VM-Host Build

KurodaAkira · April 8, 2019

It's been a few months since I asked something here but here goes:

#Edit: I made a preliminary component list.

So I intend to build a small system to host my local VMs on (currently a small local webserver, a VPN host, a DNS Server, a Domain Controller, a NAS and a Game Server - the game hosted there changes every now and then. Currently a modded minecraft Variant) instead of using my secondary PC.

The main focus here is power saving as this will run 24/7 (hence no overclocking).
It also won't need a good GPU (only one to boot up and do the inital installation) afterwards connection will be done via RDP or SSH.
I also won't need a lot of expansion slots besides the slot to use one rudimentary graphics card and a network card for redundancy.
There is no need for storage options as I have enough on hand.
I only really need 3 USB ports to connect a mouse, a keyboard and a boot USB stick for inital installtion.
The motherboard however should feature at least 6 SATA ports to connect a few SSDs and HDDs (with the ability to mirror them to keep the data save) (I was thinking along the lines of 3 SSDs and 2 HDDs)

RAM should be initial 16 GB but needs to be able to be expanded to at least 32GB (so preferably 4 DIMM slots).

And again low power consumption is the main focus here. Paying extra for lower power consumption is no problem at all.

My preliminary part list is:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 7 2700 3.2 GHz 8-Core Processor	€227.96 @ Amazon Deutschland
CPU Cooler	Cooler Master - Hyper TX3 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler	€19.99 @ Amazon Deutschland
Motherboard	Asus - PRIME B450M-A Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	€81.99 @ Amazon Deutschland
Memory	Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	€99.90 @ Amazon Deutschland
Video Card	MSI - GeForce GT 710 1 GB Video Card	€40.80 @ Alza
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	€470.64
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-09 09:50 CEST+0200

What parts (PSU, Case) would you suggest? Would you swap out anything else?

Thanks in advance

myselfolli · April 8, 2019

can you give us more specific use cases for your VMs? This isn't really much to go on...

KurodaAkira · April 8, 2019

Not exactly sure what I can say here.
Two of the VMs are for testing stuff. One is a DNS "server" and the other a small internal php webserver (used for documentation).
Then of course there's the game server VM. This one eats by far the most resources. As I wrote in the first post it's been all kinds of game servers, small stuff like a private CS:GO Server, a Portal Knights server, an ARK server, a Minecraft Server, a modded Minecraft Server. Which game is currently active changes every once in a while (done by having multiple VMs and deactivating the unused ones and reactivating it if it's used again). But for this the Computer needs I'd say at least 16GB Ram and decent CPU power.
The current CPU (Ryzen 5 1600X is about sufficient for this but maybe there is a better option out now? Especially considering this Computer will solely focus on VMs)

Additional information: Because of power consumption is important, there will be no overclocking done on this machine