Cheap server configuration

[andreajl]

Hi everyone,

I've been asked to build a basic pc "server" but since I don't have that much experience as far as business related features I figured I'd ask the forum while I make my own research.

 

Use case: this person runs two small business, one is a consulting agency and the other is a martial arts gym. At first this pc would act as a file server for less than 10 people + client management (no idea how to do this yet) and in the future it could host two small websites.

 

There's no mission critical equiment or 100% uptime required here, just decent stability. My main ? are related to RAID (software? hardware? MB budget is around 100 - 150 eur and for now I'm planning 3 x 2TB drives), OS (I don't know much about linux but willing to explore, clients will be mostly be windows-based so I wouldn't want to go down a very annoying road building a linux based server), CPU (thinking Ryzen 5 1600 at around 200 eur).

 

If you have any input or maybe some good resources to read I'd be thankful.

 

 

 

 

[brob]

Use a hosting company for the web sites. Generally less expensive and more reliable than doing one's own hosting. There are a number of fairly low cost shared hosting plans available from US companies that allow for a number of addon domains (multiple domains) with high bandwidth and storage limits. 

 

If the plan is to run a CMS system, a server capable of hosting a database will likely be needed. An R5 should be fine. Give it at least 16GB of memory and a ~250GB ssd for the system. If the plan is to use RAID storage, I would suggest going with RAID 1 (mirror). Anything else is overly complex and not really needed in the described environment. Use drives designed for desktop NAS - WD Red, HGST Deskstar NAS, Seagate IronWolf, etc.

 

While it is a more expensive option, you might consider going with Windows Server. User security can then be centralized.

 

Don't budget individual amounts for various components. Work out a budget and requirements, then use a tool like pcpartpicker to assemble a build that meets the budget. (You can enter you own pricing if the merchants available through it.pcpartpicker.com are not suitable. If the selection is too limited you can either create custom entries or use the US site and enter custom prices.)

[andreajl]

thanks for the input

as for raid 1 I don't think it's possible to lose 50% of storage space for parity considering it's a budget build. Will raid 5 increase cpu load / be less stable?

 

 

[brob]

5 hours ago, andreajl said:

thanks for the input

as for raid 1 I don't think it's possible to lose 50% of storage space for parity considering it's a budget build. Will raid 5 increase cpu load / be less stable?

 

 

RAID 1 creates a mirror. When one drive fails the other continues to be available. A rebuild is relatively fast, taking just the time to copy the good drive.

 

RAID 5 does use parity. The problem with it is the time it takes to rebuild arrays involving hdd larger than 1TB, especially using motherboard RAID implementations. It can literally take days. While a rebuild is taking place the array is in a very fragile state. Until the rebuild completes, any hard error kills the entire array with total loss of data.

 

If the cost of a RAID 1 hard drive is too much, why bother with RAID at all? If budget is that important, don't bother with RAID. But ask the client to consider the cost to the companies of an hour of downtime. Even in small companies this usually approaches four figures.

 

RAID is not backup and whether or not RAID is used, the server will need daily backups. Preferably to an external storage unit.

 

[andreajl]

Thanks; I didn't consider that point and I'll bring it up.