The SheevaPlug is indeed viable and cheap $99. Plug in and mount an external USB and/or SD (there's a slot for it), install/config Samba and you are ready to serve files to your LAN. You can also easily install Apache and PHP for Web service. Be aware that the current models are reference designs, so adding things might require a kernel upgrade. Also, you'll generally access the Plug via the network and SSH, perfectly natural for a server. Here are a couple of my articles on the Plug that might be helpful.
http://www.linux.com/news/hardware/servers/9517-plugging-away-diy-file-server-using-sambahttp://www.linux.com/news/hardware/servers/6877-plugging-ahead-diy-basic-apachephp-web-server
The Fit-PC might also fit the bill although the price is a little over the $300 requirement (around $360, as of last May). Remember though that the Fit-PC is an entertainment PC. It has 6 USB ports, Gigbit Ethernet, Wifi, an Atom 530 at 1.6 GHz, 1 GB of RAM, Intel GMA500 graphics w/ h/w video acceleration, and a 130 GB drive. All in a little 4" x 3" x 1" fanless case. You can SSH into it because it runs Ubuntu or plug in a keyboard/mouse and DVI/HDMI monitor (no VGA connector). It's designed as a desktop/video client machine that is integrated into your big-screen, killer sound system installation. You could possibly serve files as an add-on. Everything works out of the box and performance is good.
Here are a couple of my stories on the Fit-PC:
http://www.linux.com/news/hardware/desktops/18899-fit-pc2-ubuntu-desktop-in-a-tiny-boxhttp://www.linux.com/news/hardware/servers/20811-fit-pc2-phone-calls-from-your-easy-chair
I've used both boxes for several months and have had no reliability problems. The seem like good value for the money.
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The SheevaPlug is indeed viable and cheap $99. Plug in and mount an external USB and/or SD (there's a slot for it), install/config Samba and you are ready to serve files to your LAN. You can also easily install Apache and PHP for Web service. Be aware that the current models are reference designs, so adding things might require a kernel upgrade. Also, you'll generally access the Plug via the network and SSH, perfectly natural for a server. Here are a couple of my articles on the Plug that might be helpful. http://www.linux.com/news/hardware/servers/9517-plugging-away-diy-file-server-using-samba http://www.linux.com/news/hardware/servers/6877-plugging-ahead-diy-basic-apachephp-web-server The Fit-PC might also fit the bill although the price is a little over the $300 requirement (around $360, as of last May). Remember though that the Fit-PC is an entertainment PC. It has 6 USB ports, Gigbit Ethernet, Wifi, an Atom 530 at 1.6 GHz, 1 GB of RAM, Intel GMA500 graphics w/ h/w video acceleration, and a 130 GB drive. All in a little 4" x 3" x 1" fanless case. You can SSH into it because it runs Ubuntu or plug in a keyboard/mouse and DVI/HDMI monitor (no VGA connector). It's designed as a desktop/video client machine that is integrated into your big-screen, killer sound system installation. You could possibly serve files as an add-on. Everything works out of the box and performance is good. Here are a couple of my stories on the Fit-PC: http://www.linux.com/news/hardware/desktops/18899-fit-pc2-ubuntu-desktop-in-a-tiny-box http://www.linux.com/news/hardware/servers/20811-fit-pc2-phone-calls-from-your-easy-chair I've used both boxes for several months and have had no reliability problems. The seem like good value for the money.