What would make a good server build?

[Ratchet Miles]

I want to build a server that runs a Minecraft server, Team Fortress 2 server, website, virtual machines, and a NAS. What would I need to make a server like such? Would I have to build multiple servers for different purposes?

[Enderman]

nah one server will be good enough

get a nice 4 core 8 thread xeon, add 16-32GB of ram, and youre good

[JefferyD90]

It depends on how many clients you plan on running. But something like that, you wouldn't need a powerful processor so much just plenty of RAM and storage space.

Although, for gaming I would make sure I have a separate server for games. You wouldn't want your website to get hit kinda hard and a dozen people playing a game and then it hiccup really bad. That or I'd go a lot more powerful of a CPU so we know it doesn't stutter. Maybe a FX-8370e.

[Ratchet Miles]

nah one server will be good enough

get a nice 4 core 8 thread xeon, add 16-32GB of ram, and youre good

 

 

It depends on how many clients you plan on running. But something like that, you wouldn't need a powerful processor so much just plenty of RAM and storage space.

Although, for gaming I would make sure I have a separate server for games. You wouldn't want your website to get hit kinda hard and a dozen people playing a game and then it hiccup really bad. That or I'd go a lot more powerful of a CPU so we know it doesn't stutter. Maybe a FX-8370e.

 

My main concern is for the virtual machine. I want to have like, 4 virtual machines running, and I want it to be capable of decent gaming. That's where I'd assume I'd need a second server just for VMs.

[Vitalius]

I want to build a server that runs a Minecraft server, Team Fortress 2 server, website, virtual machines, and a NAS. What would I need to make a server like such? Would I have to build multiple servers for different purposes?

I like this server setup myself. 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($154.99 @ Best Buy) 

Case: Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced (Black) Mini ITX Tower Case  ($42.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Plus 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($70.16 @ NCIX US) 

Other: ASRock C2750D4I Mini ITX Server Motherboard ($410.00 @ Newegg)

Other: Crucial 2x8GB ECC Unbuffered RAM ($158.00 @ Newegg)

Total: $836.14

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-28 15:33 EST-0500

Note that the motherboard has a true (not hyperthreaded) 8 core Atom CPU built into it. For a performance benchmark of that CPU, it can transcode three 1080p videos on the fly and only hits ~80% CPU usage. Transcoding is hard work on a CPU. The stock heatsink being passive is fine too as a single case fan can keep it under 50C in those conditions (transcoding the videos).

I know I recommend this motherboard a lot, but that's because it's hard to find something that powerful in that form factor for that price. It's just so nice.

I recommend actually getting 32GB of RAM though. Minecraft Servers are a memory hog and VMs need a dedicated amount depending on their OS.

[Enderman]

My main concern is for the virtual machine. I want to have like, 4 virtual machines running, and I want it to be capable of decent gaming. That's where I'd assume I'd need a second server just for VMs.

yeah i wouldnt game on a server thats also running VMs...

[JefferyD90]

Virtual Machines are more memory hogs than CPU hogs. If you get a FX-3870e you'll have 8 cores, and you can allociate 1 core to each VM and then all of a sudden, you'll have 4 left over still.

[Ratchet Miles]

Virtual Machines are more memory hogs than CPU hogs. If you get a FX-3870e you'll have 8 cores, and you can allociate 1 core to each VM and then all of a sudden, you'll have 4 left over still.

If that's the case, I'd allocate 2 cores per VM. I don't know much about VMs ATM, but hosting websites and game servers seems simple. I want to make a VM server that could run like, Half-Life 2 or something per user. I can't actually build said server right now, and I know prices will change and parts will come out, but it'd be nice to know what I'm up against.

[Vitalius]

If that's the case, I'd allocate 2 cores per VM. I don't know much about VMs ATM, but hosting websites and game servers seems simple. I want to make a VM server that could run like, Half-Life 2 or something per user. I can't actually build said server right now, and I know prices will change and parts will come out, but it'd be nice to know what I'm up against.

Umm. Yeah. Gaming on a VMs takes a lot of special care to setup. You can't just stick a GPU in the server and it use it, and getting stuff to run on a Windows VM that only uses the virtual components doesn't exactly work. 

You'd have to know how to use and configure Hypervisors for that to work with Linux (among other things). 

You've got a long journey ahead of you if this is what you intend to do. Good luck.