Minisforum server

[Nooblynoob]

Hi all,

 

I’m planning to build a home server and would love feedback from people with experience in the field.

I am considering the MinisForum MS-series (especially the MS-A models) for compactness and ease of transport.

 

Here’s my intended use case:

• I travel a lot. I need remote access to my data from wherever I am (i.e. not on the same LAN as the server).

• The server must be always “doing something” — running services, containers, maybe some VMs, file sharing, maybe light media serving, backups, etc.

• I insist on all SSD storage (no spinning rust). Past disk failures and data loss losing 2 drives out of RAID10 WD HDDs, so I want to avoid that risk again.

I am divided as the:

 

MSA1 has:

- 4 SSDs

- swappable CPU

- better price tag (even if it may be hard to source one now)

 

MSA2 has:

- only 3 SSDs (less RAID options)

- more performance and internet speed even if less important since I wont be on the same network

- soldered CPU which force AMD Ry 9955 and pushes the price up 

- but has some expandability for SSDs (?)

 

(Planning to get Samsung 990 Pro series + or - heatsink depending if they can fit in)

 

Your feedback is welcomed!

[OddOod]

1 hour ago, Nooblynoob said:

• I travel a lot. I need remote access to my data from wherever I am (i.e. not on the same LAN as the server).

That's software, not hardware

1 hour ago, Nooblynoob said:

• The server must be always “doing something” — running services, containers, maybe some VMs, file sharing, maybe light media serving, backups, etc.

Is there anything that it will be doing that's especially resource intensive? 

1 hour ago, Nooblynoob said:

more performance and internet speed even if less important since I wont be on the same network

Is there a reason that you'd need more than dual 2.5Gbe?

Honestly, I see nothing here saying you should get the A2 over the A1. Save some money and get the A1

[Beerzerker]

12 hours ago, Nooblynoob said:

Hi all,

 

I’m planning to build a home server and would love feedback from people with experience in the field.

I am considering the MinisForum MS-series (especially the MS-A models) for compactness and ease of transport.

 

Here’s my intended use case:

• I travel a lot. I need remote access to my data from wherever I am (i.e. not on the same LAN as the server).

• The server must be always “doing something” — running services, containers, maybe some VMs, file sharing, maybe light media serving, backups, etc.

• I insist on all SSD storage (no spinning rust). Past disk failures and data loss losing 2 drives out of RAID10 WD HDDs, so I want to avoid that risk again.

I am divided as the:

 

MSA1 has:

- 4 SSDs

- swappable CPU

- better price tag (even if it may be hard to source one now)

 

MSA2 has:

- only 3 SSDs (less RAID options)

- more performance and internet speed even if less important since I wont be on the same network

- soldered CPU which force AMD Ry 9955 and pushes the price up 

- but has some expandability for SSDs (?)

 

(Planning to get Samsung 990 Pro series + or - heatsink depending if they can fit in)

 

Your feedback is welcomed!

You are aware that if an SSD goes out, typically your data is G.O.N.E. right?

Even if it's an SSD drive, risk of data loss is still the same (More or less) with either drive type and most guys like us simply can't recover it ourselves from an SSD drive if it can be done at all. 

Plus SSDs won't give any warning signs of immenent failure aside from results obtained by checking health of the drives used with a utility for that purpose and you'd need to do that every-so-often to ensure you at least catch it before failure occurs for preserving your data. 
If you forget and something is about to go south, as in waaaay south you will only know when it happens. 

Platter drives, most of the time will at least give a sign they are ready to go when it starts making noise and if it does you still have time to salvage data before it quits for good in most cases but still - In the case of either drive type you must keep at least a lazy eye on their health. 

With that said:
I can't blame you for wanting something different for your array due to past troubles, but that's the risk you are looking at with SSD's if you use them instead of a platter drive. 
SSD's are faster than platter drives so that's a plus. 

Speaking from personal experience with both drive types, I too have had platter drives die off early AND SSD's too in the ways I've pointed out. 
Out of every drive that did, I was only able to salvage data from my platters (Most of them to varying degrees per drive) but none period from any SATA drives since once that happened, they just woudn't work or in most cases even be recognized by the system as an existing drive. 

True - It depends on "How" they fail but that's usually what happens with each drive type. 

I believe these days you can send even an SSD off to a place/service that can access the drive and recover your data but that service can be expensive at times, depending on the number of drives and amount of data to be salvaged and like anything else, there are no 100% guarantees it will be successful. 

Chances are these days with new(er) hardware you probrably woudn't have a platter drive mounting/installation option anyway because most are setup to hold SSD's or even m.2 drives but regardless, there it is for your consideration - Take it or leave it, the choice is yours. 
 

[cmndr]

I went for a budget MS-01 with the cheapest CPU and no RAM or storage included. 

1. Lower power draw vs the AMD options when idling (most of the server's life)
2. Does enough. For most NAS set ups this is overkill. If you run VMs the AMD choice might be more sensible
3. Has 10GBe
4. Cheaper

[Kilrah]

-> Moved to Servers, NAS, and Home Lab