Help with a server build

[IrshaadH]

Hey all,

 

My buddy and I are planning on building a server for web hosting, but are a bit confused on what sort of components we should be looking at.  Should we be getting a xeon processor with server-grade motherboard and ECC memory?  If so, what specific models would you guys recommend?

 

If anyone's got a suggest part list, that would be much appreciated!

 

Also, would the new Ryzen chips be a good option?

 

Thanks

[Orangeator]

13 minutes ago, IrshaadH said:

Hey all,

 

My buddy and I are planning on building a server for web hosting, but are a bit confused on what sort of components we should be looking at.  Should we be getting a xeon processor with server-grade motherboard and ECC memory?  If so, what specific models would you guys recommend?

 

If anyone's got a suggest part list, that would be much appreciated!

 

Also, would the new Ryzen chips be a good option?

 

Thanks

Before any of this you have access to reliable and fast internet correct?

[IrshaadH]

Just now, Orangeator said:

Before any of this you have access to reliable and fast internet correct?

Yes, it's a fibre optic connection with 300mbps down and 100 up.

[Windows7ge]

Is this some type of private web hosted server intended for a specific group of people or is the meant for absolutely anybody who wants to visit the site?

[IrshaadH]

10 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

Is this some type of private web hosted server intended for a specific group of people or is the meant for absolutely anybody who wants to visit the site?

It'll be private to begin with, as we continue building and testing our website.  

[LienusLateTips]

What is your budget range? You may have to go with used if you have a low budget.

[Windows7ge]

11 minutes ago, IrshaadH said:

It'll be private to begin with, as we continue building and testing our website.  

I was asking because I was going to ask if you registered a domain name. I'd invest in a firewall of some sort of this is to be open to general public.

 

In terms of hardware for the server specifically.

If you want a serious server you don't want to use a enthusiast proccesor & chipset. If using Intel you'll want a Xeon CPU and ECC memory. Other things may include a mini-redundant PSU and a UPS in the event of power or hardware failure.

 

How big do you plan on this being? What I mean is if this is going to be a large website with eventually 1000's of people visiting it you'll want more than a 4C 8T CPU. You'll want to go either LGA2011 or LGA2011-V3 I personally built a 16C 32T  multi-TB data/virtualization server using relatively cheap Intel Xeon E5 2670's. They're 2.6GHz and auto adjust up-to 3.3GHz which isn't bad. They can be paired with up to 384GB of RAM and can be used in dual socket motherboards.

[IrshaadH]

8 hours ago, Windows7ge said:

I was asking because I was going to ask if you registered a domain name. I'd invest in a firewall of some sort of this is to be open to general public.

 

In terms of hardware for the server specifically.

If you want a serious server you don't want to use a enthusiast proccesor & chipset. If using Intel you'll want a Xeon CPU and ECC memory. Other things may include a mini-redundant PSU and a UPS in the event of power or hardware failure.

 

How big do you plan on this being? What I mean is if this is going to be a large website with eventually 1000's of people visiting it you'll want more than a 4C 8T CPU. You'll want to go either LGA2011 or LGA2011-V3 I personally built a 16C 32T  multi-TB data/virtualization server using relatively cheap Intel Xeon E5 2670's. They're 2.6GHz and auto adjust up-to 3.3GHz which isn't bad. They can be paired with up to 384GB of RAM and can be used in dual socket motherboards.

OK, that makes sense.  One thing that confuses me thoughh is what type of motherboard I should get.  If I go with LGA 2011 v3, would I just use an x99 board?

[Windows7ge]

18 minutes ago, IrshaadH said:

OK, that makes sense.  One thing that confuses me thoughh is what type of motherboard I should get.  If I go with LGA 2011 v3, would I just use an x99 board?

You'll need a motherboard that supports the particular CPU and like X79 X99 also supports some Xeon processors. However the motherboard has to have support for ECC memory and again X99 is an enthusiast chipset. You'd want a server motherboard. My dual socket server motherboard uses the C602 chipset not X79. You'll want similarly for any LGA2011-V3 CPU if you want to use that socket. I always found that ASRock Rack makes pretty good server boards and they have multiple options for the V3 socket. I can look into some of what they have for you if you like.

[brob]

Have you considered using a hosting company initially?

[IrshaadH]

1 hour ago, Windows7ge said:

You'll need a motherboard that supports the particular CPU and like X79 X99 also supports some Xeon processors. However the motherboard has to have support for ECC memory and again X99 is an enthusiast chipset. You'd want a server motherboard. My dual socket server motherboard uses the C602 chipset not X79. You'll want similarly for any LGA2011-V3 CPU if you want to use that socket. I always found that ASRock Rack makes pretty good server boards and they have multiple options for the V3 socket. I can look into some of what they have for you if you like.

Dude, that would be awesome.  Thanks for your help!

[IrshaadH]

1 hour ago, brob said:

Have you considered using a hosting company initially?

Do you mean hosting on azure or AWS?

[brob]

34 minutes ago, IrshaadH said:

Do you mean hosting on azure or AWS?

I have no idea what web platform is needed. There are numerous companies that offer relatively low cost web hosting services for a wide variety of platforms. The advantage of using a hosting service is that it takes care of providing high speed access to data center grade servers. One can then concentrate on developing the web services.

[Windows7ge]

4 hours ago, IrshaadH said:

Dude, that would be awesome.  Thanks for your help!

What's your budget to build the server? If you don't really have one then what kind of number would you want to keep the server under?

[Windows7ge]

41 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

What's your budget to build the server? If you don't really have one then what kind of number would you want to keep the server under?

You can swamp out any of these items for anything else but this would work for a web server.

Intel Xeon E5-2630 v3

ASRock EP2C612D16C-4L (It's a dual socket motherboard but you can run it with one CPU. Option for future expansion.)

Noctua NH-D9DX i4 3U

RAM: KVR21R15D4/16 (If you install 1 CPU install 4 sticks in the blue slots. If you install 2 CPU's then install 8 in the blue slots)

 

I've been trying to locate a mini-redundant PSU that is compatible with ATX computer chassis but I'm just not seeing any. You can buy a regular non-redundant PSU such as the Corsair RM850X but it's not recommended for a server environment.

 

As for the chassis itself I don't know if you want a tower or something rack mountable.

 

For storage I don't know how much you need or what type of software you plan to run so I'm not sure what to recommend in that regard.