Entry-Level home lab/NAS server

[AnsuzThurisaz]

First post!

 

Over they years, I have become quite fond of using the RaspberyyPi line for hobby/projects. Recently, I have deployed a basic home NAS/backup/seedbox using OpenMediaVault 3.x and hit multiple performance ceilings with this setup.

 

Obviously, network speeds can only go so far and even with a gigabit network adapter, we saturate at USB 2.0. Even with the 64bit CPU, OMV images and other debian-based rPi capable distros run 32bit. Even when 64bit distros become the norm for ARM, the CPU can't handle much. Attempts to run Plex have been mixed; if the client has the codecs built in, it runs so-so. If not, it poops the bed.

 

As an experiment, I popped Debian 8 and OMV 3.X onto an older MacBook Pro 13in. (Gen2 i5) I had in my backup stash. This CPU was able to handle a single stream without a hiccup, but kicked CPU usage to 96% - second stream was a bit laggy, third really started causing problems.

 

So, from this I learned Plex transcoding at 720p+ is going to be pretty resource heavy depending on the files. I can either transcode anything I get elsewhere to play nicer or I need better hardware. Additionally, I began to feel I wanted more overhead on a home server to run other applications like a secure personal cloud as well as have a decent enough footprint to start teaching myself some new skills. My current hobbies/interest are pushing me towards media editing so I am going to need at the very least a slightly faster storage solution that my desktop and backing up to a rPi NAS but I am also interested in learning more about virtualization, testing, scripting, deployment - dev. ops/admin/QA professionally.

 

My research has been all over the map; from taking a look at various mobile/IoT dev boards (with better i/o like gbit eth and sata) to the intel NUC line and Dell mini-servers. I've also been looking at various "pro-sumer" grade desktop hardware RAID boxes.

 

The NUC line has some decent options but for the kind of work I want to do and based on what I saw with Plex on an i5, anything less than a Skull-Canyon NUC would not likely handle the kind of multi-tasking I am looking to do with a home server. At the SC NUC price-point, I might as well pay a little more for actual server hardware so this led me to the Supermicro SuperServer E200-8D.

 

I'm pretty confident that box with 32gb of server ECC RAM and an intel m.2 nvme SSD would work nicely with a desktop e-sata raidbox. You could easily snake a e-sata>sata cable to the sata headers in the case and pop thru one of the removable back port covers. In the future, if the board survives, this system could be rack-mounted and used with a larger format raid array later and is compatible with a PCI riser/bracket for expansion.

 

That said, a system like this could also be used to learn how to offload rendering work to another system, but I have been catching some references to some video work actually benefiting from a server having a GPU? Way cart before the horse.

 

Alternatively, I could go Skull Canyon i7 NUC and also have a pretty capable HTPC setup as well.

 

And, now I am rambling. Really just looking to spur discussion about this hardware. I am quite a long ways from purchasing anything any time soon, but I do want to learn as much as possible. I think a more powerful/secure home server/lab for myself and the work my partner does wouldn't be a bad investment.

[Flygenring]

I must admit, the  jump from a RPi to that Supermicro is kind of extreme. From personal experience I would recommend just building a pc in a NAS case and installing debian or another linux distro. Also rendering offloading isn't effective unless you have something that I imagine is out of your price range (Linus-level crazy servers) we are talking multiple processors and GPU's. So if I were you I'd stick with building a fast storage box that is also capable of running a couple of VM's (Basically multiple cores and lots of ram). Also keep the raid internal and just get a bigger case and use either motherboard raid or buy a raid card. I could be wrong based on my limited experience with server hardware. But I hope it works out for you.

[unijab]

Are you more interesting being able to scale up or scale out?

[TLN]

Buy HP Microserver G8 - small cube shaped box. Very nice server featires(microsd slot, ilo, etc)

Put 8 or 16 gigs of memory. 32 probably won't work.

Put Xeon E3-1220L, 1265L, 1230 processor. Note that 1265L or 1230 are outside of temp package for that box - but works perfect anyways

 

Enjoy!

Small little capable box. You can do 2-3 1080 streams with xeon easily.

[Mikensan]

If you don't mind the used route, could browse ebay for a R610/R710/R510 C2200 - normally starting around $250us. Certainly a lot of horsepower per $$. However not nearly as power friendly as IoT devices. My C1100 idles (2x L5520s) around 250watts.

[Dark]

Heck, I just picked up two R320's for less than $300/pair.  They are all over eBay and one of the more recent 1U servers that aren't crazy with fan noise. 

 

 

[ssfdre38]

I would recommend if you have a spare computer or laptop, use that as your home lab/NAS unit as what i am doing. Now i know this might not be the best route but at lease its a steep up from pi without costing too much

[Lurick]

Depending how far down the rabbit hole you want to go a nice Dell R610/R710 could be great. Toss ESXi on there and you can spin up VMs as you need them. They can be had with dual Xeons and 32GB+ of RAM for around $250 on ebay and can scale up to 96GB of RAM if you really want to go all out or need it on the future.

[Dark]

1 hour ago, Lurick said:

Depending how far down the rabbit hole you want to go a nice Dell R610/R710 could be great. Toss ESXi on there and you can spin up VMs as you need them. They can be had with dual Xeons and 32GB+ of RAM for around $250 on ebay and can scale up to 96GB of RAM if you really want to go all out or need it on the future.

I would absolutely stay away from the R610 unless you have a room that's isolated; those things are screamers.

 

The R710 isn't bad for what it is but I wouldn't pay a dollar over $140 for a decent one.  I sold 8 of them a few months back for $200/ea and I was very shocked to see them sell for that.

 

 

Great deals:

 

2x R420's for $670 - http://www.ebay.com/itm/LOT-OF-2-Dell-Poweredge-R420-2-x-SIX-CORE-2-20GHZ-E5-2430-24GB-MEMORY-500GB-/371833296499?hash=item5692fdd673:g:0GUAAOSw5cNYS0gL

 

1x R420 (bid at 202.50) - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Poweredge-R420-2-x-SIX-CORE-2-40GHZ-E5-2440-24GB-MEMORY-2-x-500GB-1TB/371831484517

 

 

 

[Lurick]

20 hours ago, Dark said:

I would absolutely stay away from the R610 unless you have a room that's isolated; those things are screamers.

You sure? I've got one right now that I can barely hear from 10 feet away. Not sure if there are different hardware revisions or something but the one I have definitely doesn't scream.

[Mikensan]

I second the R610 being quiet. Unless you have it sitting inside a sauna where it needs the extra RPMs, it's a very quiet server. (Louder than a desktop though).

[Dark]

That's great to hear @Lurick and @Mikensan

 

I had two of them a few years back and even after the BMC/iDrac updated firmware they were still loud.

They weren't horrible at idle but mine were usually under a fairly heavy load (my R320s under full load are quieter than what I remember the R610 was at idle).

 

Regardless, the 710's weren't loud at all.

[Mikensan]

36 minutes ago, Dark said:

That's great to hear @Lurick and @Mikensan

 

I had two of them a few years back and even after the BMC/iDrac updated firmware they were still loud.

They weren't horrible at idle but mine were usually under a fairly heavy load (my R320s under full load are quieter than what I remember the R610 was at idle).

 

Regardless, the 710's weren't loud at all.

I would agree the R710 should be quieter because of its larger fans, less rpms and probably has equal CFM as a result. You haven't truly heard loud until you've fired up a 1850 or a 1950, that set the bar extremely high for me. When I think of loud, that's the first thing that comes to mind.

 

I sit maybe 15 feet away from my rack which has a c1100, IBM x3650 M3, R610, and my custom NAS - TV at normal volume overcomes it all. If I sit and listen for them, I can hear them so it's not exactly whisper quiet - don't want to give that impression.

 

I have noticed if you do not plug in both power supplies the fans run at full tilt I'm guessing as a way to get admins to look at it. The R720s I have at work behave in the same manor.