Home Server

[TopSpeed]

What is the point of making a dedicated server as opposed to just using a normal PC and filling it with lots of drivers and possibly a RAID card? 

[Guest]

What is the point of making a dedicated server as opposed to just using a normal PC and filling it with lots of drivers and possibly a RAID card? 

I don't know but my  server rack looks pretty badass 

[AlwaysFSX]

Saves space, can be put on a shelf, you can finally say you've looked at a rack?

[BRiteBak]

I don't know but my  server rack looks pretty badass 

Pic?

[D3MON]

What is the point of making a dedicated server as opposed to just using a normal PC and filling it with lots of drivers and possibly a RAID card? 

if your talking about general server hardware as opposed to a rack, xeons and opterons usually have the ability to be used in multi cpu systems so you could potentially have allot more cpu power PLUS they are usually rated for a lower power consumption compared to the desktop parts PLUS theyre usually binned a bit better.

as for ram, ECC is error checking....yeah i can never remember how it works (even though i have some ecc ddr1 and ddr2) but its cool.

server grade hard drives are tested and rated for 24/7 use so long as they are used properly in the correct environment they should last longer.

depending on your uses you can totally turn an old pc into a server, but if your looking at something where it MUST be  reliable (downtime could p*** people off or cost you money) going with propper server parts usually is worthwhile.

[alpenwasser]

For me personally, the reasons for going with a dedicated server

which come to mind at the moment are primarily these (there may be

others, but this is what I can think of off the top of my head):

(Note: Our server is primarily a file server, but of course you

could also have web servers, mail servers, VM servers and so on.)

• Having a separate server as opposed to each person having

  their own machine with their own data on it makes it easy

  to work on one's data from different machines without needing

  to worry about having to keep your data synced (for example,

  my dad is rather annoyed about having to sync data between

  his laptop and his desktop, which can be avoided by using

  a server and just accessing his data from whatever guest

  machine he's currently using).

• You can tailor the hardware and software specifically

  for the task at hand. This might include having ECC RAM

  for data integrity, or selecting components and settings

  which will be conducive to having the most stable machine

  possible. This also allows me to tinker around with my

  personal machine without needing to worry about my data.

  If my personal desktop happens to be offline for whatever

  reason (experimentation, failure due to overclocking etc.),

  my data will stay safe and available (say, for example,

  from my laptop).

• Having your data all in one place also makes it more

  convenient to create backups. No need to run to different

  machines with their different operating systems and backup

  their data separately, I can connect my backup solution

  to the server and sync.

You don't necessarily need server-grade hardware for running a

home server, nor very high-performance parts. My personal

approach has been to buy older-gen enterprise parts for our

server. This allows me to have some proper enterprise features

(stability, IPMI, good networking capabilities, ECC memory)

without costs going through the roof. But you can also use

desktop parts, it really depends on your needs, preferences

and budget IMHO.

If the server's primary purpose is as a file server, a NAS

could also be a viable alternative (Synology for example

make some pretty nice units). They usually draw less power

than a full-blown server and are probably easier to configure,

at least for newcomers.

EDIT:

Another advantage of a dedicated server IMHO is that it's

usually a machine which is set up and not touched unless

you're performing software updates and such, which greatly

reduces the chances of somebody unfamiliar with the setup

screwing something up.

If you have your data on a normal work machine, somebody

might accidentally change a setting which could have bad

consequences, whereas the people who have config access to

a server are usually far fewer and the chances of somebody

accidentally taking your data offline are therefore also lower.

Or, if the server is also a gaming rig, it is likely that

new software (games) are often installed, which might also

be a source for trouble (and instability).

[TopSpeed]

For me personally, the reasons for going with a dedicated server

which come to mind at the moment are primarily these (there may be

others, but this is what I can think of off the top of my head):

(Note: Our server is primarily a file server, but of course you

could also have web servers, mail servers, VM servers and so on.)

• Having a separate server as opposed to each person having

  their own machine with their own data on it makes it easy

  to work on one's data from different machines without needing

  to worry about having to keep your data synced (for example,

  my dad is rather annoyed about having to sync data between

  his laptop and his desktop, which can be avoided by using

  a server and just accessing his data from whatever guest

  machine he's currently using).

• You can tailor the hardware and software specifically

  for the task at hand. This might include having ECC RAM

  for data integrity, or selecting components and settings

  which will be conducive to having the most stable machine

  possible. This also allows me to tinker around with my

  personal machine without needing to worry about my data.

  If my personal desktop happens to be offline for whatever

  reason (experimentation, failure due to overclocking etc.),

  my data will stay safe and available (say, for example,

  from my laptop).

• Having your data all in one place also makes it more

  convenient to create backups. No need to run to different

  machines with their different operating systems and backup

  their data separately, I can connect my backup solution

  to the server and sync.

You don't necessarily need server-grade hardware for running a

home server, nor very high-performance parts. My personal

approach has been to buy older-gen enterprise parts for our

server. This allows me to have some proper enterprise features

(stability, IPMI, good networking capabilities, ECC memory)

without costs going through the roof. But you can also use

desktop parts, it really depends on your needs, preferences

and budget IMHO.

If the server's primary purpose is as a file server, a NAS

could also be a viable alternative (Synology for example

make some pretty nice units). They usually draw less power

than a full-blown server and are probably easier to configure,

at least for newcomers.

EDIT:

Another advantage of a dedicated server IMHO is that it's

usually a machine which is set up and not touched unless

you're performing software updates and such, which greatly

reduces the chances of somebody unfamiliar with the setup

screwing something up.

If you have your data on a normal work machine, somebody

might accidentally change a setting which could have bad

consequences, whereas the people who have config access to

a server are usually far fewer and the chances of somebody

accidentally taking your data offline are therefore also lower.

Or, if the server is also a gaming rig, it is likely that

new software (games) are often installed, which might also

be a source for trouble (and instability).

 

Thanks so much! I fully understand the point now but the one thing that comes in mind for me is speed. Isn't it much slower to access information via gigabit ethernet than it is via a hard drive that is directly connected via Sata? Also, on the topic of speed, would a NAS be fast enough to store raw video files and edit them or is local storage the way to go?

[alpenwasser]

Thanks so much! I fully understand the point now but the one thing that comes in mind for me is speed. Isn't it much slower to access information via gigabit ethernet than it is via a hard drive that is directly connected via Sata? Also, on the topic of speed, would a NAS be fast enough to store raw video files and edit them or is local storage the way to go?

Assuming Gigabit ethernet, yes that will be slower than local Sata 3 storage.

 

I haven't  really  done much  video editing  in my time. In my  setup it was less the storage

speed  and  more the  CPU power  which  was  the  bottleneck, I don't think it  would have

made that  much of a difference  if I'd stored  the files on  a NAS. However, this might very

well be different depending on how much  CPU power you can throw at the problem, what

software you're using and probably a few other factors that I haven't thought of.

 

Depending on what your needs are, it might be better to have some local storage, maybe

even on SSD  instead  of HDD. If that's the  case, I would probably  have some  local SSD

storage, work on that and push the finished files to the NAS when I'm done.

[TopSpeed]

Assuming Gigabit ethernet, yes that will be slower than local Sata 3 storage.

 

I haven't  really  done much  video editing  in my time. In my  setup it was less the storage

speed  and  more the  CPU power  which  was  the  bottleneck, I don't think it  would have

made that  much of a difference  if I'd stored  the files on  a NAS. However, this might very

well be different depending on how much  CPU power you can throw at the problem, what

software you're using and probably a few other factors that I haven't thought of.

 

Depending on what your needs are, it might be better to have some local storage, maybe

even on SSD  instead  of HDD. If that's the  case, I would probably  have some  local SSD

storage, work on that and push the finished files to the NAS when I'm done.

Makes sense! So use local storage for files that require speed and use the NAS to store pictures/videos/music etc.

[alpenwasser]

Makes sense! So use local storage for files that require speed and use the NAS to store pictures/videos/music etc.

Yeah that's how I would do it (well, actually that's how I will be doing it once I

have everything up and running. )

 

Unless you go with really fast networking of course, but... more expensive.