Budget Server Build Question

[MysteryMan]

Hello LTT Forum! After lurking for a while, I have a question to ask! Would the Intel Pentium G3258 be sufficient for the following usage (do not worry about the rest of the components, that part is figured out already): 

 

- Use as a file server to offload and archive the large amount of data I have.

- To use as a server for games such as terraria and minecraft.

 

I am not familiar with these lower-end chips, and their capabilities.

 

 

On a somewhat related note, which linux distro would you guys recommend for this? I am a bit of a newbie to the world of linux

[RevoltTrain]

It should be if you OC it.

[OutlawsThoughts]

As a file server it should do decent, but not as a game server. You might run into an issue with the G3258 only having 2 cores, whereas a low end i3 or cheap Xeon could be better. 

[MysteryMan]

It should be if you OC it.

"Suabru WRX STI Fanboy" eyyyyyyyyy

 

Anyways, I thought as much. Hosting a game server for a few friends should be a very simple task, not requiring a huge amount of resources to accomplish. Any more input on this. I ask now because things are currently on sale (cyber monday), and if I do get this, I would very much like to get the build completely sorted out.

[MysteryMan]

As a file server it should do decent, but not as a game server. You might run into an issue with the G3258 only having 2 cores, whereas a low end i3 or cheap Xeon could be better. 

 

Hmm... keep in mind that I will only be hosting servers for terraria or minecraft (maybe a GTA V server if that becomes a thing, and my friends want to play). After a little bit of searching, I located this:

http://www.minecraftforum.net/forums/support/server-support/server-administration/1921159-minecraft-server-running-on-ancient-hardware

 

 

This dude is running a mine craft server on some old pentium 3 O___O, with 5 people just blowing shit up. I don't need the greatest server ever, but just something that won't be stuttering and struggling to run a simple server for a few people, and act as a file server. Only reason I picker that one is because I need something which is low power, cheap, and that can do the job.

 

EDIT: I do have my own personal rig, but I do not like to leave it running 24/7, so this is the option I came up with.

[OutlawsThoughts]

Well hey as far as I remember (I last played minecraft a couple years ago so maybe it's not true anymore) Minecraft likes to use cores. I'm not sure if that's true anymore but you can look into it I'm sure

[MysteryMan]

Alright. Thank you for the insight. I will look into this a bit more.

[handruin]

What about virtualizing the OS and running the gaming servers there?  That's how I've been doing mine on my now somewhat archiece Core i7 860 (Lynnfield) with 8GB RAM.  I use VMware workstation 9 and run a Xubuntu 14.04 as the guest OS with 2GB RAM.  On the Xubuntu setup, I've hosted Minecraft, Terarria, and Starbound (not all at the same time with only 2GB).  I also run a Mumble server (murmur) that was easy to setup using apt-get install.  I simply port-forward from my router to my VM and it works great.  I also bought a domain name and use software on the Linux VM to update the dynamic IP at my registrar (namecheap) to give out to friends/family when joining my servers.

 

Edit: I should have mentioned that since VMware workstation costs money, you could likely get by for free using VirtualBox.  I haven't tried it but I bet it should work much the same way.

[MysteryMan]

What about virtualizing the OS and running the gaming servers there?  That's how I've been doing mine on my now somewhat archiece Core i7 860 (Lynnfield) with 8GB RAM.  I use VMware workstation 9 and run a Xubuntu 14.04 as the guest OS with 2GB RAM.  On the Xubuntu setup, I've hosted Minecraft, Terarria, and Starbound (not all at the same time with only 2GB).  I also run a Mumble server (murmur) that was easy to setup using apt-get install.  I simply port-forward from my router to my VM and it works great.  I also bought a domain name and use software on the Linux VM to update the dynamic IP at my registrar (namecheap) to give out to friends/family when joining my servers.

 

Edit: I should have mentioned that since VMware workstation costs money, you could likely get by for free using VirtualBox.  I haven't tried it but I bet it should work much the same way.

Nonono. What I mean is running, say a 5 person terraria or mine craft server from the build I am talking about, running on a Pentium G3258.

[handruin]

Nonono. What I mean is running, say a 5 person terraria or mine craft server from the build I am talking about, running on a Pentium G3258.

 

Yeah that kind of workload should be fine for that CPU.  I thought it was an older CPU until I looked it up but it's fairly recent from this year.  How much RAM are you giving the system?  I'd aim for 4GB or higher if you can.  Try Xubuntu as your linux distro.  Setting up Steam is pretty easy along with any other components you might want to add to this environment as a file server (Samba).  The XFCE UI is light weight and uses a bit less resources.  If you don't need the UI at all, just install the server version and save on the resources.

[MysteryMan]

Yeah that kind of workload should be fine for that CPU.  I thought it was an older CPU until I looked it up but it's fairly recent from this year.  How much RAM are you giving the system?  I'd aim for 4GB or higher if you can.  Try Xubuntu as your linux distro.  Setting up Steam is pretty easy along with any other components you might want to add to this environment as a file server (Samba).  The XFCE UI is light weight and uses a bit less resources.  If you don't need the UI at all, just install the server version and save on the resources.

You sure it'll be fine? I don't want something under performing, and I really don't need anything overkill. Just something to do the job, and be cheap ($70 ). Also I can upgrade when I have more funds later.

[MysteryMan]

Yeah that kind of workload should be fine for that CPU.  I thought it was an older CPU until I looked it up but it's fairly recent from this year.  How much RAM are you giving the system?  I'd aim for 4GB or higher if you can.  Try Xubuntu as your linux distro.  Setting up Steam is pretty easy along with any other components you might want to add to this environment as a file server (Samba).  The XFCE UI is light weight and uses a bit less resources.  If you don't need the UI at all, just install the server version and save on the resources.

I plan on using around 8GB of RAM, and eventually upgrading the CPU.

[handruin]

It should work for low number of users on the server provided you have enough RAM.  The single-threaded performance ranks higher in benchmarks than my Core i7 860 and I'm able to get 4-5 people in a Terraria server under VMware (which has overhead in and by itself).  As mentioned earlier if you overclock it, the per-core speed can get pretty high if you upgrade the HSF to something like a Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO.

[MysteryMan]

It should work for low number of users on the server provided you have enough RAM.  The single-threaded performance ranks higher in benchmarks than my Core i7 860 and I'm able to get 4-5 people in a Terraria server under VMware (which has overhead in and by itself).  As mentioned earlier if you overclock it, the per-core speed can get pretty high if you upgrade the HSF to something like a Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO.

Ok thanks man. I am getting aftermarket cooling or sure. The 212 is the way to go for cheap and effective air cooling. I'll go with this for now. Thanks for the help!

[handruin]

You said you were going to upgrade it later anyway, so either save the money now and wait and buy the CPU you really want or just run with this for a while.  What's the spec on your normal desktop rig?  If it's powerful enough, that's why I mentioned using VMware to run a vitual machine.  Save the money on the hardware and save up for what you really want.  If your main rig is strong enough, you don't have to spend money to experiment with a Linux gaming setup.