(click for full size image)
Durga is a tower PC running Microsoft Windows Home Server. It began life as a Pentium II tower that I purchased dirt cheap at a gov't sale in the spring of 2002. I originally used it as a Linux server, but I started pulling parts out to keep Shakti running. I liked the tower case, so in 2007 I gutted it completely and used the old hardware from Lalitha to build a WHS box (which is why some of the components look strange for a server). The machine was up and running shortly after the release of WHS in late 2007, and I added the internal hot-swap drive cage and more hard drives in the spring of 2008. In 2009 I doubled the RAM and added an external 8-drive SATA enclosure.
The point of a server is to have a lot of disk space, and Durga currently has eleven hard drives with room for five more. One of the main reasons I used the old HTPC hardware was the eight on-board SATA ports, and the external enclosure with add-on card gives me eight more (and only requires two eSATA cables). It currently has about 10 terabytes of storage space which is about one third full, mostly with backup data. I'm getting ready to start ripping all of my CDs to MP3, so I have plenty of space available.
I've never taken a good solo picture of Durga, and the one on this page is from its old Linux days. There are some recent pictures on the main Computers page showing both the case and the external drive enclosure (with blue LED fan in the rear). I'm planning to use the motherboard/CPU/RAM from either Chandi or Gauri to upgrade this machine in the next few months, maybe when the next "Vail" version of Windows Home Server is released. I'll probably change the case at that time, but I haven't decided if I want to use one I already have or buy a new one like the Antec P183.
Durga means "the unfathomable; the unattainable; the invincible" in Sanskrit. Like the rest of my PCs, Durga is one of the names for the consort of Shiva in Hinduism.
