A lot of people seem to use refurbished enterprise sff machines (optiplex micro, thinkcentre m, etc) for vms and similar, if your storage needs are more modest.

A lot of people seem to use refurbished enterprise sff machines (optiplex micro, thinkcentre m, etc) for vms and similar, if your storage needs are more modest. I've also seen some run WD externals from them via the stock usb enclosures, although I'm not sure if running raid or the like on usb devices is a good idea.