Building homeserver

[Buh]

Budget (including currency):  800/1000€

Country: Spain

 

Hi, I have a Synology NAS that I'm using for storage and to run some containers on.

 

I'm planning on building/buying a home server to run those containers and some VMs, I wont be using it for storage. The server will be in my office and running 24/7 so I want something with low consumption and low noise.

 

I want it to have at least a 2.5Gb NIC for future proofing.

 

I don't know if its better to buy something prebuilt like a NUC or something like that.

 

PS: Sorry if this have to be on the homeserver forum.

 

[manikyath]

8 minutes ago, Buh said:

run some containers on.

perhaps ellaborate on what exactly you'll be hoping to run on this.

[johnt]

Low power is great but remember it acts as a limiter when you need more. I wouldn’t go less than an i3 or AMD equivalent for a custom server. I use a 12400 in mine and some would consider it overkill, but it also can step down and use less power if it doesn’t need it. I got the system to have a small data back up. Turned into a raid1 setup, plex, home bridge, VM for home assistant, and a NAS. They are way more useful than I originally thought. 

 

Butt really… what are you going to run on it?

[Buh]

I’m planning on installing Proxmox and run UniFi controller, pihole, some torrent clients, Home assistant, **arr and some times Linux vms. 
 

I forgot to mention, I want a small form factor PC. 

[johnt]

I would consider a dedicated Unifi gateway to automatically manage your access points and updates. Everything else can easily go on a machine managed with proxmox. You probably need a Linux VM just to run Unifi network, which is going to complicate your life during outages. 
 

Also I would look into a rack mount case with an i3 or so in case you want you get other Ubiquiti products. POE cameras are amazing around the office.

 

It’s a little funky you want to do these things at an office. These are very much home uses lol

 

Avoid NUCs at all cost. 

[Buh]

Sorry, maybe it’s a false friend but by office I meant the room where I work, my home office idk lol. Thats why I want something with low noise and small form factor, that room it besides my son’s bedroom. So its for home use. 
 

Most of the things I’ve listed are containers running on my NAS, but there is a Plex Server also and sometimes the workload it’s too much. There are more things I’ve want to run but I’ve been waiting for a new server. 

[johnt]

6 hours ago, Buh said:

Sorry, maybe it’s a false friend but by office I meant the room where I work, my home office idk lol. Thats why I want something with low noise and small form factor, that room it besides my son’s bedroom. So its for home use. 
 

Most of the things I’ve listed are containers running on my NAS, but there is a Plex Server also and sometimes the workload it’s too much. There are more things I’ve want to run but I’ve been waiting for a new server. 

So definitely avoid a NUC or anything with a low or ultra low voltage CPU. I will give my opinion, but it's best to put these devices somewhere away from your living space. We have garages in the US, so I put mine in the garage and I can set the fans to around 2500 rpm before I can hear it inside the house. I am not sure about your setup in Spain, but running wires can be a fun weekend project.

[Buh]

8 hours ago, johnt said:

So definitely avoid a NUC or anything with a low or ultra low voltage CPU. I will give my opinion, but it's best to put these devices somewhere away from your living space. We have garages in the US, so I put mine in the garage and I can set the fans to around 2500 rpm before I can hear it inside the house. I am not sure about your setup in Spain, but running wires can be a fun weekend project.

That’s not an option, I live in a building and the garage it’s shared. 

[johnt]

6 hours ago, Buh said:

That’s not an option, I live in a building and the garage it’s shared. 

So I would recommend either the i3 or i5 (non-k) models and a simple micro or mini ATX board. I think you could go as far back as the 12th gen models to save some money and you will still be just fine. My server uses an i5 12400 and it's never skipped a beat for me. Plus it doesn't really get hot. I have a low profile Noctua cooler on it and I can't hear it running. Going with 12th gen gives you options of 600 or 700 motherboards and maybe some cost savings there. Do not purchase an F-sku model. They do not have integrated graphics and buying a GPU is a waste of money for a home server unless you are going to use Plex to stream on mobile devices or browsers all the time.

 

If you need a GPU, an Nvidia RTX model works best for transcoding video for Plex streaming.

 

Probably 16 GB of memory, speed doesn't really matter. You could probably get away with 8 GB for a while. I had DDR4 dimms from previous builds so consider that too if you have modules you aren't using.

 

I would forget about the 2.5 Gbps NIC because that will really increase your costs, especially with mini ITX. You need other networking components to support 2.5 before you can really utilize it (like a switch, plus other devices that support 2.5). Plex does not need it. If your Synology unit doesn't have it, then I would skip it. You can always add an expansion card later.

 

You can pick whatever case meets your needs. And you probably don't need a heavy duty 800w power supply. You can get away with a 450w unit. Just make sure it's on the A or B tiers, or a brand name from the C tier since you don't need a lot of power. https://cultists.network/140/psu-tier-list/ 

 

You say you won't be using this device for storage, but why not? You can easily put 2 or more drives and ditch the Synology box altogether when they stop supporting it.

 

I have mine setup in a Silerstone rack mount case, but you can look at smaller cases if you want SFF. I also use a Cooler Master NR200 for my gaming rig. That's a decent, roomy case but requires an SF PSU. The Fractal Design Terra is also a modern beauty. These two boxes only support mini ITX. A slightly larger case that supports micro ITX will be cheaper overall. 

 

I would give you personalized recommendations but I am not sure what's available in Spain. pcpartpicker is a good website to help you find compatible components and the best prices.

[Buh]

I won't be using this for storage because I have plenty space on the NAS.

 

I've made this build, it's more expensive than I've have planned but I can make the effort.

 

https://es.pcpartpicker.com/list/Z2BCPF