homelab First-time Server Homelab Build

[Aaron Zhang]

Hello everyone,

 

I am currently trying to build a home lab for hosting games (like Minecraft), VPNs, a NAS, and potentially coding projects in the future. Essentially I'm trying to build a multipurpose, all-in-one, home lab server. I'm new to this and was hoping to get some insight into parts I could buy, specifically the specs, whether I should get a redundant PSU or a UPS power backup, what software/OS to use, and/or anything else that you might think is helpful.

I currently have a spare Ryzen 5 2600 with the stock cooler and potentially some ram (I'm thinking about upgrading my system's ram as I currently run a 4x4 with 2 at 3200mhz and 2 at 3000mhz) Anything helps and thanks a lot!

[Electronics Wizardy]

I don't see a reason o get a redundant psu, psus dont' fail that often these days.

 

A UPS is nice, esp if you have frequent power outages.

 

I woudln't worry about mismatched ram speeds, ram/cpu speed isn't normally a issue for homelab uses. Id only upgrade more ram, like if you wanna go 64/128gb

[Aaron Zhang]

22 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

I don't see a reason o get a redundant psu, psus dont' fail that often these days.

 

A UPS is nice, esp if you have frequent power outages.

 

I woudln't worry about mismatched ram speeds, ram/cpu speed isn't normally a issue for homelab uses. Id only upgrade more ram, like if you wanna go 64/128gb

The area that I live in doesn't usually get power outages so I think I can hold out on getting a UPS for a bit. It does get some power spikes so I may get a surge protector. (The lights might flicker once or so, but this doesn't happen often).

You got a recommendation on how much RAM I should get? I was thinking of getting around 16GB as Minecraft is CPU and RAM-hungry and I'm not sure how much RAM my other programs may use.

[ToboRobot]

Sounds like you have some parts already, so put them together into a working system and get started.  Whatever RAM you have is fine, and you can always upgrade later if you run into bottlenecks.

UPS isn't required for a "server" but recommended to avoid data loss not just downtime.

Linux is very common for servers, if you aren't familiar starting with something like Ubuntu is a good idea because it's easy to find help.

[Aaron Zhang]

45 minutes ago, ToboRobot said:

Sounds like you have some parts already, so put them together into a working system and get started.  Whatever RAM you have is fine, and you can always upgrade later if you run into bottlenecks.

UPS isn't required for a "server" but recommended to avoid data loss not just downtime.

Linux is very common for servers, if you aren't familiar starting with something like Ubuntu is a good idea because it's easy to find help.

Ok. Thank You.