I would like to build a home server.. is my specs ok?

[Bobpub]

Hello,

I would like be build a home server for streaming and storing photos and videos, run virtual machines. 
This is my first server build. I have never build my own pc before.. so would like to start bit cheaper first, learn, and go advance specs.

Goal: Low power consumption, storing personal media files, virtual machines.

 

Specs I have planned:
 - Intel® Core™ i3-12100 Processor 12M Cache, up to 4.30 GHz
- ASUS Prime H610M-E D4 Intel LGA 1700 mic-ATX Motherboard 

- Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (1x8GB) DDR4 3200MHZ C16 Desktop RAM

- Seagate BarraCuda 1 TB Internal Hard Drive HDD 3.5 Inches (8.8 cm) SATA 6 Gb/s 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache\

- Cooler Master MWE 650 Bronze V2 230v, 80 Plus Bronze Certified, Non-Modular Power Supply – Black
- ASUS TUF Gaming GT301 Mid-Tower Compact Case for ATX Motherboards 

Please advice me.
Thank you!

 

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

I'm not sure how well virtual machines will work on an i3 (and the other low end hardware in general) but the rest seems fine for the other purposes listed. 

[Electronics Wizardy]

Those 8gb of ram will be a big limit for vms, Id get more ram than that. Ram is normally the first limit for vms.

 

You really want a ssd for vms, running multiple hdds on spinning drives is gonna be real slow.

 

 

[Alex Atkin UK]

19 minutes ago, Bobpub said:

Hello,

I would like be build a home server for streaming and storing photos and videos, run virtual machines. 
This is my first server build. I have never build my own pc before.. so would like to start bit cheaper first, learn, and go advance specs.

Goal: Low power consumption, storing personal media files, virtual machines.

It really depends what you plan to run in those VM and how many.  I personally wouldn't want to run most things with less than 4GB RAM per VM and would prefer at least 8GB left over for the host OS.  So I'd at least have a dual-channel 16GB kit of RAM.  If you plan to do anything more intensive like running Windows in a VM I'd honestly get a 32GB kit and assign at least 8GB to that VM at a minimum.

 

What people often miss is RAM is never wasted if you're using the machine for file storage, as spare RAM will be used as filesystem cache.  My personal server is using 21.4GB as cache right now, makes browsing network shares a lot snappier.

That said, as others have said I'd really want the host OS and any VM image to be on an SSD, with only general storage on HDDs.

[Bobpub]

What about the power consumption.. can I run it for 24hrs?

[Electronics Wizardy]

3 minutes ago, Bobpub said:

What about the power consumption.. can I run it for 24hrs?

Yea it will be pretty power efficent, Id guess about 20-30w under light home server use, and probably about 60-100w under heavy load.

[LIGISTX]

On 7/30/2022 at 9:29 AM, Bobpub said:

Hello,

I would like be build a home server for streaming and storing photos and videos, run virtual machines. 
This is my first server build. I have never build my own pc before.. so would like to start bit cheaper first, learn, and go advance specs.

Goal: Low power consumption, storing personal media files, virtual machines.

 

Specs I have planned:
 - Intel® Core™ i3-12100 Processor 12M Cache, up to 4.30 GHz
- ASUS Prime H610M-E D4 Intel LGA 1700 mic-ATX Motherboard 

- Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (1x8GB) DDR4 3200MHZ C16 Desktop RAM

- Seagate BarraCuda 1 TB Internal Hard Drive HDD 3.5 Inches (8.8 cm) SATA 6 Gb/s 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache\

- Cooler Master MWE 650 Bronze V2 230v, 80 Plus Bronze Certified, Non-Modular Power Supply – Black
- ASUS TUF Gaming GT301 Mid-Tower Compact Case for ATX Motherboards 

Please advice me.
Thank you!

 

For what it’s worth, my homelab ram on a i3 6100 and 28 GB of RAM for years. That was ESXi as the hypervisor, with truenas (with 10x4TB drives in Z2) which was given 16GB of RAM, a few Ubuntu server VM’s each given 1.5 to 3GB, windows LTSC, and home assistant. And it all worked great. Main reason I upgraded was I needed more RAM, but honestly the 6100 CPU was almost always plenty. A 12100 would be plenty. 
 

On 7/30/2022 at 9:33 AM, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

I'm not sure how well virtual machines will work on an i3 (and the other low end hardware in general) but the rest seems fine for the other purposes listed. 

i3 is way more then enough depending on what exactly you want to run. A data center…. No, a homelab, sure!