Thinking about building a backup/TS server, any suggestions?

[sazrocks]

So I recently built my own computer, and I've been needing a place to back up to, as well as something that will be running 24/7 to run my TS server. Can I just get a kind of old pre-built, stick a few drives in it, and call it done, or am I going to need something more powerful? I don't have any specific hardware right now, just trying to figure out what I'm dealing with.

[tt2468]

6 minutes ago, sazrocks said:

So I recently built my own computer, and I've been needing a place to back up to, as well as something that will be running 24/7 to run my TS server. Can I just get a kind of old pre-built, stick a few drives in it, and call it done, or am I going to need something more powerful? I don't have any specific hardware right now, just trying to figure out what I'm dealing with.

Get an r210 ii off of ebay. They're powerful, new-ish, energy efficient, and cheap.

[aries757]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-PoweEdge-R210-II-1x-Intel-Xeon-Quad-Core-E3-1240-3-30GHz-16GB-500GB-SATA-/122095956544?hash=item1c6d7c7240:g:UMMAAOSwKIpV-uEJ

[sazrocks]

29 minutes ago, aries757 said:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-PoweEdge-R210-II-1x-Intel-Xeon-Quad-Core-E3-1240-3-30GHz-16GB-500GB-SATA-/122095956544?hash=item1c6d7c7240:g:UMMAAOSwKIpV-uEJ

 

49 minutes ago, tt2468 said:

Get an r210 ii off of ebay. They're powerful, new-ish, energy efficient, and cheap.

Is something that powerful really necessary for a mainly backup server though? I don't really need amazing speeds. I was also hoping for something a bit cheaper.

[aries757]

11 hours ago, sazrocks said:

 

Is something that powerful really necessary for a mainly backup server though? I don't really need amazing speeds. I was also hoping for something a bit cheaper.

no u dont need it, just an good backup :_)

[tt2468]

18 minutes ago, sazrocks said:

 

Is something that powerful really necessary for a mainly backup server though? I don't really need amazing speeds. I was also hoping for something a bit cheaper.

If you want to pay less, you can get an earlier generation. http://www.ebay.com/itm/DELL-POWEREDGE-R210-SERVER-INTEL-XEON-X3430-2-4GHZ-4GB-2X500GB-3-5-SAS-HDD-/252489297266?hash=item3ac988ed72:g:mHUAAOSwQNRXK51b

[Redportal]

I'm not sure why your suggesting a rack server, the chances are the OP doesn't have a dedicated rack. Instead they are looking for something to host a TS Server and to perform backups to. Not that a rack server wouldn't be able to perform these tasks, but personally I think you want your backups to be reliable and up 24x7. This is less likely to be the case with an old server. 

 

It can all be done on a simple desktop PC, or even some modern NAS units.

 

If you have a good / ok understanding with Linux I would strongly suggest you check out Synology NAS units. These are great little backup boxes for the price and many of them can be upgraded with more RAM / Drives if you need to in the future.

 

Alternatively you can get yourself a cheap desktop / tower server. If possible purchase a desktop with a basic configuration but preferably with (at minimum) software RAID. (Motherboard level)

 

Just be sure to get:

1) Gigabit link (depends on your network)

2) 1GB of Ram per TB of backup space. (2GB For the OS)

3) Raid Support.

 

That would be my suggestion. 

[sazrocks]

8 minutes ago, Redportal said:

I'm not sure why your suggesting a rack server, the chances are the OP doesn't have a dedicated rack. Instead they are looking for something to host a TS Server and to perform backups to. This can all be done on a simple desktop PC, or even some modern NAS units.

 

If you have a good / ok understanding with Linux I would strongly suggest you check out Synology NAS units. These are great little backup boxes for the price and many of them can be upgraded with more RAM / Drives if you need to in the future.

 

Alternatively you can get yourself a cheap desktop / tower server. If possible purchase a desktop with a basic configuration but preferably with (at minimum) software RAID. (Motherboard level)

 

Just be sure to get:

1) Gigabit link (depends on your network)

2) 1GB of Ram per TB of backup space. (2GB For the OS)

3) Raid Support.

 

That would be my suggestion. 

Thanks! I will definitely check them out. If I were to just buy a basic desktop and add ram/drives to it, what kind of cpu would I need at minimum?

[tt2468]

11 minutes ago, sazrocks said:

Thanks! I will definitely check them out. If I were to just buy a basic desktop and add ram/drives to it, what kind of cpu would I need at minimum?

Even a pentium would be fine for backup purposes.

[Redportal]

Just now, sazrocks said:

Thanks! I will definitely check them out. If I were to just buy a basic desktop and add ram/drives to it, what kind of cpu would I need at minimum?

To be honest if you just looking to use it for backup storage (not streaming movies etc) almost anything would be fine.

 

If you where to purchase a pre-built NAS, most would come with anything from an Atom to a Xeon.

I would personally recommend anything from an Intel Pentium up, at around 2Ghz (Dual / Quad core)

 

Like everything else the specs would really depend on your storage requirements and usage etc.

The good thing with picking a desktop / tower machine is that it's easily upgradable in the future.

[leadeater]

3 hours ago, Redportal said:

I'm not sure why your suggesting a rack server, the chances are the OP doesn't have a dedicated rack. Instead they are looking for something to host a TS Server and to perform backups to. Not that a rack server wouldn't be able to perform these tasks, but personally I think you want your backups to be reliable and up 24x7. This is less likely to be the case with an old server. 

 

It can all be done on a simple desktop PC, or even some modern NAS units.

 

If you have a good / ok understanding with Linux I would strongly suggest you check out Synology NAS units. These are great little backup boxes for the price and many of them can be upgraded with more RAM / Drives if you need to in the future.

 

Alternatively you can get yourself a cheap desktop / tower server. If possible purchase a desktop with a basic configuration but preferably with (at minimum) software RAID. (Motherboard level)

 

Just be sure to get:

1) Gigabit link (depends on your network)

2) 1GB of Ram per TB of backup space. (2GB For the OS)

3) Raid Support.

 

That would be my suggestion. 

 

There are used servers on ebay that come in tower form factors also. Used servers are still very reliable, more so than even a new desktop PC or NAS. Businesses decommission them when the warranty expires, they will run for many years after that with no problems. I've had old servers running for 15+ years.

 

I do agree that a rack server is not the best idea, not just for being best to actually put them in a rack but they are louder and more sensitive to heat/environment than a tower.

 

Synology or QNAP are very good pre-built options, only down side is price but you get what you pay for and they are worth it. Linux isn't really a factor at all with these even though that is what the OS is, all you interact with is a very simple and clean web interface which for the majority of users is a very good thing.

 

If it's purely a price consideration then nothing will beat a used server off ebay, tower or rackmount, but there are down sides. They are large in size, have no warranty so even though they are reliable everything can break, and require more configuration/setup than a NAS or desktop PC.

[MrStraightface]

On 8/28/2016 at 2:41 PM, sazrocks said:

Can I just get a kind of old pre-built, stick a few drives in it, and call it done, or am I going to need something more powerful?

you can just use old hardware if you want and have it laying around.  if you need to build something it may be harder to find 'older' stuff online.

 

also, if you want to try a cool project you could put the TS server on a Raspberry Pi.  I did that w/ Mumble.