[Swordmaker]

Does the same logic apply to hard drives? I could install Hitachi or Western Digital server-quality drives in the extra bays for much less than the cost of buying them from Apple.

yes.

[Scoutmaster]

What would you recommend regarding Raid and backup storage? Goal is to minimize risk of data loss and to speed hard drive access to the extent the two goals are compatible; minimizing risk of data loss is the priority.

Obviously, external back up options include the new wireless router/wireless storage unit (500Gig or 1TB) from Apple, or good old external drives. To use XServe Raid external drives, the Mac Pro requires a $700 fibre optic card.

The regular Raid controller for the Mac Pro is a hefty $800. A plus to the Raid controller is that if SAS drives become available with greater storage capacity at a reasonable cost, the Raid controller is required to use SAS drives.

My current Core 2 Duo ASUS motherboard has the Raid controller built into it. Running four 500 gig drives (Western Digial, 16 MB Cache) with Raid (whether 0,1, or 5) never seemed to do anything but slow my computer.

Would you use Raid 5 with four drives to optimize both data security and access speed? Would you recommend the regular Raid card, the XServe Raid card, or another option for backup and, if appropriate, Raid?

I generally replace PC case fans with quieter, higher air flow, fans, with silicon or rubber gaskets — even on Lian Li or Cooler Max cases. What’s the quality/noise like on OEM Apple fans? Would you replace them (or gasket them)?