Need help and suggestions with my server

dbennett1027 · August 2, 2019

So I finally have my dream setup that I completed a few months ago. I got my server and gaming PC all built nicely in the Corsair Obsidian 1000D, all watercooled overkill goodness with 4x 480mm radiators. Now I have been putting off doing anything with my server because I am stuck in an apartment with crappy ass internet but next month I will be moving and will finally have gigabit with Fios. I do have a little experience with Unraid but nothing in depth, mainly just using it as a plex server in the past. I want to continue to use it for Plex, NAS, also a streaming PC, but also want to host a couple of game servers for friends and such, things like a minecraft server, arma server, and maybe a couple more possibly. I guess my question is would Unraid be the best way to go for this? And if yes, would I be running these game servers on a VM? And if VM's are the way to go what OS would be the best to host the game servers? Right now the server is a Threadripper 1950x on a zenith extreme with 32GB of 3200mhz CL14 RAM (Can Add More If Needed), and I have about 16TB of HDD space with a 480GB M.2 and just a GT1030 for a video card ATM which I do plan on upgrading in the future. I know some game servers work best with high single core clocks, So the Threadripper will be overclocked to 4.2/4.3GHz. I am also holding out hope for new Threadrippers later this year and hopefully getting a 32 or 64 core one. If anyone has experience with a setup like this or using Unraid to host game servers then let me know. Any help is appreciated.

jake9000 · August 2, 2019

Unraid isn't bad. It uses KVM under the hood which is a perfectly capable hypervisor.

I'd recommend doing the VM approach. Docker is attractive but when it comes to gameserver dockers you are relying on some dude to keep it up to date for you and that may lag behind official releases. Most sotware is tolerant of that but games often want to match the client and server versions.

Personally I prefer ubuntu server for my game hosts but it's up to you. Ubuntu tends to have a lot of the needed dependencies already present and has the most documentation online to help with any issues.

All that being said, I would only use unraid if you wanted to use its other features (like running a software storage array...). If you aren't looking for general file storage and have a hardware raid, you may as well grab a free hypervisor like Proxmox, ESXI, or Hyper-V.