Need help making first server

[Malphatt]

Hey, I would like to put together a server for hosting websites, Minecraft servers, a Plex media server, and other projects I plan to make, but I need some help.

 

I think what I want is to have Proxmox and TrueNAS installed on the machine, but I may decide to have other things for home automation.

 

I would like to have something modular which can easily be upgraded over time, and my budget is ~£2000, but this can be flexible.

• The case must be short depth (if rackmount) as I don't have the space to store a full-depth server.
• Ideally, it should use an EPYC CPU, as that should give me enough room to expand over time.
• I would like RAM in 64GB sticks, preferably, unless you suggest otherwise.
• I don't particularly need a lot of storage, 8TB will likely suffice, and I can just upgrade that over time anyway.
• I have no idea about RAID either, or which one to use, so information about that would be greatly appreciated.
• I don't think I'll need a GPU as far as I'm aware, and lastly, I'm unaware of the power draw for these specific components.

I am rather unfamiliar with part compatibility and how much space each component takes up in the case, but I have made many desktop computers in the past, so I am happy to tinker.

 

I look forward to hearing your suggestions.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Do you have a rack? I'd typically only go rackmoutn if you have a rack.

 

Why Epyc? A desktop CPU should be more than enough for msot home servers. What are the VMs your running?

 

I'd probably go am5 with something like the asrock rack boards, and use a desktop case with lots of HDD bays like the define series.

[apoyusiken]

i dont know how to feel about 8 tb being considered not a lot .

[Dutch_Master]

47 minutes ago, apoyusiken said:

not a lot

I have 64TB with RAID6 and only 6 drives (3.5", 16TB). I can add another 18 drives should the need arise   Oh, let's not forget I have 3 more NetApp diskshelves for a total of 72x 2.5" drives.

 

OK, I'm officially a data hoarder

 

As for the OP: I concur AM5 is your best solution as AMD will support that at least until 2027, so upgrades can be had for a few more years. My suggestion for a mainboard would be the Asrock Rack B650D4U3 ( <- link) but RAM sticks are limited to 48GB each. This is a pretty common size for DDR5 and it doesn't impact performance for a NAS. At all For CPU you may want to investigate the AMD EPYC 4004 series, the cheapest model can be had for USD150 MSRP (and I've seen that in the wild, but only once and very briefly) but ideally you should aim for a better spec version. Or the equivalent AMD Ryzen 7000 series, but on those ECC support is not guaranteed.

 

I'd also advise for a 2 disk redundancy (RAID6 or equivalent) using an HBA to simplify swapping out mainboards when, not if, they fail. As for drives: I've found the 16TB refurbished models on ebay to be the best price/capacity, they're generally about 250-ish USD, cheaper if you buy more. Do note that it's wise to limit the amount of drives purchased from a single batch to the number of redundant drives (so 2 in RAID6) to minimise the risk of data loss in case a batch fails. My 6 drives have 3 different manufacturers, 2 drives each.

[Malphatt]

53 minutes ago, Dutch_Master said:

I have 64TB with RAID6 and only 6 drives (3.5", 16TB). I can add another 18 drives should the need arise   Oh, let's not forget I have 3 more NetApp diskshelves for a total of 72x 2.5" drives.

 

OK, I'm officially a data hoarder

 

As for the OP: I concur AM5 is your best solution as AMD will support that at least until 2027, so upgrades can be had for a few more years. My suggestion for a mainboard would be the Asrock Rack B650D4U3 ( <- link) but RAM sticks are limited to 48GB each. This is a pretty common size for DDR5 and it doesn't impact performance for a NAS. At all For CPU you may want to investigate the AMD EPYC 4004 series, the cheapest model can be had for USD150 MSRP (and I've seen that in the wild, but only once and very briefly) but ideally you should aim for a better spec version. Or the equivalent AMD Ryzen 7000 series, but on those ECC support is not guaranteed.

 

I'd also advise for a 2 disk redundancy (RAID6 or equivalent) using an HBA to simplify swapping out mainboards when, not if, they fail. As for drives: I've found the 16TB refurbished models on ebay to be the best price/capacity, they're generally about 250-ish USD, cheaper if you buy more. Do note that it's wise to limit the amount of drives purchased from a single batch to the number of redundant drives (so 2 in RAID6) to minimise the risk of data loss in case a batch fails. My 6 drives have 3 different manufacturers, 2 drives each.

Here's another angle for you, I currently have a desktop with the following specs:

• Ryzen 5600X
• RTX 3060 Ti
• 64GB 3600MHz DDR4 RAM

Is it worth upgrading that to newer hardware and using that as my server specs (minus the GPU) or use the more modern hardware for the server?

[Dutch_Master]

It is a viable solution now, but AM4 is officially EoL and you'll increasingly struggle to find replacement components as time goes on. It may sound counter-intuitive, but upgrade your NAS to AM5 now is IMO the better solution in the long term. In a few years, when your AM4 system fails or can no longer play your games, AMD will have new chips, maybe even a new platform, that allows for a significant performance upgrade over AM4. Not having to swap out 2 systems at the same time decreases the risk of data loss as that remains safely and untouched on your NAS if you build that as AM5 system now.

 

But the call is yours to make

 

HTH!

[J0LT]

Old Xeons are good as well. My server uses 2x 2699v3s for a total of 36 Cores. I use them for plex, minecraft, ark cluster, and as a NAS, never had a problem. Those LGA2011-3 Xeons go for fairly cheap on Ebay. As for RAM i use A-Tech because its been reliable and cheap for me. 

My suggestion would probably be a high end Xeon on some regular 2011-3 board for reliability. RAM will likely be your biggest bottleneck for a server like that. 

[Electronics Wizardy]

57 minutes ago, Malphatt said:

Here's another angle for you, I currently have a desktop with the following specs:

• Ryzen 5600X
• RTX 3060 Ti
• 64GB 3600MHz DDR4 RAM

Is it worth upgrading that to newer hardware and using that as my server specs (minus the GPU) or use the more modern hardware for the server?

Can you be more specifc about your VM uses? That system is likely just fine for your uses. Add some drives and that hardware will work fine.

[Malphatt]

57 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Can you be more specifc about your VM uses? That system is likely just fine for your uses. Add some drives and that hardware will work fine.

I would like to be able to containerise specific projects, so for example projects that work only on windows, Minecraft servers, multiplayer game servers (mainly for dev purposes before live deployment), a Plex server, web hosting + download server, possible home automation, and other future projects.

 

I am a game dev that likes to tinker with projects that are out of my field, I am also currently setting up my own home cinema which may benefit from this.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, Malphatt said:

I would like to be able to containerised specific projects, so for example projects that work only on windows, Minecraft servers, multiplayer game servers (mainly for dev purposes before live deployment), a Plex server, web hosting + download server, possible home automation, and other future projects.

 

I am a game dev that likes to tinker with projects that are out of my field.

Do you have ideas of how many resources that might need? i'd guess that 5600x should work fine for now, and a 5950x isn't that bad if you need mores cores. 

[Malphatt]

37 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Do you have ideas of how many resources that might need? i'd guess that 5600x should work fine for now, and a 5950x isn't that bad if you need mores cores. 

I imagine 8-12 cores should be enough but I wouldn't mind having 16C32T AM5 as that would future proof things better.

 

Also 64GB RAM realistically is enough but I'll likely opt for 128GB. I have been suggested on using a GPU for video encoding on the Plex server to stream at 4k, idk how true that is but I'm sure you guys will be able to educate me on that.

 

Edit: Minecraft servers are probably the most intensive thing on the list and on this computer with 6 people on a modded server was skipping ticks at 90% CPU usage.