Need Advice for a Budget Server

[Reuben]

I go to a small high school, it has around 100 students. Just today, one of the SATA ports on our storage server quit, and the server is old and is being replaced. I'm one of the only tech savvy students, and our IT guy is also a full-time teacher. He asked me if I could price out a new server for him. It will use the same two 500GB drives in RAID 1 as before, and run Server 2012. I have very little experience with servers, I have only built gaming and office computers before. Can you guys help me? I need some basic questions answered, like if I need ECC RAM, how much RAM I need to use, and how powerful of a processor is needed. The budget is under $1K CAD, so keep that in mind when making recommendations. Thanks!

[vlkn´]

Amd fx 8350 (ask how many ram the old server had, AND DOUBLE IT -fatality)

But 12Gb should be enough

Am3+ mainboard that supports the fx 8350

A 5-10$ graphicscard on ebay with dvi output

400Watt powersupply 

[Wtalk2]

How powerful of a processor and how much RAM you need depends on what the server is being used for, as for ECC RAM for a small school server it probably isn't necessary.

 

This would most likely be more than powerful enough for whatever it is needed for but if you want to fully utilise your budget you can get something a bit more powerful

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($284.98 @ Newegg Canada) 

Motherboard: Asus B85M-E/CSM Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($89.99 @ Newegg Canada) 

Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($171.98 @ Amazon Canada) 

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($79.98 @ DirectCanada) 

Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($48.05 @ Vuugo) 

Power Supply: Corsair CSM 450W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($85.98 @ Newegg Canada) 

Total: $760.96

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-18 21:36 EST-0500

 

PS: That CPU doesn't have integrated graphics so you will need to find a cheap, used GPU so you can have a video output.

[Reuben]

Amd fx 8350 (ask how many ram the old server had, AND DOUBLE IT -fatality)

But 12Gb should be enough

Am3+ mainboard that supports the fx 8350

A 5-10$ graphicscard on ebay with dvi output

400Watt powersupply 

What would the advantage be of getting an 8-core AMD processor versus, say, and i3 or i5?

[Reuben]

 

How powerful of a processor and how much RAM you need depends on what the server is being used for, as for ECC RAM for a small school server it probably isn't necessary.

 

This would most likely be more than powerful enough for whatever it is needed for but if you want to fully utilise your budget you can get something a bit more powerful

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($284.98 @ Newegg Canada) 

Motherboard: Asus B85M-E/CSM Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($89.99 @ Newegg Canada) 

Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($171.98 @ Amazon Canada) 

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($79.98 @ DirectCanada) 

Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($48.05 @ Vuugo) 

Power Supply: Corsair CSM 450W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($85.98 @ Newegg Canada) 

Total: $760.96

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-18 21:36 EST-0500

 

PS: That CPU doesn't have integrated graphics so you will need to find a cheap, used GPU so you can have a video output.

 

That looks like a solid build! Would it make sense to downgrade to a consumer-grade CPU, or is there a good reason to get a Xeon processor?

[vlkn´]

What would the advantage be of getting an 8-core AMD processor versus, say, and i3 or i5?

really great server performance for very low money. Who cares how much power it consumes if the tax payers need to pay the bills

I would go so far to say that the 8350 is better than the i3/ i5 in server use

[Wtalk2]

That looks like a solid build! Would it make sense to downgrade to a consumer-grade CPU, or is there a good reason to get a Xeon processor?

I chose the Xeon because they are made for 24/7 server use and it is more cost effective to buy a low-end Xeon than a high-end i7 if you want better multi-threaded performance (Since both the Xeon I selected and a high-end i7 have 4 cores and 8 threads.)

 

PS: I know it is a lot cheaper to get a AMD FX 8-core if you wanted 8 threads but they are also not made for 24/7 server use and consume more power and let out a lot more heat.

[Reuben]

really great server performance for very low money. Who cares how much power it consumes if the tax payers need to pay the bills

I would go so far to say that the 8350 is better than the i3/ i5 in server use

Yeah it's a private school, so in the end it's us paying for the power. Maybe a Xeon would make more sense, as it is better for multithreaded applications compared to an i3 or i5 and will consume less power than an 8350.

[vlkn´]

Yeah it's a private school, so in the end it's us paying for the power. Maybe a Xeon would make more sense, as it is better for multithreaded applications compared to an i3 or i5 and will consume less power than an 8350.

THEY ALL GONNA PAY >:-OOOO

Get what you need/want

[Reuben]

I chose the Xeon because they are made for 24/7 server use and it is more cost effective to buy a low-end Xeon than a high-end i7 if you want better multi-threaded performance (Since both the Xeon I selected and a high-end i7 have 4 cores and 8 threads.)

 

PS: I know it is a lot cheaper to get a AMD FX 8-core if you wanted 8 threads but they are also not made for 24/7 server use and consume more power and let out a lot more heat.

Good call, but I have one more question: Would it matter if I got a cheaper SSD for the boot drive? It won't have much usage, so would a V300 or similar be okay?

[Wtalk2]

Yeah it's a private school, so in the end it's us paying for the power. Maybe a Xeon would make more sense, as it is better for multithreaded applications compared to an i3 or i5 and will consume less power than an 8350.

Ya I would definitely go with a Xeon for a higher-budget server. They are manufactured for server use and will handle multi-threaded workloads better than similarly priced consumer grade CPU's.

[Wtalk2]

Good call, but I have one more question: Would it matter if I got a cheaper SSD for the boot drive? It won't have much usage, so would a V300 or similar be okay?

I would NOT get a V300, it is notorious for horrible performance which isn't much faster than a high-end HDD. I would go with a 120/128GB AData, Crucial or Samsung SSD for a boot drive

[Reuben]

Get what you need/want

That's what I'm trying to do.

[Reuben]

I would NOT get a V300, it is notorious for horrible performance which isn't much faster than a high-end HDD. I would go with a 120/128GB AData, Crucial or Samsung SSD for a boot drive

What do you think of this build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($284.98 @ Newegg Canada) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($82.98 @ Newegg Canada) 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($147.98 @ DirectCanada) 

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($79.98 @ DirectCanada) 

Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 5450 1GB Video Card  ($33.98 @ DirectCanada) 

Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($48.05 @ Vuugo) 

Power Supply: SeaSonic 360W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply  ($78.98 @ Newegg Canada) 

Total: $756.93

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-18 22:24 EST-0500

[Wtalk2]

 

What do you think of this build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($284.98 @ Newegg Canada) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($82.98 @ Newegg Canada) 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($147.98 @ DirectCanada) 

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($79.98 @ DirectCanada) 

Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 5450 1GB Video Card  ($33.98 @ DirectCanada) 

Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($48.05 @ Vuugo) 

Power Supply: SeaSonic 360W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply  ($78.98 @ Newegg Canada) 

Total: $756.93

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-18 22:24 EST-0500

 

That actually looks great to me That would probably be plenty powerful for whatever your school will be using it for

 

PS: Just send me a PM if you need anything else.

[NumLock21]

RAID 1 must be on the same controller for it to work, otherwise you will loose the RAID setup and its data.

[brob]

An M.2 ssd for the system drive leaves the SATA ports free for hdd.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($284.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: Asus H97M-E/CSM Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($104.87 @ DirectCanada)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($47.86 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow 240GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($200.34 @ TigerDirect Canada)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1500 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($64.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 360W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply  ($78.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $782.02
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-18 23:25 EST-0500

[NumLock21]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($284.98 @ Newegg Canada)

Storage: PNY Optima 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.99 @ NCIX)

Case: NZXT Source 220 ATX Mid Tower Case ($68.38 @ TigerDirect Canada)

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($74.99 @ NCIX)

Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($17.65 @ Vuugo)

Other: Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Unbuffered DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Server Memory ($99.99)

Other: ASUS P9D-C/4L ($244.99) Default RAID: LSI supports RAID 0,1,10. or Intel RSTe supports RAID 0,1,5,10

Total: $880.97

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-18 23:52 EST-0500