Basic Serverroom

[Radiant]

hey guys,

im thinking about running a server in my room, ans also having different network preferences to run different things.

im new to this stuff and i dont know alot about servers and so on so i was wondering:

-does a server need to be anything powerful and does it need alot of hard drive space or can i use clouds?

-if i wanted different nexwork preferences, what things would i need to buy?

-say i have the server in my basement, how would i connect it with the stuff in my room about 50 meters away.

-if im on a budget, how cheap can i make this all work?

 

thanks

[Electronics Wizardy]

1. Depends on what your doing but for basic tasks you can run this on almost any system in the last 10 years. For hdd space, it all depends on waht your doing . The base os install is normally less than 20gb.

 

2. What do you mean by network prefences. Do you mean vlans? subnetting? firewall? Id probably get a managed switch, there just much nicer to use.

 

3. You connect it with ethernet.

 

4. For basica stuff, get a old used optiplex for about 60 bucks, then a few old managed switched kinda like a dell 5324 for about 20 a pop.

[Radiant]

3 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

1. Depends on what your doing but for basic tasks you can run this on almost any system in the last 10 years. For hdd space, it all depends on waht your doing . The base os install is normally less than 20gb.

 

2. What do you mean by network prefences. Do you mean vlans? subnetting? firewall? Id probably get a managed switch, there just much nicer to use.

 

3. You connect it with ethernet.

 

4. For basica stuff, get a old used optiplex for about 60 bucks, then a few old managed switched kinda like a dell 5324 for about 20 a pop.

can you maybe explain it to me further in the dms?

[Electronics Wizardy]

2 minutes ago, Radiant said:

can you maybe explain it to me further in the dms?

sure what are yo doing on this server?

[Donut417]

3 hours ago, Radiant said:

hey guys,

im thinking about running a server in my room, ans also having different network preferences to run different things.

im new to this stuff and i dont know alot about servers and so on so i was wondering:

-does a server need to be anything powerful and does it need alot of hard drive space or can i use clouds?

-if i wanted different nexwork preferences, what things would i need to buy?

-say i have the server in my basement, how would i connect it with the stuff in my room about 50 meters away.

-if im on a budget, how cheap can i make this all work?

 

thanks

Servers are much like Desktop PC's you build them to suit the needs you need met. For instance, you might have a server with lots of CPU cores and RAM to run a bunch of VM's. You also have to decided what OS your going to run and such. So what is the purpose of your server?

 

As far as connecting it to your network, the best way is Ethernet. As stated above you can look at used hardware. Look at eBay and such, they tend to have lots of old enterprise grade hardware. Maybe look for tech firms around you area that might be throwing out or selling old servers. 

[Pixel5]

10 hours ago, Radiant said:

im thinking about running a server in my room

most important question at first is what do you want to do with the server and what is the budget?

[Mikensan]

The R610s and R710s are cheap as hell these days, so if you're good with buying used then those will give you something to start and grow into later.

Then you can virtualize any open sourced firewall you want to handle any network "preferences."

 

A managed switch as noted above is well worth it. Brand new a 8-16 port managed switch might run you $80-$120.

R610 or R710 in a basic config... $250 shipped.

 

So $370 tops?

 

(To run cables into your basement, use the ventilation ducts or go down the ventilation return... warning: this is not to code and is deemed a fire hazard in most states, but most do it anyway...)

[ChalkChalkson]

4 hours ago, Mikensan said:

The R610s and R710s are cheap as hell these days, so if you're good with buying used then those will give you something to start and grow into later.

Then you can virtualize any open sourced firewall you want to handle any network "preferences."

 

A managed switch as noted above is well worth it. Brand new a 8-16 port managed switch might run you $80-$120.

R610 or R710 in a basic config... $250 shipped.

 

So $370 tops?

 

(To run cables into your basement, use the ventilation ducts or go down the ventilation return... warning: this is not to code and is deemed a fire hazard in most states, but most do it anyway...)

good idea, I fully agree. Also, nice to see you again Mike

 

21 hours ago, Radiant said:

hey guys,

im thinking about running a server in my room, ans also having different network preferences to run different things.

im new to this stuff and i dont know alot about servers and so on so i was wondering:

-does a server need to be anything powerful and does it need alot of hard drive space or can i use clouds?

-if i wanted different nexwork preferences, what things would i need to buy?

-say i have the server in my basement, how would i connect it with the stuff in my room about 50 meters away.

-if im on a budget, how cheap can i make this all work?

 

thanks

 For the servers it surely depends on what your final goals are. I'd recommend keeping an eye on ebay, checking for mid tear servers with sandy bridge or newer chips in it.

As for HDD space it depends again on what you are doing. If you are hosting a few gaming, VOIP and web servers you are probably fine with 240GB, if you are going to do file hosting or something along those lines you need at least as much storage as you re wanting to host (cpt obvious). 

for the cableing you should try to get at least one cable from your router (wherever it is) to the switch in the basement. That is all you need. You can monitor pretty much all servers via the network.

If it is utterly impossible to wire the server up, and you can't move it anywhere to make it possible, you could use Powerline LAN adapters, sometimes called DLAN. This is a very sketchy solution though and depending on your house's wireing it cut hit performance and stability.

I'd say you should calculate with about 500$ depending on how powerful your servers need to be and how lucky you are.

 

Buy list:

• Managed Gbit switch ~100$
• at least one relatively modern x86 or AMD64 based computer 300$
• Cables (long RJ45 cat 5 cables aren't cheap) ~50$
• Misc. ~50$ (power bricks etc)

 

[Radiant]

1 hour ago, ChalkChalkson said:

good idea, I fully agree. Also, nice to see you again Mike

 

 For the servers it surely depends on what your final goals are. I'd recommend keeping an eye on ebay, checking for mid tear servers with sandy bridge or newer chips in it.

As for HDD space it depends again on what you are doing. If you are hosting a few gaming, VOIP and web servers you are probably fine with 240GB, if you are going to do file hosting or something along those lines you need at least as much storage as you re wanting to host (cpt obvious). 

for the cableing you should try to get at least one cable from your router (wherever it is) to the switch in the basement. That is all you need. You can monitor pretty much all servers via the network.

If it is utterly impossible to wire the server up, and you can't move it anywhere to make it possible, you could use Powerline LAN adapters, sometimes called DLAN. This is a very sketchy solution though and depending on your house's wireing it cut hit performance and stability.

I'd say you should calculate with about 500$ depending on how powerful your servers need to be and how lucky you are.

 

Buy list:

• Managed Gbit switch ~100$
• at least one relatively modern x86 or AMD64 based computer 300$
• Cables (long RJ45 cat 5 cables aren't cheap) ~50$
• Misc. ~50$ (power bricks etc)

 

thanks for the reply, is it possible to go any cheaper? as you can see, i am in austria and the stuff is not that cheap here.....and the DLAN adapter, because we have a 70 year old house still with the original cables they dont work, believe me i have bought 3 different ones over time! why not send me a dm so you can explain better, even in german if you dont know the english word for it!

[Donut417]

4 hours ago, Radiant said:

thanks for the reply, is it possible to go any cheaper? as you can see, i am in austria and the stuff is not that cheap here.....and the DLAN adapter, because we have a 70 year old house still with the original cables they dont work, believe me i have bought 3 different ones over time! why not send me a dm so you can explain better, even in german if you dont know the english word for it!

Do you have Coax? Because Moca could work maybe. Should be more stable then wireless. 

[samiscool51]

what i recommend is get a layout of the room, then draw where the servers/devices will be and plan accordingly

this is an example of one for a business, it will give you an idea on how it's usaly done