Server Cooling

[Kered124]

Hello,

 

Looking at building a server for work for backups and light task virtual machine hosting. The challenge is that we only have a 12U rack and only 2Us are open for a machine. Boss told me to make it work, so here I am. 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/cjN2wV

That list contains my current parts list. The goal is to be able to expand the storage later if needed. I need a heatsink that will fit in the 2U chassis and will work for Ryzen.

 

Also, any recommendations on a different 2U chassis with lower wattage (but redundant) power supplies would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!

 

EDIT:

I forgot to mention that this machine will also be acting as a PBX, and needs to have pci expansion for the appropriate hardware.

[Electronics Wizardy]

5 minutes ago, Kered124 said:

Looking at building a server for work

Don't build one, but a dell dell, you get support, easier to get parts, better compatibilty, faster, more ram.

 

If you want it cheaper get a used one. like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-PowerEdge-R710-3-5-2x-X5650-2-66GHz-12-core-64GB-6x-Trays-H700-2x-Power-/332163846931?hash=item4d56821313:g:pUgAAOSw-4BXXxYO 

 

 

 

[Kered124]

Yeah, we have two 710's doing other tasks in the rack already, along with an old poweredge 2950. The system needs to be able to have hardware added, as it will also be a PBX... Forgot to add that to the details..

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, Kered124 said:

Yeah, we have two 710's doing other tasks in the rack already, along with an old poweredge 2950. The system needs to be able to have hardware added, as it will also be a PBX... Forgot to add that to the details..

You can expand these, 

 

If you want more performance(these are already faster than that custom one) get a r720.

 

What OS?

[Kered124]

Host os will be Ubuntu server, vms will include Ubuntu desktop, Windows 10, and AsteriskNOW for the pbx portion. 

[Electronics Wizardy]

2 minutes ago, Kered124 said:

Host os will be Ubuntu server, vms will include Ubuntu desktop, Windows 10, and AsteriskNOW for the pbx portion. 

if you mainly running vms id look into something like proxmox for a nice web interface for vms, but ubuntu works fine

 

there are some issues on ryzen with vms, id stick with a used r7x0

[Kered124]

Alright, looking into this. I don't know much about the dell servers we have now as I just gained responsibility for the rack. What software do I use to manage the RAID arrays If a drive fails and I need to rebuild? Seems like I can't find this info anywhere, that being hat scared me away from just buying another R710.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, Kered124 said:

Alright, looking into this. I don't know much about the dell servers we have now as I just gained responsibility for the rack. What software do I use to manage the RAID arrays If a drive fails and I need to rebuild? Seems like I can't find this info anywhere, that being hat scared me away from just buying another R710.

They have a cli to manage the raid card http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/SLN283135/how-to-use-the-command-line-utility-on-your-dell-raid-controller--?lang=EN

 

Works in windows and linux.

 

You can also use a gui in the bios.

 

You can also run the card in jbod and use software raid.

[Kered124]

Alright, thank you for the help. Would you recommend using the PERC 6i, or going with a software RAID?

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 minute ago, Kered124 said:

Alright, thank you for the help. Would you recommend using the PERC 6i, or going with a software RAID?

With the 6i, you don't have good jbod, so go hardware, aslo get the h700 if you can its much better. the 6/i is limited to 2tb drives max and is kinda slow.

 

 

[Kered124]

Oh, didn't notice that the 710 you sent has the h700. The two 710's we have have the 6i.. Still recommend hardware with the h700?

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, Kered124 said:

Oh, didn't notice that the 710 you sent has the h700. The two 710's we have have the 6i.. Still recommend hardware with the h700?

yep, the h700 is a much better card.

 

Are you running vms on all the servers?

 

Id try to migrate to somthing like promox, ovirt, esxi, xenserver, or hyper-v sometime so they all work as a cluster and you can do this like live migration and easy upgrades.

[Kered124]

They are all running VMs yes, I have considered hyper-v, but have limited knowledge of it. I will be looking into proxmox, as its a new name to me. Currently the other 710s have windows installed as a host and the vms are running in virtualbox. 

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 minute ago, Kered124 said:

They are all running VMs yes, I have considered hyper-v, but have limited knowledge of it. I will be looking into promox, as its a new name to me. Currently the other 710s have windows installed as a host and the vms are running in virtualbox. 

id put proxmox on a system laying around and play around with it, then once you get used to it, id start migrating files and vms over to it. If you want to get fancy you can setup distrubted storage so all storage is redundant between systems.

[Kered124]

Very cool, I will definitely be throwing it on some hardware and checking it out. Thanks!