Hi beagle,
Great post with the exception that I would go with Sandeep or Indy. Actually, my post followed by Sandeep's corrections works well.
Love the SSD choices. As far as the clients, you almost can't go wrong with SSDs now except going with two small. Sandeep and I recommend 512GBs, but at least 256GBs. The greatest thing about SSDs besides speed and durability is with the software where you can clone to another SSD in about an hour. And, then keep the old SSD for archive until you need it. Most SSDs are good. I personally can't stand OCZ, but that was because I had eight and three failed. But, Intel, Samsung and Crucial you can't go wrong.
Testing connection is another great idea. And, if you have auto-negotiation, it can (sometimes) downgrade at one end which can give you even 10Mbps. Happened to me once. Forced it to 1GB, and it was all set.
Tremendous post. And, I am not just saying that, because of the accolades.
FYI: I still wouldn't use OCZ.
