Replacing my Dell PowerEdge 2950 G3 Rack Server

[Van Diekon]

Hey there everyone!

 

I need some suggestions from the community for my next server.

One of my servers is currently a Dell PowerEdge 2950 G3 Rack server, and it's pretty okay... Aside from the extreme noise and power it requires. I spent about $350 on it, and I think I can sell it for about $395 with the new drives I put in it.
 

Even so, I do have to pay for other things, leaving me with a budget of about $260. Does anyone have any recommendations for a quiet, power efficient, server?

[Himommies]

4 minutes ago, Van Diekon said:

Hey there everyone!

 

I need some suggestions from the community for my next server.

One of my servers is currently a Dell PowerEdge 2950 G3 Rack server, and it's pretty okay... Aside from the extreme noise and power it requires. I spent about $350 on it, and I think I can sell it for about $395 with the new drives I put in it.
 

Even so, I do have to pay for other things, leaving me with a budget of about $260. Does anyone have any recommendations for a quiet, power efficient, server?

Do you want to improve your current server or get a new one also if your getting anew one is it 295 plus 260 or

[Matgeroe]

Could you be so kind to provide us with some background info. What tasks do you want this server to perform on a daily basis? 

[Andster29]

Used Dell R610 or something of that nature.

[SLAYR]

That thing is lga 771, I would expect anything over $100USD for it, and that is with decent quad cores, and 16gb+ ram in it.

 

For $260 what requirements do you have, you can build a low power computer for that price or do you need a lot of cpu power, those dual 771 cpus at best where a little under an i5 in performance.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/ckRvD8

[Van Diekon]

5 minutes ago, SLAYR said:

That thing is lga 771, I would expect anything over $100USD for it, and that is with decent quad cores, and 16gb+ ram in it.

 

For $260 what requirements do you have, you can build a low power computer for that price or do you need a lot of cpu power, those dual 771 cpus at best where a little under an i5 in performance.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/ckRvD8

It has two E5 something CPU's running in it with a decent 32GB kit of ram running in it.

 

I just need good single thread performance. I need decent preforming storage, which I already have.

 

This server mainly ran some Minecraft servers with a web panel. Probably something like 20 servers.

[Mr.Meerkat]

2 minutes ago, Van Diekon said:

It has two E5 something CPU's running in it with a decent 32GB kit of ram running in it.

 

I just need good single thread performance. I need decent preforming storage, which I already have.

 

This server mainly ran some Minecraft servers with a web panel. Probably something like 20 servers.

You'll find it hard to get something that's appropriate for your needs with the budget you have  

[SLAYR]

2 minutes ago, Van Diekon said:

It has two E5 something CPU's running in it with a decent 32GB kit of ram running in it.

 

I just need good single thread performance. I need decent preforming storage, which I already have.

 

This server mainly ran some Minecraft servers with a web panel. Probably something like 20 servers.

This one? It is lga 771 and about ten years old, predates any e# xeons.

 

http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/pedge/en/pe_2950_III_spec_sheet.pdf

 

What specs are in the old server,

[Van Diekon]

6 minutes ago, SLAYR said:

This one? It is lga 771 and about ten years old, predates any e# xeons.

 

http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/pedge/en/pe_2950_III_spec_sheet.pdf

 

What specs are in the old server,

Yeah, that's the one... lol.

 

x2  Quad Core E5 somethings clocked at 2.6GHz

x8 146GB 10k SAS drives in RAID

x2 Redundant power supplies

32GB DDR-2 Memory @ 667MHz

Linux server OS

 

Pretty much it...

[SLAYR]

Just now, Van Diekon said:

Yeah, that's the one... lol.

 

x2  Quad Core E5 somethings clocked at 2.6GHz

x8 146GB 10k SAS drives in RAID

x2 Redundant power supplies

Linux server OS

 

Pretty much it...

Definitely predates any e5 cpu, the first e5 was sandybridge, this is three gens behind those, and about 10 years old running harpertown cpus.

 

Don't expect $300+ for it, it is worth about $100USD for the whole server.

 

Any modern i5 should do better then what you currently have, even in multithreaded, or look for a lga 1366 server with dual cpus, if you want more threads.

[legopc]

3 hours ago, Van Diekon said:

I spent about $350 on it, and I think I can sell it for about $395 with the new drives I put in it.

 

Kek. 

 

And it can run a e5xxx cpu not an e5 cpu, there is a difference, the one is basically a core2duo or quad and the other is a way newer intel 2011 cpu. 

 

oh and again, kek... that fucking price m8... ill give you like 5 

[Van Diekon]

3 minutes ago, legopc said:

Kek. 

 

And it can run a e5xxx cpu not an e5 cpu, there is a difference, the one is basically a core2duo or quad and the other is a way newer intel 2011 cpu. 

 

oh and again, kek... that fucking price m8... ill give you like 5 

I think you may have misunderstood me. I am aware it's not an E5 cpu... It's an E5(insert 3 numbers here)...

 

Maybe I should have explained that.

[legopc]

1 hour ago, Van Diekon said:

I think you may have misunderstood me. I am aware it's not an E5 cpu... It's an E5(insert 3 numbers here)...

 

Maybe I should have explained that.

 

Well if you were aware of that then you should now that that server is worth jack shit. 

[Van Diekon]

1 minute ago, legopc said:

Well if you were aware of that then you should now that that server is worth jack shit. 

Calm down buddy. It's not worth much, but the drives that I put into it were rather on the expensive side.

[legopc]

1 hour ago, Van Diekon said:

Calm down buddy. It's not worth much, but the drives that I put into it were rather on the expensive side.

 

I am calm as fuck and im not your buddy... Again, ill give you 5 

Edit: If you think the drives are worth money then sell them separately. The drives might be worth like 80 bucks. 

[KuJoe]

I sell 2950s for $250-$450 on Craigslist in the Tampa area depending on the drives. Based on your specs I would get $250 for it after a few weeks of low ball offers. The drives aren't worth much, since they are only 10K instead of 15K and basically every 2950 on eBay comes with them as "fillers". The bulk of the cost of those drives is probably the trays themselves which go for around $10-$20 a piece.

 

As @legopc said, you can part out the server and sell it on eBay to probably make more off it but if you want to sell it as a whole package don't expect more than $300 for it and shipping is a beast (~$70 depending on what part of the country you're shipping to).

[legopc]

1 hour ago, KuJoe said:

I sell 2950s for $250-$450 on Craigslist in the Tampa area depending on the drives. Based on your specs I would get $250 for it after a few weeks of low ball offers. The drives aren't worth much, since they are only 10K instead of 15K and basically every 2950 on eBay comes with them as "fillers". The bulk of the cost of those drives is probably the trays themselves which go for around $10-$20 a piece.

 

As @legopc said, you can part out the server and sell it on eBay to probably make more off it but if you want to sell it as a whole package don't expect more than $300 for it and shipping is a beast (~$70 depending on what part of the country you're shipping to).

 

Holy crap you still get 250 for them? I deal servers/networking stuff and the last time I bought some 2950's it took a long time to move them. They are loud, use a lot of power, are big, not powerful and old so nobody in The Netherlands wants them anymore. If you can actually fetch 250 for them then just ignore what I said, here in NL you wont ever get more then 80-100 ish euro for a nice 2950 or hp g5. 

[KuJoe]

47 minutes ago, legopc said:

Holy crap you still get 250 for them? I deal servers/networking stuff and the last time I bought some 2950's it took a long time to move them. They are loud, use a lot of power, are big, not powerful and old so nobody in The Netherlands wants them anymore. If you can actually fetch 250 for them then just ignore what I said, here in NL you wont ever get more then 80-100 ish euro for a nice 2950 or hp g5. 

I got $250 for the one I sold last week. I think we have 3 more left to list but they usually go relatively fast. There is one local doctor's office that buys them up if we happen to have one with a lot of storage in it but usually the people buying them do it for replacement parts or for a home lab and they'd rather buy it locally than deal with shipping. Like I said before, shipping is a pain and even with my business account it can cost up to $70 just to ship them not including the boxes which people sell for outrageous prices online, I think we were paying $50 just for empty boxes at one point (I have a bunch of boxes for 2950s and R610s in my garage because they're too expensive to throw out).

[Van Diekon]

So does anyone have any suggestions on what I should buy?

[Mikensan]

I'm dumbfounded at how much people are willing to spend on those old 2950s. Clearly those who do not spend some time looking around, but hey if there's somebody willing to buy it why not?

 

You can get:

Dell R610 or Dell R710 (1u and 2u) or 2100 (4u)

2x E5520 or L5520 2.26ghz (The Xeon version of the i7 920)

24gb of DDR3 ECC RAM

2x power supplies

No disks

 

For roughly $200us on ebay, shipped. Which is why most people are and would be shocked at spending over $100 on the 2950 today.

[Mikensan]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Poweredge-R610-2-x-QUAD-CORE-2-40GHZ-E5620-24GB-2-X-146GB-10K-SERVER-QTY-/371768392068?hash=item568f1f7984:g:ouUAAOSwARZXolqV

 

Drives are useless but the caddies are nice to have.

[Van Diekon]

2 hours ago, Mikensan said:

I'm dumbfounded at how much people are willing to spend on those old 2950s. Clearly those who do not spend some time looking around, but hey if there's somebody willing to buy it why not?

 

You can get:

Dell R610 or Dell R710 (1u and 2u) or 2100 (4u)

2x E5520 or L5520 2.26ghz (The Xeon version of the i7 920)

24gb of DDR3 ECC RAM

2x power supplies

No disks

 

For roughly $200us on ebay, shipped. Which is why most people are and would be shocked at spending over $100 on the 2950 today.

Thank you for doing the research.

 

One of my main concerns is noise. Is the R610 loud?

[Mikensan]

18 minutes ago, Van Diekon said:

Thank you for doing the research.

 

One of my main concerns is noise. Is the R610 loud?

If the Gen 3 2950 is anything like the Gen 1 and Gen 2, by comparison the R610 is whisper quiet.

 

I have the R610 and I personally consider it fairly quiet. I have it in an unfinished room that shares a wall with both my bedroom and living room and I cannot hear it with the door closed. During the summer it gets a little warmer in there and the fans go up in RPM but still can just barely hear it through the wall or door.

 

I could be inside that room for several hours (and have been) and be very comfortable. Now if it's in the same room as your TV, it will absolutely be noticeable and you'd need to turn the TV up louder than you normally would but not to deafening levels. It used to be in my bedroom before I moved and I was able to sleep with it on, but YMMV.

 

I also have an IBM X3650 M3 (you can also find these cheap, found mine on craigslist) and that is louder than the R610. I can still work next to it without any issues, but I would not want that in my room trying to sleep.

 

Hope that helps, I know it's over-explained but hard to convey on a forum.

 

Also I measured it at 250watts idle with a kil-a-watt meter. (2x processors)

[Van Diekon]

I found an R710 for sale on eBay and it looks like a great deal to me.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-PowerEdge-R710-8-Core-3-5-Server-48GB-RAM-PERC6i-iDRAC6-2-Trays-/182188850907

 

I have spare drives

[Mikensan]

7 minutes ago, Van Diekon said:

I found an R710 for sale on eBay and it looks like a great deal to me.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-PowerEdge-R710-8-Core-3-5-Server-48GB-RAM-PERC6i-iDRAC6-2-Trays-/182188850907

 

I have spare drives

I bought from those guys too - contact them about ordering it without the RAID controller and save yourself some money. Sometimes they stock caddies - that's the worse part about this. The good news is the caddies from the 2950 will fit (with a little bit of elbow grease... a firm push) but won't look all sexy. One of the guide pins sort of catches on the way. I would say I only had to put about 5lbs of pressure or less. Though I did end up buying caddies.

 

That also only comes with a single power supply - not a big deal but sort of "nice to have" for a second one. I'd see if they'd trade the controller for a PS.

 

Looks about $50 shipping so this is going to be about $240. Maybe it's cheaper for you since your that much closer to GA (I'm in MD).