First Home Server

[jayofthebay]

Budget (including currency):  500 USD

Country: US

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Primarily for large scale game storage to have games predownloaded. But also want to have it be able to run minecraft servers and low profile websites. 

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc):  I already have a beefy pc so this is more of a sumplement to the household that can stay up 24/7. 

 

I really don't know much about server building and really need some advice. I want to get something small and compact with a low profile case. Not sure how much power I need, how much RAM, what type or cpu, and what case. Do I need a gpu? 

 

[jsnotlout1]

Ram and CPU are going to depend on applications, Minecraft and web servers are going to need a pretty good CPU, What are you willing to get? I run some paper minecraft servers on a dell 3050, It has an I5-6500 and 8 GB of ram. I would suggest at least 16 for what you are doing. You only need a GPU if you plan on running applications that depend on it, or if you get a cpu with no on board video and want to access the server without ssh. Do you know what OS you plan on running?

 

[jayofthebay]

I'm expecting to run some moded minecraft servers on it. I don't actually know what applications would need a gpu sadly. 

 

I highly expect it to run on windows. But I might consider moving it over to linux later on. 

[SorryBella]

7 hours ago, jayofthebay said:

I don't actually know what applications would need a gpu sadly. 

None, frankly. Quick Sync Video can be used for video encoding and software processing on low traffic websites are fine. At this low of a budget though i agreed to just beeline a Dell. Look for your local computer junkyard for a 4 SATA port Dell Optiplex, something like Dell 7020 would already be a lot of hell for the buck.