For a quite some time I have been looking for a way to solve my backup problem. As I am a computer scientist (who has just finished all his exams :) ) the obvious solution was to build a home server with a large and reliable disk capabilities. The only problem so far was how to make a server that would not consume too much power and thanks to my friend Nejc I now have a VIA Epia system.

The next idea is to put it into a normal size box (which I also have from my previous desktop PC) and put in a RAID 5 disk array. But before I do that, I wanted to test the system by installing a Ubuntu Server operating system on it.

The first problem was that the CD unit and the hard drive did not work ... nothing. After numerous combinatoric attempts regarding IDE slots the solution came as a surprise and the lesson learned goes like this: 1st pin goes to the red wire!

There is a small problem regarding the combination of Epia motherboard and Ubuntu ... the system does not boot (small problem indeed). This is, as the Net told me, because (yes, more geeky stuff ahead) Ubuntu has a 686 kernel by default and the Via processor on the motherboard is not fully 686 compatible. After a few hours and three burned CDs I finally found the right one (some kind of alternate versions CD). Yay :D Next step: buying three disks and an UPS unit.