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Home server
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Home server

RedSoxRedSox Member
edited August 2020 in General

I always wanted to buy and set my own server at home. So I think it's time to start. Of course I need something new, don't want to use DDR3, only DDR4 and I want my server to be quiet and consume little power. Energy consumption is an important point, otherwise it makes no sense to pay the same money for a home server if you can buy a VPS. So 3 important goal: quite, low power and of course it should be a lowend product. Any tips and tricks?

There are 2 server configurations in my mind:
First one
Intel CPU on board motherboard (ASRock J4105B-ITX)
128 GB SSD Apacer AS350
RAM SODIMM Crucial 4 GB
2 x 1 TB WD Purple (RAID 1)
Chieftec iArena 350W
Some Mini ITX case
91 watt at full load

Second one
GIGABYTE GA-A320M-H + AMD Athlon 3000G BOX
120 GB SSD M.2 WD Green
RAM Patriot Signature Line 4 GB
2 x 1 TB WD Purple (RAID 1)
Cougar VTC 400W
Some Mini ITX case
116 watt at full load

Just dunno if AMD is good for 24/7? That's the main question for me, cause I always used Intel, never had AMD. The second question is about Intel CPU on board motherboard. Is it effective? Someone experienced it? I need this server for my Plex, Nextcloud and Swizzin. There will be critical files on Nextcloud, that's why I choose RAID 1. Thank you.

Configuration
  1. Which one?16 votes
    1. First
      56.25%
    2. Second
      43.75%
«1

Comments

  • I prefer intel instead of AMD processor.

    Thanked by 1RedSox
  • edited August 2020

    I believe your specification categorized as HTPC not a server.

    I use AMD one and it run flawlessly 24/7, I do restart every two weeks.

    Thanked by 1RedSox
  • RedSoxRedSox Member
    edited August 2020

    @chocolateshirt said: I believe your specification categorized as HTPC not a server.

    I know what HTPC means home theater personal computer. But what's the difference? To be called a server it shoud be put in a rack and has server box instead of ITX? I want my server (or HTPC) working 24/7. Also want that this machine will be available out of local network + I plan host a few sites on it as well but in the future.

    @chocolateshirt said: I use AMD one and it run flawlessly 24/7, I do restart every two weeks.

    Do you do restart in case you just want or it starts working not good after 2 weeks without rebooting?

  • LeviLevi Member

    Home server... For me, raspberry pi is too loud.

  • I use windows on those PC for better stability I just restart every two weeks. If I did not restart sometimes wifi did not work and sometimes windows system taking high cpu while iddle. Restart fix those issues.

  • Are you sure about power usage? I have Asrock Q1900m (celeron j1900) as my homeserver with two hard drives and SSD - on idle it draws about 25W and under full load about 35W so i don't think J4105 would draw any more power than that.

    Thanked by 1RedSox
  • @issei said:
    Are you sure about power usage? I have Asrock Q1900m (celeron j1900) as my homeserver with two hard drives and SSD - on idle it draws about 25W and under full load about 35W so i don't think J4105 would draw any more power than that.

    PC configurator says so

    2 x 1 TB WD Purple 12 watt + 12 watt = 24 watt
    SODIMM Crucial 4GB 5 watt
    ASRock J4105B-ITX50 50 watt
    128GB SSD Apacer AS350 12 watt

  • @RedSox said:

    @issei said:
    Are you sure about power usage? I have Asrock Q1900m (celeron j1900) as my homeserver with two hard drives and SSD - on idle it draws about 25W and under full load about 35W so i don't think J4105 would draw any more power than that.

    PC configurator says so

    2 x 1 TB WD Purple 12 watt + 12 watt = 24 watt
    SODIMM Crucial 4GB 5 watt
    ASRock J4105B-ITX50 50 watt
    128GB SSD Apacer AS350 12 watt

    Your SSD draw a lot of power compared with my HDD

  • @RedSox said:

    @issei said:
    Are you sure about power usage? I have Asrock Q1900m (celeron j1900) as my homeserver with two hard drives and SSD - on idle it draws about 25W and under full load about 35W so i don't think J4105 would draw any more power than that.

    PC configurator says so

    2 x 1 TB WD Purple 12 watt + 12 watt = 24 watt
    SODIMM Crucial 4GB 5 watt
    ASRock J4105B-ITX50 50 watt
    128GB SSD Apacer AS350 12 watt

    I think those power figures are deliberate overestimates, to ensure over rather than under specified power and cooling. I have a very similar setup to @issei (Q1900-ITX quad core J1900, 1 SSD, 1 HDD spinning, 2 HDD usually spun down) it draws ~40W under load.

    12W for a 1TB WD Purple is like treble what WD claim, and 5W for a 4GB SO-Dimm ?

  • @cochon said: I think those power figures are deliberate overestimates

    They are maximum draw figures like for all electrical specifications.

  • He is building home server, not under bed server :D

    @LTniger said:
    Home server... For me, raspberry pi is too loud.

  • have yoi looked at the latest gen hp microservers they come with a pentium but yoj can change cpu fir a xeon

  • Athlon 3000g will consume around 25w idle.
    If you want more, go with 200ge, it will idle under 20w.

    The celeron/pentium J series is 12w, but less power to performance.
    If you need the ultimate power efficiency go with an ARM board.

  • @chocolateshirt said:
    I use windows on those PC for better stability I just restart every two weeks. If I did not restart sometimes wifi did not work and sometimes windows system taking high cpu while iddle. Restart fix those issues.

    If your server's network connection is wireless, you're doing it wrong.

  • serv_eeserv_ee Member
    edited August 2020

    "I want a quiet home server"

    Most of them sound like Boeing jet engines.

    But yea like someone already said you're thinking of HTPC

    Thanked by 1TimboJones
  • king8654king8654 Member
    edited August 2020

    Assume purely direct stream for plex, so either will work. Just make sure to disable transcoding since even 1-2 will eat up your resources, unless going intel with igpu/quicksync or amd with vaapi/ffmpeg, and obviously plex pass

  • @TimboJones said:

    @chocolateshirt said:
    I use windows on those PC for better stability I just restart every two weeks. If I did not restart sometimes wifi did not work and sometimes windows system taking high cpu while iddle. Restart fix those issues.

    If your server's network connection is wireless, you're doing it wrong.

    Nope I never mentioned server, just a HTPC with less wired things..

  • t0mt0m Member

    And what about a Synology Diskstation? DS220+ or DS920+

  • @chocolateshirt said:

    @TimboJones said:

    @chocolateshirt said:
    I use windows on those PC for better stability I just restart every two weeks. If I did not restart sometimes wifi did not work and sometimes windows system taking high cpu while iddle. Restart fix those issues.

    If your server's network connection is wireless, you're doing it wrong.

    Nope I never mentioned server, just a HTPC with less wired things..

    Same boat.

    Thanked by 1chocolateshirt
  • the j4105b boards sips very little power
    i use an odroid h2 at home, the ups tells me 9w when only the router is on, once i login to desktop, the value goes up 3-4w, THATS it! and in actual use like youtube etc, it goes up to like 9w. 24" ips monitor takes like 15w. the H2 has 16gb ram in it and an eMMC drive and a nvme in it.

  • How about this? Costs less than 100 bucks.

    Kllisre X79 LGA 2011
    Intel Xeon E5 2620 V2 SR1AN
    Kllisre DDR3 ECC x2 4GB

  • Gamma17Gamma17 Member
    edited August 2020

    Be careful with Chinese lga2011/lga2011-3 boards. They are fun to play with, they also work well if you choose wisely and have realistic expectations, but there are extreme amounts of junk out there too. Stuff like radiators not touching PCH or cpu power, half-working bios, lack of basic protections like usb fuses, power components overtemp and overcurrent etc is very common (are you going to willingly leave stuff that is pretty much guaranteed to catch fire if something goes wrong on 24/7 at home?). It will also be pretty power hungry.

    I myself used x79-zd3, 4*8ram and e5-2650v2 for home NAS (which is used more like cold storage than actual NAS, NOT on 24/7), but honestly amount of work that had to be done to make it work as i wanted made me think that buying something like hp microserver would have been much better idea.

    As a side note - PCH on this boards is NOT x79 but some random stuff from H61 to B75 and such. Mine turned out to have Q65.

    If you want something small and power efficient better look at various "mini pc" they make, there is pretty fun stuff with multiple LAN-s, low-power cpu-s and pretty nice passively cooled cases.

    Thanked by 1RedSox
  • You want 8x Delta Screamers in your house? I had a rack server in my closet at an apartment building so imagine the fun with that..

  • @stefeman said:
    You want 8x Delta Screamers in your house? I had a rack server in my closet at an apartment building so imagine the fun with that..

    My home PC is quite silent even with old HDD from 00x :)
    So the server must be silent too... at least I hope so :p

    @Gamma17 are you talking about all X79 LGA 2011? There are 2 well-know manufacturers as far as I know: huanan and kllsire. Also heard about Atermiter but there are plenty of bad reviews.

    Btw, what mini pc are you talking about? Never heard of chinese mini pc.

  • I have my own homelab but last week I sold it. It's good for experience but it's not good for your ear. And olso vote for intel.

  • MrEdMrEd Member

    I would exchange the WD purple disks to anything but purple. They are ment for CCTV, not random IO.

  • shafireshafire Member
    edited August 2020

    @LTniger said:
    Home server... For me, raspberry pi is too loud.

    Too noisy! :smile:

  • Gamma17Gamma17 Member
    edited August 2020

    @Gamma17 are you talking about all X79 LGA 2011? There are 2 well-know manufacturers as far as I know: huanan and kllsire. Also heard about Atermiter but there are plenty of bad reviews.

    Btw, what mini pc are you talking about? Never heard of chinese mini pc.

    As far as i know huananzhi makes their own stuff, everyone else including kllisre just sell stuff manufactured by some unknown factory, often differently branded boards are actually the same.
    Even huananzhi being basically "the best" and most expensive manufacturer of this stuff still does all the things i mentioned. You still have to remove all the heatsinks to make sure they are actually making contact, potentially replace the pads and still have to be careful with total lack of protection (fuses/short circuit, otp, ocp etc).

    All this boards share few common things - like "x79" is just a way to identify platform, there are no x79 chipsets used, what you get is random.
    Some of them can also have dual channel memory instead of quad channel, even if they have 4 slots and are advertised as "4 channel".
    Some can have issues with memory slots (was particularly common at some point for rather expensive huanan "deluxe" board).
    Some can have no sata3 while it is advertised because of chipset used (which is random, so if you get h61 - no sata3 for you).
    Almost all if not all boards have non-functional sleep/suspend.

    For memory - be prepared to get "pre-overclocked" modules with reprogrammed SPD and actual chips being lower frequency than advertised. Sometimes not even capable of running at advertised frequency. Also be prepared to get repaired modules with replaced chips (often ones from another manufacturer, like get one hynix chip on samsung stick)

    Also in terms of noise this are just desktop boards, can be as loud or as silent as any PC, though for safety reasons it would be a good idea to ensure some ventilation for cpu power subsystem.

    That said i am not saying that the stuff is necessarily bad. It is cheap and offers a lot for the price. Just be prepared to deal with all the "quirks". Also i would not leave the stuff running unsupervised at home, house fires are not fun.

    As for "mini pc" this should get you started. There are few different manufacturers and platforms up to pretty modern low-power laptop ones. One thing to pay attention to when buying - make sure that CPU actually makes contact with the case, otherwise it will have issues with heat and/or have some terrible noisy fan.

    Thanked by 1RedSox
  • @MrEd said:
    I would exchange the WD purple disks to anything but purple. They are ment for CCTV, not random IO.

    People use the WD Purple on their HTPC for Plex. What's wrong with that? I mean could you give me some examples based on something? Thank you.

  • MrEdMrEd Member

    @RedSox said:

    @MrEd said:
    I would exchange the WD purple disks to anything but purple. They are ment for CCTV, not random IO.

    People use the WD Purple on their HTPC for Plex. What's wrong with that? I mean could you give me some examples based on something? Thank you.

    HTPC is for watching videos, thats not random IO. Home server on the other hand - multiple VPSs, each using HDD in random places. I just warn, using purple for server might be your bottleneck.

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