buying a server rack-yay or nay?

[Kyuubixchidori]

hello everyone! so I need a game sever. the cost will be split among some people, and the first instinct was to get more ram and just run it off my xeon 1230v3. my PC is damn near silent, so I can run it 24/7 no issues. but obviously something dragging down your PC is not the optimal situation. 

 

so, could build a dedicated server. I already have a case+PSU+fans+gpu(if no IGPU), so all we would need is a 128 gig SSD, mobo+cpu and ram. 

 

but along the searching, I figured why not pre owned. there's some old server racks that match my CPU in performance and with 32 gigs of ram for 125!?!?! granted, weaker core performance, but game servers are not THAT demanding, and we are talking 5 people max per game most likely. 

 

if I bought something along the lines of http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-PowerEdge-1950III-Server-RAID-DUAL-XEON-E5430-QUAD-CORE-2-83Ghz-16GB-RAM-/381292217626?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58c6c9851a

 

would I need anything? plug and play?

 

and I know servers are loud. but are they loud ALL THE TIME? or just under heavy load? could easily throw this in the basement but don't want the house to sound like it will blow up. 

 

 

[Peter Vaughan Truslow]

a server is just a fancy computer, that's the basis of it. as for noise, it's gonna be the loudest computer you've ever heard in your life.

servers are always loud

[bcredeur97]

first of all, what type of game server are you running? if its minecraft then you need something with a lot of single-threaded performance, not a multi-threading optimized Xeon.

 

 

You can build a quiet server. You may have to take one and put your own heatsinks and fans to make it quiet. Most are loud because they are designed to be shoved in a data center that is in a seperate room where it wont bother anyone, just cooling performance matters. But for a household you can certainly mod it and make it quiet if you can keep temps in check, which shouldnt be too much harder than a desktop.

[Jerakl]

The first question should be, is your internet good enough to host a server

[Kyuubixchidori]

a server is just a fancy computer, that's the basis of it. as for noise, it's gonna be the loudest computer you've ever heard in your life.

servers are always loud

thats what I was thinking

first of all, what type of game server are you running? if its minecraft then you need something with a lot of single-threaded performance, not a multi-threading optimized Xeon.

 

 

You can build a quiet server. You may have to take one and put your own heatsinks and fans to make it quiet. Most are loud because they are designed to be shoved in a data center that is in a seperate room where it wont bother anyone, just cooling performance matters. But for a household you can certainly mod it and make it quiet if you can keep temps in check, which shouldnt be too much harder than a desktop.

ARk survival is what it was originally for, but if it can also handle it, couple other games. will also throw rendering jobs at it if I can

The first question should be, is your internet good enough to host a server

60 down 12 up. fine enough for just a few people, I already host servers but it's always been off my PC or laptop. 

[bcredeur97]

thats what I was thinking

ARk survival is what it was originally for, but if it can also handle it, couple other games. will also throw rendering jobs at it if I can

60 down 12 up. fine enough for just a few people, I already host servers but it's always been off my PC or laptop. 

yeah seeing your internet, just build a decent low end server with a efficient, low wattage CPU. That way you can get super quiet fans and not run them at high RPM's and your temps will still be in check. Just make sure its intel-based, and you should have enough single-core performance to run most single-threaded servers. And after that, basically get as many cores as you can afford. Just try to stay under 100 watt TDP

[Kyuubixchidori]

yeah seeing your internet, just build a decent low end server with a efficient, low wattage CPU. That way you can get super quiet fans and not run them at high RPM's and your temps will still be in check. Just make sure its intel-based, and you should have enough single-core performance to run most single-threaded servers. And after that, basically get as many cores as you can afford. Just try to stay under 100 watt TDP

yeah, but a low wattage build vs a server rack with twice-3 times the horsepower for less money?

[MatthewEnderle]

You do NOT want to buy a 1-2U server for in house hosting. Buy at-least a 4U as it's more optimized for air flow. I live in a tiny USAF dorm and I have my Dell Poweredge 6950 server on 24/7. It's about as lout as my PS3 when hot. 

[TheKDub]

Servers like that usually sound similar to a jet taking off, so I'd suggest just building one instead.

[bcredeur97]

yeah, but a low wattage build vs a server rack with twice-3 times the horsepower for less money?

a modern, low wattage CPU will do what you want it to do by the sounds of it. Point of it being low-wattage is heat, more electricity=more heat=higher RPM fans=more noise.

 

By low wattage i mean just keep it reasonable around the average desktop people will usually build, a 95 watt cpu can still work with quiet fans if you get a decent CPU cooler

 

youll need less beefy hardware than you think you do if you have low OS overhead. This build screams an i3 as well as linux to me.

[Kyuubixchidori]

You do NOT want to buy a 1-2U server for in house hosting. Buy at-least a 4U as it's more optimized for air flow. I live in a tiny USAF dorm and I have my Dell Poweredge 6950 server on 24/7. It's about as lout as my PS3 when hot. 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-PowerEdge-1950III-Server-RAID-DUAL-XEON-E5430-QUAD-CORE-2-83Ghz-16GB-RAM-/381292217626?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58c6c9851a

 

looks like such a good deal though.

so basically just look at 4Us and compare that to desktops? 

 

..time to leave my sisters ps3 running a game for a few hours to compare. but sounds not that bad at all. this most likely will be sitting in a basement, so that amount of a sound will be more than okay. but it may come with me up to my dorm as free power<3 

 

so a 4U is acceptable in a small room noise wise?

[MatthewEnderle]

Give me about an hour.. I have both a 6950 and the 1950 you are looking at... I'll upload a video

[Kyuubixchidori]

Give me about an hour.. I have both a 6950 and the 1950 you are looking at... I'll upload a video

sweet thanks! im just looking for a server for around 200$ to run games servers. only requirement. 

[Kyuubixchidori]

Give me about an hour.. I have both a 6950 and the 1950 you are looking at... I'll upload a video

 

You do NOT want to buy a 1-2U server for in house hosting. Buy at-least a 4U as it's more optimized for air flow. I live in a tiny USAF dorm and I have my Dell Poweredge 6950 server on 24/7. It's about as lout as my PS3 when hot. 

what do you guys think of this? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-PowerEdge-R900-Dual-2-13-GHz-Xeon-Quad-Core-16-GB-RAM-4U-Server-/321736764719?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ae9016d2f

[MatthewEnderle]

what do you guys think of this? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-PowerEdge-R900-Dual-2-13-GHz-Xeon-Quad-Core-16-GB-RAM-4U-Server-/321736764719?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ae9016d2f

IIRC the R900 is the newer version/platform for the PE series. I never used one myself, I've seen them in the AF's DCs on occasion. However with that auction you will need to buy sata drive caddies. I had bought some for ~$20/each. I personally had 30+ players on a MC server and 5+ on various other games from my 6950 when it only had 16gb ddr2 and four dual cores. Also check your local craigs list. I found a bunch of servers locally here in omaha nebraska. Even a poweredge 1950 for free (Dead PSU).

 

The video is being processed as well.

[bcredeur97]

im sure you could make that 4U power edge quieter with some aftermarket fans as well... i highly doubt it really needs the fans it has if your not running a gazillion hard drives.

[Kyuubixchidori]

-snip-

Holy crap thank you. Didnt expect the 4u to be that quiet in comparison. 

[MatthewEnderle]

im sure you could make that 4U power edge quieter with some aftermarket fans as well... i highly doubt it really needs the fans it has if your not running a gazillion hard drives.

With out the fans it will not function properly. mine won't even boot without them. For the first 30 seconds of power on it sounds like a vacuum but then it's quiet. You definitely can put aftermarket fans in if wanted. Hell you could get universal watercooling blocks for all four and cool it that way, but IMO it's not worth it for the specs.

[MatthewEnderle]

Holy crap thank you. Didnt expect the 4u to be that quiet in comparison. 

Yea, I figured that the 1U was smaller and thus it would be quieter, but it's quite the opposite. I never actually even used the 1950 because the project for it was scrapped. 

 

And BTW if you are doing a Buy-it-now message the seller(s) and ask if they will sell it for cheaper without the drives. The SAS drives are quick but the storage is low. you're better off buying black or red drives from WD and using them. 

[bcredeur97]

With out the fans it will not function properly. mine won't even boot without them. For the first 30 seconds of power on it sounds like a vacuum but then it's quiet. You definitely can put aftermarket fans in if wanted. Hell you could get universal watercooling blocks for all four and cool it that way, but IMO it's not worth it for the specs.

aftermarket fans are relatively cheap so I think it could be worth it. Just get some $10 fractal fans or something lol, they are so quiet in comparison. 

[Kyuubixchidori]

Yea, I figured that the 1U was smaller and thus it would be quieter, but it's quite the opposite. I never actually even used the 1950 because the project for it was scrapped. 

Looks like Im getting the 4U. working on finding some friends interested in the server, and splitting the cost. Ill be in a dorm soon, so free electricity. 

[MatthewEnderle]

Looks like Im getting the 4U. working on finding some friends interested in the server, and splitting the cost. Ill be in a dorm soon, so free electricity. 

The only problem with 'free' is how relieable it is. I'm pretty fortunate, but I'm looking at a UJPS.

[Kyuubixchidori]

The only problem with 'free' is how relieable it is. I'm pretty fortunate, but I'm looking at a UJPS.

its a dorm in a decent sized town, and in michigan power RARELY goes out. id get a back up just to save data in case of a power flash or something though.