OS for a home server

[KinKaray]

Well after much debate, I finally got the parts to start my home server. I'll basically use some spare parts I had tossed around, but I've bought some new HDD, a new power supply and a case, so I was wondering what OS should I use?

Let's begin with the parts I'll be using

- Ryzen 1600

- MSI B450 mobo

- 2 x 4tb HDD

- GTX 970 for the install and troubleshooting if I need to

- 8 gb ram

- 600w power supply

 

I intend in the future to add more space, maybe a M.2 for cache or for the OS, and slowly upgrading the hardware, but this is what I have for now. I'm not too familiar with Linux, but have used a little of Ubuntu before. I want something basically for back up for a PC, a laptop, my fone and a tablet and for some game server for me and my friends, for Minecraft and stuff like that. Any suggestions?

[Eigenvektor]

OS shouldn't matter too much if all you need is a network accessible drive to store backups on and possible a game server. If you want to use Linux and you have no previous experience, Ubuntu should work just fine.

[TimedPing]

12 minutes ago, KinKaray said:

Well after much debate, I finally got the parts to start my home server. I'll basically use some spare parts I had tossed around, but I've bought some new HDD, a new power supply and a case, so I was wondering what OS should I use?

Let's begin with the parts I'll be using

- Ryzen 1600

- MSI B450 mobo

- 2 x 4tb HDD

- GTX 970 for the install and troubleshooting if I need to

- 8 gb ram

- 600w power supply

 

I intend in the future to add more space, maybe a M.2 for cache or for the OS, and slowly upgrading the hardware, but this is what I have for now. I'm not too familiar with Linux, but have used a little of Ubuntu before. I want something basically for back up for a PC, a laptop, my fone and a tablet and for some game server for me and my friends, for Minecraft and stuff like that. Any suggestions?

If you want it more act like hypervisor, Proxmox is the best free option out there, also if you want to run it as a NAS, you can run it inside Proxmox virtual machine and ask yourself this for the VM OS: You want easy option but cost little bit money? unraid is good option. Got the feeling of learning more and getting good drivers support? get TrueNAS SCALE

 

Also, please bear in mind, both Ryzen 1000 and 2000 (Zen and Zen+) plagued by C6 power state bug in linux and BSD, please install appropriate patch to circumvent the issue, or better yet, get Ryzen 9 3900 dirt cheap on aliexpress for just $130, best performing 12 cores 24 threads CPU for it's ridiculous price.

 

The GPU situation is pretty tricky, if you want to run system that require GPU power, for example, Media server like plex or Jellyfin (need GPU for video Transcode), running GPGPU task or running AI instance, you better sold your GTX 970 and get pascal card like GTX 1070, or for cheaper but doesn't have video output (but have less power), Tesla P4, you need other GPU for KVM and troubleshooting tho, but most ryzen motherboard allow you to run without GPU after you finish installing your OS and setup SSH server in it.

 

For RAM, add more 8GB in it, 16GB is almost a bare minimum for good home server, especially when you use desktop hardware.

 

Forgot for networking, you can buy 2.5GBe adapter later (highly recommended), Intel chips like i225/i226v is recommended, but realtek one wouldn't hurt if you just running it for homelab use. If you want 10GBe/SFP, please bear in mind, DO NOT BUY INTEL X540 series network controller, it's old, its sucking too much power and hot, you need atleast PCIe x4 slot for full bandwidth (since its running on PCIe gen 2 speed), and most of the time, the "NEW" one is using lower quality, often reject chips remanufactured by chinese company. Just get either X710 series or AQC based NIC.

[Eigenvektor]

27 minutes ago, TimedPing said:

For RAM, add more 8GB in it, 16GB is almost a bare minimum for good home server, especially when you use desktop hardware.

Strongly depends on what you do with the server. I have a home server (Debian) serving as a network share + Pi-hole (Docker) and it uses < 500 MB of RAM.

[RONOTHAN##]

1 hour ago, Eigenvektor said:

Strongly depends on what you do with the server. I have a home server (Debian) serving as a network share + Pi-hole (Docker) and it uses < 500 MB of RAM.

In contrast, my server running Proxmox with virtualized TrueNAS, Jellyfin, and a other couple VMs for things like game servers and NextCloud idles at 60GB of RAM used. It's entirely dependent on how you set it up, though admittedly if you want to use ZFS in any capacity you really should be getting more RAM than just 8GB. 

[Needfuldoer]

I run TrueNAS Scale on mine. It's primarily a NAS and Plex machine, but I have TrueCharts set up so there's a library of pre-packaged containerized applications available.

[maplepants]

2 hours ago, TimedPing said:

If you want it more act like hypervisor, Proxmox is the best free option out there, also if you want to run it as a NAS, you can run it inside Proxmox virtual machine and ask yourself this for the VM OS: You want easy option but cost little bit money? unraid is good option. Got the feeling of learning more and getting good drivers support? get TrueNAS SCALE

This isn't a good recommendation for this thread. OP doesn't even know what OS to use and you're trying to convince him he needs a level 1 hypervisor. It's just an added layer of complexity that will not help somebody setting up their first home server.

 

You've gotta meet people new to home servers where they're at. Because while Proxmox might be worth it for a rookie setting up a small business server, the added complexity is not worth it for a home user with a single digit number of applications in mind. And using Proxmox as a first timer might leave the false impression that running a home server is really complicated.

 

OP, you should just install the Ubuntu 22.04 and it'll do everything you want it to. With the added benefit of being extremely easy to get support online because Ubuntu is popular both in the business world and the home server world. You mention Minecraft server specifically and most Minecraft server setup guides assume you're running Windows or Ubuntu.

 

If you later decide that you actually do need a load of VMs, instead of just running what you want on the server directly, your Ubuntu usage in the mean time will have given you the skills you need to understand how best to setup each VM in terms of RAM, vCPU cores, storage, etc.

[10leej]

3 hours ago, KinKaray said:

Well after much debate, I finally got the parts to start my home server. I'll basically use some spare parts I had tossed around, but I've bought some new HDD, a new power supply and a case, so I was wondering what OS should I use?

Let's begin with the parts I'll be using

- Ryzen 1600

- MSI B450 mobo

- 2 x 4tb HDD

- GTX 970 for the install and troubleshooting if I need to

- 8 gb ram

- 600w power supply

 

I intend in the future to add more space, maybe a M.2 for cache or for the OS, and slowly upgrading the hardware, but this is what I have for now. I'm not too familiar with Linux, but have used a little of Ubuntu before. I want something basically for back up for a PC, a laptop, my fone and a tablet and for some game server for me and my friends, for Minecraft and stuff like that. Any suggestions?

Just pick an OS and run with it. Linux is recommended, but Windows Pro can work fine too.

 

As for Linux Distributions

 

Pick one, even UbuntunDrsktop will work or even weird choices like Void Linux and Gentoo.

 

I recommend that if you want the web gui, TruNAS. Otherwise Ubuntu.

 

For the phone backup, look into Nextcloud

For Minecraft learn the basics of docker

 

For remote access, while it'd be cook I wouldn't open your server to the public internet. You could look into a mesh vpn service like tailscale or get really fancy with Cloudflare tunnels. But I honestly wouldn't do it.

[BankHealthy]

I'd recommend Debian just for additional stability.

[KinKaray]

Thanks to everybody that replied. I think I'll start with a Ubuntu, and then later, as I get more experience, and better hardware, I'll see other options, but, again, thanks everybody!

[TimedPing]

6 hours ago, maplepants said:

This isn't a good recommendation for this thread. OP doesn't even know what OS to use and you're trying to convince him he needs a level 1 hypervisor. It's just an added layer of complexity that will not help somebody setting up their first home server.

 

You've gotta meet people new to home servers where they're at. Because while Proxmox might be worth it for a rookie setting up a small business server, the added complexity is not worth it for a home user with a single digit number of applications in mind. And using Proxmox as a first timer might leave the false impression that running a home server is really complicated.

 

OP, you should just install the Ubuntu 22.04 and it'll do everything you want it to. With the added benefit of being extremely easy to get support online because Ubuntu is popular both in the business world and the home server world. You mention Minecraft server specifically and most Minecraft server setup guides assume you're running Windows or Ubuntu.

 

If you later decide that you actually do need a load of VMs, instead of just running what you want on the server directly, your Ubuntu usage in the mean time will have given you the skills you need to understand how best to setup each VM in terms of RAM, vCPU cores, storage, etc.

Sorry for my idiotic nature. Will never happen again.

[KinKaray]

59 minutes ago, TimedPing said:

Sorry for my idiotic nature. Will never happen again.

Hey, don't be so upset. You gave me some ideas, and what to look for after! I won't be able, at least not now, but I'll get the Ryzen 9 later. That was a good idea!

 

 

[TimedPing]

38 minutes ago, KinKaray said:

Hey, don't be so upset. You gave me some ideas, and what to look for after! I won't be able, at least not now, but I'll get the Ryzen 9 later. That was a good idea!

 

 

My lads, you gonna follow some idiot fella suggestion? Are you out of your mind? Just stick to your PC hardware, install ubuntu or windows (run wsl2 inside it) and done. Just forget what I suggest in earlier reply. My idea is either wasting your time, money, and potentially introduce migraine into the mix.

[maplepants]

On 10/27/2023 at 4:35 PM, TimedPing said:

Sorry for my idiotic nature. Will never happen again.

No need to apologize! The stakes for internet advice are low. And while I don't think it fits now, it might fit his needs for his next server.

 

Plus if you're going to recommend a hypervisor Proxmox and TrueNAS are the ones to recommend.

[HeroRareheart]

On 10/27/2023 at 2:41 AM, RONOTHAN## said:

In contrast, my server running Proxmox with virtualized TrueNAS

Ok actually question, not trying to be rude, but why? I see no benefit to this as it only adds overhead and TrueNAS can function as a hypervisor. I do all the same with my server and just run TrueNAS Scale on the bare metal.

[RONOTHAN##]

1 minute ago, HeroRareheart said:

Ok actually question, not trying to be rude, but why? I see no benefit to this as it only adds overhead and TrueNAS can function as a hypervisor. I do all the same with my server and just run TrueNAS Scale on the bare metal.

I tried that originally, and I got annoyed using TrueNAS as a hypervisor. Spinning up VMs is clunky, the docker app store is nice but most of the apps I tried using through it broke and I needed to set them up manually anyway, and you don't really have as many other options as Proxmox does. I could live with that though (I still probably would've ditched bare metal TrueNAS eventually, but no where near as quickly as I did) if it weren't for one gigantic oversight by the TrueNAS folks: you aren't allowed to setup headless GPU passthrough. You get blocked at every stage when trying to do that, so if you're running say a 5900X and want to pass a P600 into a JellyFin VM for transcoding like I was, you're SOL unless you want to buy a second GPU for specifically TrueNAS that will do absolutely nothing but sit there. Since I had an HBA already that I could just pass straight into a TrueNAS VM, I figured why not, and I'd end up with the best of both worlds with the superior hypervisor of Proxmox and the superior NAS software that is TrueNAS. 

 

Overhead is a thing, yes, though admittedly since I have so much extra CPU for what I'm doing that doesn't really become apparent outside of a few situations, so I don't really care. Only thing I might be a little worried about is RAM usage, since my system does idle at around 60GB used of 64GB, but then again it performs as expected so I don't really think it's necessary to upgrade that yet (that will change if I want to add something like a 4060 and have a Windows cloud gaming VM though).