. The clarkdale can have more hard disks and twice the memory (important for many virtual machines). Make sure the TV cards, and cameras etc work on linux. As for a DC power connector have you looked at the ones on mini-itx.com - news (http://www.mini-itx.com)

As for distro I would recommend Ubuntu, I don't like SUSE, in my past experience too much of a different way to do every thing. Personally I use Centos for my servers, but that is because I use it at work and know it inside out.

[drawflex]

wow, thanks for your post, already done tons of homework since i started this idea... determined to jump in the deep-end and hit the ground running as-it were... cheers for tips on hardware, looks like i am gonna need a beefier box than i first thought... nice little project for me though.. lots to learn... am interested in your build too... keep me posted ! Cheers