Home server on budget

[3VIL_G3NIUS]

So I'm thinking about setting up some kind of home server, ideally it'd run ESXi, but I'm not sure what (if any) consumer level processors are compatible with it. I could run a main OS, and have VMs inside it, but I'd prefer ESXi. It'd be used for BitTorrent, a media server for TV and movies for XBMC, a XMPP server and maybe capability for a small minecraft server (though if that adds significant price then it can be left out)

Currently I have 2x2GB of RAM, a variety of cases, a variety of PSUs (questionable) and a CPU cooler from an old P4 rig (it's a bit blemished and I can't seem to clean whatever it is off with alcohol... but it's probably usable, if requiring some sanding/lapping. Or the stock cooler is fine, it doesn't have to be quiet)

I've got a my current media drive, a 4TB red that I could put in it, obviously I'd want something else. I'd consider a couple of second hand 500GB drives in RAID 1 or something, it's not critical atm. 4GB of RAM also seems questionable... but could be enough for BitTorrent, media and XMPP I assume? 

So theoretically I could get away with a motherboard, CPU and a couple cheap drives. Since I'm in New Zealand, products in stock from retailers on PriceSpy or second hand stuff from TradeMe is preferred, since I assume getting stuff from overseas would cost quite a bit (When I was looking for graphics cards, someone suggested ebay, had like $45 import taxes even on used stuff, offset any savings. Amazon maaaay be good... suggest something and I'll check) 

 

On pricespy I saw an FX 6300 is $150, and there are AM3+ boards for like $100 or less... And other CPUs are cheaper and may be sufficient. Idk how cheap is too cheap for a motherboard, the one I'm using in my PC was like $450 at the time I got it, so ones that are $50 seem questionable, but I could be wrong. Also, idk if any of this stuff supports ESXi (and if it doesn't, I'm definitely not buying Xeons so i guess I'll have to deal with it)

The PSUs I have are pulled out of other PCs and none of them are from any (AFAIK) big brands. I imagine the best one is from the same P4 PC the CPU cooler is from. It's an AcBEL ATX-400C-A2ADB and has been around as long as the CPU cooler, idk when exactly it was bough, but I'd estimate 6-7ish years ago maybe? It's probably not recommended I use it right? The PC it was in died, who knows if the PSU contributed to its death or not...

Budget...? Idk... What get's the job done well for as little as possible?

[ShadowCaptain]

I use a Pentium G3220 as it sips power well on an msi G43 1150 board, and 4gb or corsair vengeance ram, run windows 2012 server essentials on an old 64gb ssd

 

the stock cooler is very quiet to me.

 

Overall cost me about £200 including my fractal define mini case excluding drives. it handles HD streams perfectly, I even have my steam games installed on here and run games from my rig and laptop over gigabit ethernet. It is quite powerful

 

hope that was helpful

 

EDIT: Also my server is running 4x 3tb WD Reds in Raid 10

[Thebman712]

I use a Pentium G3220 as it sips power well on an msi G43 1150 board, and 4gb or corsair vengeance ram, run windows 2012 server essentials on an old 64gb ssd

 

the stock cooler is very quiet to me.

 

Overall cost me about £200 including my fractal define mini case excluding drives. it handles HD streams perfectly, I even have my steam games installed on here and run games from my rig and laptop over gigabit ethernet. It is quite powerful

 

hope that was helpful

 

EDIT: Also my server is running 4x 3tb WD Reds in Raid 10

i dont even know what raid 10 is

[ShadowCaptain]

i dont even know what raid 10 is

 

Basically 2x 3tb drives are put in raid 0, so I get twice the speed and it gives me 6tb of fast storage, 

 

Then another 2x 3tb drives are put in raid 0, they are then used to mirror the data from the first set

 

So its like A+B = A+B

[3VIL_G3NIUS]

i dont even know what raid 10 is

raid 0 and raid 1 Combined. Mirrored striped disks

[3VIL_G3NIUS]

I use a Pentium G3220 as it sips power well on an msi G43 1150 board, and 4gb or corsair vengeance ram, run windows 2012 server essentials on an old 64gb ssd

the stock cooler is very quiet to me.

Overall cost me about £200 including my fractal define mini case excluding drives. it handles HD streams perfectly, I even have my steam games installed on here and run games from my rig and laptop over gigabit ethernet. It is quite powerful

hope that was helpful

EDIT: Also my server is running 4x 3tb WD Reds in Raid 10

What's the CPU utilization like when you're doing whatever the most intensive thing you do on it is like? And how much of the ram does it use? Also do you know of it can run ESXi?

[ShadowCaptain]

What's the CPU utilization like when you're doing whatever the most intensive thing you do on it is like? And how much of the ram does it use? Also do you know of it can run ESXi?

Never really checked as i run it headless in my server. Ill have a look when I get home in a few hours and see how high it goes, I have never run out of performance or found anything slow. Seemingly runs as fast as my i7 desktop and gaming laptop for regular tasks.

 

Ram very little I have never used all 4gb,

[Thebman712]

Basically 2x 3tb drives are put in raid 0, so I get twice the speed and it gives me 6tb of fast storage, 

 

Then another 2x 3tb drives are put in raid 0, they are then used to mirror the data from the first set

 

So its like A+B = A+B

 

 

raid 0 and raid 1 Combined. Mirrored striped disks

dam thats fancy

[3VIL_G3NIUS]

Never really checked as i run it headless in my server. Ill have a look when I get home in a few hours and see how high it goes, I have never run out of performance or found anything slow. Seemingly runs as fast as my i7 desktop and gaming laptop for regular tasks.

Ram very little I have never used all 4gb,

Hmm maybe something like that then if it supports virtualization, the CPU is only $75 here, and like $100 for the board. Thanks I look forward to seeing the results!

Does anyone else have anything to add?

[3VIL_G3NIUS]

Some more input would be appreciated