Low Power Consumption Server, and cheap.

[muazamkamal]

Hi guys, 

 

Recently I've taken interested into building a dedicated machine to run as server for 24/7. But as I'm totally new in this whole thing, I'd figure that I need to seek you lot for some help. Regarding the machine, is there any pre-build machine from any (well-known) company, or I'd have to buy all the components and build it myself? I'm fine with building it myself though it'd be easier if there is any pre-build. Here comes the plot twist (well not really), the criteria I'm trying to meet is just : 

• to mainly run Teamspeak 3 Server.
• low cost
• low power consumption

Another thing is that, Teamspeak 3 Server doesn't support ARM processor.

 

That's about it. 

[slightlyjaded]

Hi guys, 

 

Recently I've taken interested into building a dedicated machine to run as server for 24/7. But as I'm totally new in this whole thing, I'd figure that I need to seek you lot for some help. Regarding the machine, is there any pre-build machine from any (well-known) company, or I'd have to buy all the components and build it myself? I'm fine with building it myself though it'd be easier if there is any pre-build. Here comes the plot twist (well not really), the criteria I'm trying to meet is just : 

• to mainly run Teamspeak 3 Server.
• low cost
• low power consumption

Another thing is that, Teamspeak 3 Server doesn't support ARM processor.

 

That's about it. 

Take a peak at the "S" lineup of chips. They're intel's low power desktop chips.

[Wtalk2]

I would just suggest getting a $5/month VPS from Digital Ocean. I use one to host my Teamspeak server, Squid proxy server, web server and to just mess around with other stuff on. It works great for $5/month and it will probably be cheaper to just pay the $5 per month than spending a few hundred on a server

 

PS: PM me for promo codes if you are interested

[BurgerBum]

if you wanna make it? idk... 

but you can pay for some on a monthly basis however. 

[brandishwar]

I know your note about the ARM is to keep from recommending things like the Raspberry Pi, and I wouldn't recommend it either, even if there was a version available for it simply because of the memory.

 

Quite a few different directions you can go with this. First, I'd recommend looking at older, used hardware. If this is going to be running just a TeamSpeak server, you don't need anything really all that powerful. RAM will likely be more important than the processor, and you can likely pick up a used Core i5 or i3 (1st or 2nd gen) for pretty cheap right now, or an Athlon X2. This will also keep your power consumption relatively light as newer processors tend to have higher power requirements.

 

On the OS: Linux. It's free, and it'll run better on... well... anything you put it on. No sense in going with a full Windows system just to run the TeamSpeak server. Heck you might even be able to get it all running off a USB drive and still see decent performance, allowing you to further save on hardware.

 

As an example, I've got a Minecraft server running on an Athlon X2 4200+ (65W version) with 2GB RAM supported by a 250W power supply and a low-profile graphics card (old one I need to replace thermal compound on). Everything's running on Fedora 21 on an SSD I'm not using anywhere else, though I'm sure I could get it running off a USB drive if I really wanted to. But it's built into a 2U rack-mount chassis (cost shy of $100) and it's running a FlexATX power supply from SeaSonic. It has a Nocta low-profile CPU cooler, Noctua fan on a copper northbridge heatsink, two 60mm Noctua fans in the front plus another 80mm Enermax fan. It's whisper quiet (another consideration) and low power made from components I had lying around -- though the chassis, power supply, CPU cooler, and fans needed to be ordered in.

 

Optionally you can try to run this off a older laptop -- again you don't really need anything all that powerful. TeamSpeak's only requirement is a CPU capable of SSE2.

[muazamkamal]

Take a peak at the "S" lineup of chips. They're intel's low power desktop chips.

will take a look at it thank you!

[muazamkamal]

I would just suggest getting a $5/month VPS from Digital Ocean. I use one to host my Teamspeak server, Squid proxy server, web server and to just mess around with other stuff on. It works great for $5/month and it will probably be cheaper to just pay the $5 per month than spending a few hundred on a server

 

PS: PM me for promo codes if you are interested

 

 

if you wanna make it? idk... 

but you can pay for some on a monthly basis however. 

 

I acknowledge that there are servers available for rent, though how flexible is rented server compared to own server?

[muazamkamal]

I know your note about the ARM is to keep from recommending things like the Raspberry Pi, and I wouldn't recommend it either, even if there was a version available for it simply because of the memory.

 

Quite a few different directions you can go with this. First, I'd recommend looking at older, used hardware. If this is going to be running just a TeamSpeak server, you don't need anything really all that powerful. RAM will likely be more important than the processor, and you can likely pick up a used Core i5 or i3 (1st or 2nd gen) for pretty cheap right now, or an Athlon X2. This will also keep your power consumption relatively light as newer processors tend to have higher power requirements.

 

On the OS: Linux. It's free, and it'll run better on... well... anything you put it on. No sense in going with a full Windows system just to run the TeamSpeak server. Heck you might even be able to get it all running off a USB drive and still see decent performance, allowing you to further save on hardware.

 

As an example, I've got a Minecraft server running on an Athlon X2 4200+ (65W version) with 2GB RAM supported by a 250W power supply and a low-profile graphics card (old one I need to replace thermal compound on). Everything's running on Fedora 21 on an SSD I'm not using anywhere else, though I'm sure I could get it running off a USB drive if I really wanted to. But it's built into a 2U rack-mount chassis (cost shy of $100) and it's running a FlexATX power supply from SeaSonic. It has a Nocta low-profile CPU cooler, Noctua fan on a copper northbridge heatsink, two 60mm Noctua fans in the front plus another 80mm Enermax fan. It's whisper quiet (another consideration) and low power made from components I had lying around -- though the chassis, power supply, CPU cooler, and fans needed to be ordered in.

 

Optionally you can try to run this off a older laptop -- again you don't really need anything all that powerful. TeamSpeak's only requirement is a CPU capable of SSE2.

First of, thank you for the reply. 

 

I do have a Raspberry PI, though I was so devastated about Teamspeak not being able to run on ARM chip because i have (currently running) Synology NAS, and so it happens that mine is ARM-based instead of x86. 

Moving on, so basically you're guiding me towards low power, old chip and focusing on the RAM is it? May I get a clearer view of the rest of the specification? Example, what motherboard, how much RAM are we talking about? Lastly to clarify, running solely Teamspeak 3 Server, I won't be needing graphics card right?

[Wtalk2]

I acknowledge that there are servers available for rent, though how flexible is rented server compared to own server?

I've owned both physical servers in my house and rented servers online and personally I like using online rented servers much more. The only difference is that you don't have the system actually in your house which really doesn't matter. Rented online servers (Specifically Digital Ocean) usually have a much better internet connection than you will have, you won't have to worry about hardware failures and with the Digital Ocean dashboard you can easily take snapshots of you system so if you break something you can role-back to the snapshot where it was working.

 

PS: Wow I sound like a Digital Ocean advertiser

[brandishwar]

First of, thank you for the reply. 

 

I do have a Raspberry PI, though I was so devastated about Teamspeak not being able to run on ARM chip because i have (currently running) Synology NAS, and so it happens that mine is ARM-based instead of x86. 

Moving on, so basically you're guiding me towards low power, old chip and focusing on the RAM is it? May I get a clearer view of the rest of the specification? Example, what motherboard, how much RAM are we talking about? Lastly to clarify, running solely Teamspeak 3 Server, I won't be needing graphics card right?

 

 

The mainboard can be anything compatible with whatever processor you find. Look for a mainbaord and processor combination if you can -- might even come with memory as well, though chances are it'll be DDR-2 memory instead of DDR-3, but that shouldn't be a huge problem. Again Teamspeak shouldn't be all that demanding, and anything put out in the last 8 years should work fine. For RAM, I'd say aim for 2GB at least if you can -- Teamspeak server requires 1GB, so 2GB gives a little headroom.

 

You'll still need a graphics card of some kind unless the mainboard you find has onboard graphics -- or in the case of older i3 or i5 processors, uses the built in. Otherwise any cheap graphics card will do the trick as you just need something that can provide a display while you're getting everything set up.