Help me build a lab server.

Gerr · January 5, 2018

I need to build a lab server on the cheap. It doesn't need to be powerful, but I do need at least 8 cores and at least 32GB RAM as I will be doing a lot of virtualization with it, and would prefer 48-64 GB if possible. It won't be turned on except when I need it, so only a single PSU is needed. I have spare hdd's, so don't need those. Would also like a system that doesn't sound like a turbine engine when turned on. I would also prefer a tower system vs a rackmount system, but either would work.

My initial thoughts would be to get an old Xeon system from the Sandy or Ivy bridge generation and get a motherboard that uses registered DDR2/DDR3 RAM as it's cheap. I would also like to keep the total cost at or under $500 if possible, but could go a little higher if required.

Any suggestion on parts or a used system?

Lord Nicoll · January 5, 2018

4 minutes ago, Gerr said:

I need to build a lab server on the cheap. It doesn't need to be powerful, but I do need at least 8 cores and at least 32GB RAM as I will be doing a lot of virtualization with it, and would prefer 48-64 GB if possible. It won't be turned on except when I need it, so only a single PSU is needed. I have spare hdd's, so don't need those. Would also like a system that doesn't sound like a turbine engine when turned on. I would also prefer a tower system vs a rackmount system, but either would work.

My initial thoughts would be to get an old Xeon system from the Sandy or Ivy bridge generation and get a motherboard that uses registered DDR2/DDR3 RAM as it's cheap. I would also like to keep the total cost at or under $500 if possible, but could go a little higher if required.

Any suggestion on parts or a used system?

Er, Sandybridge is DDR3, so you'd DDR3 for that. I know there are some cheapish 8 core Sandybridge Xeons available now, have a look on ebay and see if there's any cheapish single socket LGA 2011 server boards.

Lurick · January 5, 2018

Dell R610 or R710, depending on what you can find.

leadeater · January 5, 2018

LGA2011 would be my recommended generation to aim for now days but might still be slightly expensive, LGA1366 is fine but really aging now.

KrYpToCiD · January 6, 2018

23 hours ago, leadeater said:

LGA2011 would be my recommended generation to aim for now days but might still be slightly expensive, LGA1366 is fine but really aging now.

On 1/5/2018 at 8:08 PM, Lord Nicoll said:

Er, Sandybridge is DDR3, so you'd DDR3 for that. I know there are some cheapish 8 core Sandybridge Xeons available now, have a look on ebay and see if there's any cheapish single socket LGA 2011 server boards.

I agree with them but I want to add something, right now you can find on eBay a lot of Xeon E5 .... v3 ES. They are cheap, yes but they shouldn't be for sale because they are engineering sample and might randomly die. I saw few of them at 100-250$ tho (100$ was 8 core and 250$ was something like 12 core).

leadeater · January 6, 2018

10 minutes ago, KrYpToCiD said:

I agree with them but I want to add something, right now you can find on eBay a lot of Xeon E5 .... v3 ES. They are cheap, yes but they shouldn't be for sale because they are engineering sample and might randomly die. I saw few of them at 100-250$ tho (100$ was 8 core and 250$ was something like 12 core).

Problem with that isn't the CPU cost it's the cost of the rest of the system. You can get complete Dell servers for $200-$350 with ram and dual PSU etc.

Edit:

It's a good option if you're wanting to spend a bit more and get something with lower E5v3 CPUs and replace them, or no CPUs.

KrYpToCiD · January 6, 2018

Just now, leadeater said:

Problem with that isn't the CPU cost it's the cost of the rest of the system. You can get complete Dell servers for $200-$350 with ram and dual PSU etc.

It was just an warning for those eBay xeons nothing more, nothing less, and yeah it will be better to use a complete server.