Building a new PC

FTK - not sure if this is used as much on uni courses because of the server - client approach it seems to take

You can get a decent standalone copy of FTK up and running easily enough. Use the Postgres DB installer that all later versions come bundled with. It's relatively lightweight (relative to MSSQL anyway) and any i5+ system will cope reasonably well, particularly with student data.

There are loose specs for a single-box 'laptop' install here. I respectfully disagree with the no-SSD comment - since this will presumably be your own CF box. Just keep an eye on the manufacturer's page for firmware etc and run diagnostics from time to time. And be aware it will fry eventually lol

I've been using SSDs on forensic workstations for years, and none of them have died yet. (none of the HDDs have died either) The only drives I've lost in the past few years have been DOA evidence storage HDDs, which failed wiping and were RMA'd before being placed in service.

I have a bunch of computers with SSDs for OS drives. One computer has a little RAID 0 array of 512GB SSDs that we use for temporary storage while processing. The only problem with it is to preserve write speeds, I have to physically remove the drives and issue an ATA secure erase command on them periodically because TRIM does not work through this RAID controller, which is very common. I usually do this after a few cases. It only takes a few minutes since a secure erase command takes only seconds on an SSD.

The speed advantage of an SSD over spinning disks makes using SSDs a no-brainer if you can afford them.

If you go with SSDs, pay attention to SLC vs MLC vs TLC. Each refer to the number of bits stored in each cell (single, double, and triple, respectively). TLC is cheapest but will wear fastest. The Samsung 850 EVO is a drive that uses TLC. I prefer MLC drives like the Samsung 840 Pro as a good compromise. SLC drives are more rare these days, but they are much more durable. That said, the lifespan of drives like the 840 Pro are far beyond what you'll need even in a forensic workstation.

https://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/minisite/SSD/uk/html/about/MlcNandFlash.html
Relevant section

Furthermore, a Korean SSD enthusiast website used Iometer’s Endurance Test (2008) to push the limits of a 120GB 840 SSD. The test, which ran without failures, achieved an impressive 331TB Total Bytes Written (TBW) which is equivalent to an extraordinary 94 year lifespan at 10GB/day.

And an article on the newer 850 Pro NAND endurance
http//www.anandtech.com/show/8239/update-on-samsung-850-pro-endurance-vnand-die-size

Just look at builds and build your own off of theirs specs
http//www.digitalintelligence.com/products/fred/
Integrated Write blackers are nice to have but the tabluea one is like $1000
https://www.guidancesoftware.com/products/Pages/tableau/products/forensic-bridges/t35689iu.aspx
https://www.guidancesoftware.com/products/Pages/tableau/products/forensic-bridges/ultraBay-3d.aspx