Need help with a home server

[fastcar123]

Hi everyone. Been a while...

 

Lately I have been working with large datasets, (raw video and photo editing) and I desperately need a file server as my system is totally full and collaboration is nearly impossible.

 

I started building a server using an old HP proliant DL180 Gen 9 2u server. That was a complete disaster.

 

I was primarily using it because I have several 32GB registered ECC dimms.

 

 

Well I'm scrapping the server entirely as I was unable to make it quieter for home use.

 

But I still need a server.

 

Here's the problem, I have hardware but it's crappy proprietary office workstations, or this 2U server, but virtually no money to spend on it.

 

I have storage, and those dimms (although I realize I probably won't be able to use any of them as nothing supports registered ECC dimms apparently), but I need a cpu, motherboard (with lots of SATA headers), and a power supply.

 

Am I just out of luck here or can I do anything with any of this?

 

 

[ki8aras]

3 minutes ago, fastcar123 said:

Am I just out of luck here or can I do anything with any of this?

2011-3 boards and xeons are dirt cheap right now, and they support registered ecc

[Needfuldoer]

If you want to reuse that RAM, get a 2011-3 workstation with a Xeon. An HP Z440 can be had for about $100 in the US if you don't mind a few scratches.

[wseaton]

File Servers don't need ECC. ECC is kind of mandatory if you are running mission critical VMs, but for flat file services it's not something I lose sleep over. Like, all those zillions of Synology / QNAP boxes or Linus file server distros are running ECC - lol. Typically you end up wanting to run VMs on you file server and wish you had more RAM. I have so much used ECC laying around it's criminal.

 

Old servers are a pain in the ass for this role unless they already have a card in JBOD mode . 

 

Beg, borrow or steal a used desktop that will hold your drives and just use that. 

[Needfuldoer]

1 hour ago, wseaton said:

File Servers don't need ECC.

No, but it's cheap and you can stuff gobs of it in the right machine.

[fastcar123]

3 hours ago, Needfuldoer said:

If you want to reuse that RAM, get a 2011-3 workstation with a Xeon. An HP Z440 can be had for about $100 in the US if you don't mind a few scratches.

Oh snap! You're right!

 

This may end up being the way I go.

 

 

In my search I managed to find systems with W-2135 cpus for roughly the same price. Would that be a worthy upgrade if it means forfeiting a bunch of cores for now?

[fastcar123]

1 hour ago, wseaton said:

File Servers don't need ECC. ECC is kind of mandatory if you are running mission critical VMs, but for flat file services it's not something I lose sleep over. Like, all those zillions of Synology / QNAP boxes or Linus file server distros are running ECC - lol. Typically you end up wanting to run VMs on you file server and wish you had more RAM. I have so much used ECC laying around it's criminal.

 

Old servers are a pain in the ass for this role unless they already have a card in JBOD mode . 

 

Beg, borrow or steal a used desktop that will hold your drives and just use that. 

I don't doubt that consumer hardware would be OK for my usage, but I'm struggling to find a system that will fit the bill for around $100. Old servers on the other hand, I'm finding for that price left and right on ebay.

 

Do you have suggestions?

[Needfuldoer]

1 hour ago, fastcar123 said:

In my search I managed to find systems with W-2135 cpus for roughly the same price. Would that be a worthy upgrade if it means forfeiting a bunch of cores for now?

LGA2066 towers are good choices, too. They're basically the same idea, but Skylake instead of Haswell/Broadwell. As long as they're Xeons they should still take your registered ECC DDR4 too. (The smaller Xeons that go in regular LGA1151 generally can't use registered memory.)