Hardware Recommendation needed

littlegreen · February 9, 2019

Hi guys!

I am looking to (re)build a home server - for a few different purposes and I've hit a snag and don't know how to proceed. Any advice is welcome of course.

The purposes of the server are:

* Plex server with IPTV-plugin which has a very specific configuration, so the mrs. can watch foreign-language TV.

* NAS (duh!)

* Game-server for upto 8 people.

* VPN-server for my TV - for that sweet sweet US Netflix content

* Backup server for my work laptop.

What I've got now:

* Core i5-6500

* 16GB DDR4

* Z170 board

* 2 Gb-E NICs

* 1300mbs wifi

* Marvell RAID controller

* RAID 0 (2x2TB)

* JBOD (Managed in singles)

And here's where the struggle is:

Certain things run better on certain OSes.

For instance - I've tried Private Internet Access, and I've tried NORD VPN to play that sweet US Netflix content on my TV set. I've tried both providers under linux and windows server - and the verdict is, I need to be using PIA under Windows server - else, Netflix detects the proxy and stops my playback every 8 minutes or so.

The PLEX server needs to run in linux, because the aforementioned IPTV plugin is very, very specific. I've been banging my head against the wall for a while, trying to get it to work on Windows - rewriting syntax to suit, etc - to no avail. So after 2 weeks - I've given up. It's going to have to run on linux.

The game server doesn't really make a difference - as it is available to most OSes - as long as it is either a fully emulated or directly running OS (And not in a Docker for example). NAS and Backup servers are easy-ish on every platform.

I've tried XPenology, however, the proprietary filesystem threw me off, and Dockers are gimmicky at best, not to mention scarcely available as the platform is not exactly the most popular.

Obviously, I've tried emulating inside a host(every which way) - but that just doesn't work. You sacrifice resources and that game server is RAM-hungry!

So I thought ESXi is the answer!

There's free lincence out there for non-commercial use, which is absolutely brilliant! There's only one problem - my hardware is not supported. Obviously the orientation of the platform is , not your everyday i3 and i5 processors, so it doesn't recognize any of my NICs - and won't even install! - let alone let me do something.

And finally - here's the question:

If ESXi is to solve my problems, by giving me low-level emulation with dynamic resource allocation and remote access to every machine running in there - what hardware should I get that would comfortably accomplish the tasks I've described above - and still have some resources left over in case I need it to do something else for me?

I'm thinking a Haswell-gen Xeon platform with 16GB of Ram - but with slots left open for the future in case I need a little more.

If I am reading this correctly, it should be compatible with ESXi and I should live happily ever after.

Or - maybe there is an option I have not considered just yet?

Many thanks in advance!

dalekphalm · February 9, 2019

You could try out a different Hypervisor on your hardware.

The first OS you should look at is Proxmox. It's similar to ESXi in that it's a Type 1 Hypervisor. It should support stuff like PCIe passthrough if needed. It has a UI/interface to work with. And it supports native ZFS.

You could also look at Windows Server, if you can get your hands on a License. Then you can run the Hyper-V role and essentially run a Hyper-V server.

ESXi is awesome - I run it at home myself - but I have compatible Server hardware (Dell T410), so I didn't have any hardware issues myself.

littlegreen · February 11, 2019

Well,

As happy coincidences tend to happen - I managed to move the i5-6500 with the mobo and RAM super quickly - and I've got an offer for the PSU and case as well.

So I am currently looking at either ProLiant or HP Z230 as an alternative to run ESXi - you can get crazy deals on hyper-threaded Xeon + 16 gigs of RAM on eBay. Looking at Z230, for example, the default NIC seems to be supported, so I'd have to buy one additional Intel-based one and call it a day.

Not to mention - I'd have money left over to get the memory upto 32GBs.

I don't blindly embrace the idea of going back to Haswell and DDR3, but it'd be a hyper-threaded CPU which is 4 more threads. And the memory will be registered ECC. I reckon for the purposes of the build it's worth the slightly older architecture - especially given that it won't cost me a thing to switch.

What do you think?

dalekphalm · February 11, 2019

4 hours ago, littlegreen said:

Well,

As happy coincidences tend to happen - I managed to move the i5-6500 with the mobo and RAM super quickly - and I've got an offer for the PSU and case as well.

So I am currently looking at either ProLiant or HP Z230 as an alternative to run ESXi - you can get crazy deals on hyper-threaded Xeon + 16 gigs of RAM on eBay. Looking at Z230, for example, the default NIC seems to be supported, so I'd have to buy one additional Intel-based one and call it a day.

Not to mention - I'd have money left over to get the memory upto 32GBs.

I don't blindly embrace the idea of going back to Haswell and DDR3, but it'd be a hyper-threaded CPU which is 4 more threads. And the memory will be registered ECC. I reckon for the purposes of the build it's worth the slightly older architecture - especially given that it won't cost me a thing to switch.

What do you think?

None of the things you listed in the OP will be significantly impacted by buying a used Server w/ older hardware. Haswell and DDR3 are still 100% acceptable.

My server runs DDR3 (ECC) and Westmere (E5630), which is the architecture before Sandy Bridge - so Haswell would be 3 generations newer than mine - and my setup still rocks and could handle everything you wanted to do.

Use this site to check the compatibility of your potential new server:

https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php

Note: things not on the list may still work - but these items/servers have been tested.