R720 Media Server Setup Help

[UltimaStealth]

I was thinking of using an old rack server from my previous job. Here are the specs:

 

CPU: Logical processors 32, Processor type Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2650 0 @ 2.00GHz, Sockets 2,  Cores per socket 8, Hyperthreading Yes, enabled.

RAM: 319.94 GB

It has a vSphere Operations Management 6 Enterprise Plus license that does not expire also.

It uses the PERC H710 Mini raid card. and has 8 drive slots in the front - none in rear.

 

 I was planning to use it as media center to store HD videos, music data, perhaps something like Veeam for backups.

Are these able to stream a 4k file with surround over ethernet to a desktop computer that would be accessing the file via \\server\ect.. ?

 

I use my TV as a monitor, so from my desktops 2080 TI, I have HDMI to receiver for surround and video. I think it is easy to do \\ to access and just open with VLC.

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Is this realistic? Assuming router, ethernet cabling/wifi strength, are all good enough. I was concerned the 720 may be too hold and not have the power to stream/decode the HD stuff over LAN. My idea for HDDs are 8 x 8TB SSDs once they are more affordable. This would also run pfsense vm, and other tools. At the moment it is running server 2019 datacenter with file server role to access. 

[Somerandomtechyboi]

I think you will want to run a v2 cpu (ivy bridge) for better power efficiency

 

A cheap v2 cpu that has 12 cores is the e5 2651 v2, 2ghz all core but 12 cores 24 threads for around 50-70$ on aliexpress, and consumes about 80-90w under full load, might be lowered if you do a volt mod via the pads on the cpu or maybe throttlestop might work.

 

For streaming, you can use a gt 1030 or rx 550 which is more than enough for any transcoding and the cpus are more than enough for streaming, just make sure you have hardware acceleration enabled everywhere if possible.

[ki8aras]

do you really need that much speed?

you said youre planning to use this for video storage, and maybe some music

i think its pretty safe to say youre trying to overbuild your system

[UltimaStealth]

Thanks! I love the option for the new CPUs, Seen the 269X on ali too are tempting.

 

While on topic, is there any secrets to getting the SSDs? As far as overbuilding, I am currently around 10TB used. With factoring in redundancy, doing 4TBs would give me about 16TB of storage with a raid 10 config. I would like to do 8TB for 32TB but that probably isn't realistic heh. I seen the EVO and QVO drives but mixed reviews on them. I was thinking of the PRO but they are expensive.

 

Is there a way to buy them refurbished, or a older series? With a raid 10 and 8 drives, the speed and performance isn't as important as durability. The room the server is in isn't completed yet, so I would prefer to keep energy and heat at minimum, so that is why no mechanicals.  

[Blue4130]

7 hours ago, UltimaStealth said:

Thanks! I love the option for the new CPUs, Seen the 269X on ali too are tempting.

 

While on topic, is there any secrets to getting the SSDs? As far as overbuilding, I am currently around 10TB used. With factoring in redundancy, doing 4TBs would give me about 16TB of storage with a raid 10 config. I would like to do 8TB for 32TB but that probably isn't realistic heh. I seen the EVO and QVO drives but mixed reviews on them. I was thinking of the PRO but they are expensive.

 

Is there a way to buy them refurbished, or a older series? With a raid 10 and 8 drives, the speed and performance isn't as important as durability. The room the server is in isn't completed yet, so I would prefer to keep energy and heat at minimum, so that is why no mechanicals.  

With 8 drives, why not go with a double parity like raid 6? Is there a specific reason that you are wanting raid 10?

[BloodKnight7]

18 hours ago, Blue4130 said:

With 8 drives, why not go with a double parity like raid 6? Is there a specific reason that you are wanting raid 10?

I agree with Blue4130 on this one, unless you are doing a very write resource intensive application (like logs from a high performance database) RAID 6 will work better for you than RAID10. It will also give you more space.

[UltimaStealth]

Excellent recommendation! The only write intensive things will be the initial load. I was not familiar with raid 6 until this post. Very cool, and with up to 8 disks, the read may rival a raid 0 too heh. Is the  gtx 1030 the best gpu to throw in it? I seen it had some mixed reviews online.

[Electronics Wizardy]

2 hours ago, UltimaStealth said:

Excellent recommendation! The only write intensive things will be the initial load. I was not familiar with raid 6 until this post. Very cool, and with up to 8 disks, the read may rival a raid 0 too heh. Is the  gtx 1030 the best gpu to throw in it? I seen it had some mixed reviews online.

What would you need a gpu for? Normally these servers don't have a gpu, and the igpu is more than plenty for management and os installs.

 

What network speeds do you have? your porbably gonna be limited by 1gbe, so drive speed won't matter here.

[UltimaStealth]

I am slowly planning it out. I am using 40 gbit cat8 for ethernet. the router/switch will fit that when i get them. monoprice had a good deal on it heh. I just want to make sure playing 4k with dds surround (around 20gb mkv files) from the file server vm in basement, by doing \\server from my desktop out to my receiver that has the tv and speakers, has not issues.  

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 hour ago, UltimaStealth said:

I am slowly planning it out. I am using 40 gbit cat8 for ethernet. the router/switch will fit that when i get them. monoprice had a good deal on it heh. I just want to make sure playing 4k with dds surround (around 20gb mkv files) from the file server vm in basement, by doing \\server from my desktop out to my receiver that has the tv and speakers, has not issues.  

If you want >10gbe speeds, go fibre, not cat 8. There are no hardware for 25g-baset or 40g-baset, and fiber is cheaper, lower power, and lower latency.

 

For streaming 4k, gigabit is more then plenty, and there will be no gpu usage on the server at all(don't put the gpu in, no reason to). The server won't process the video at all, just copy it over the network like any other file.

[UltimaStealth]

I have purchased and installed 2651 v2. Noticeable difference in esxi and vms ! Now I need to get storage sorted. I wanted to do 8, 4TB SSDs, but that is like over 3000. I don't suppose there is any discount for buying that many or any tips on where to buy? I wanted SLC or MLC. The others seem to have a short life span. I was also planning on raid 6 config. I think the r720s mini 710 raid card can do that.  

[Blue4130]

1 hour ago, UltimaStealth said:

I have purchased and installed 2651 v2. Noticeable difference in esxi and vms ! Now I need to get storage sorted. I wanted to do 8, 4TB SSDs, but that is like over 3000. I don't suppose there is any discount for buying that many or any tips on where to buy? I wanted SLC or MLC. The others seem to have a short life span. I was also planning on raid 6 config. I think the r720s mini 710 raid card can do that.  

Do you really need SSD? For a media server, I'd personally go with exos or ironwolf drives for 1/4 of the cost. (or 4x as much storage for the same cost)

[GuruOfNothing]

Oh dear lord. There are more questions than answers here and let me start with... CAT8???? What the literal hell? How many concurrent video streams are you planning? There is absolutely zero reasons to have more than CAT6, even factoring in "future-proofing". A half dozen 4k streams wont kill a solid 1 gig line. The R720 is going to be a jet engine when pushed so find a place that it can make noise, even with v2 processors. It is seriously more than you would need at home for a Plex box and that is fine... I have four of them in my server farm at home. But for the love of all that is pink and smelly... don't waste your money way overbuilding something like that and save it for your home theater gear. If you are trying to create a media server for all your friends and family that will do 4k... you are opening a pandora's box you can't close and it will never be enough. SSD's are not necessary. Period. Get some decent spinners and if you want affordable but not giant, if that box has SAS backplanes, go SAS... there is a ton of them on the market. I just two weeks ago bought 56TB worth of Dell Constellation SAS drives in sleds for 50 a piece.