1st Time server build

Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.

Creaky

New Member
Aug 12, 2018
6
0
1
I'm looking to build a server for a homelab for the 1st time, have lots of questions. I currently have the following which I'm looking to replace or use along side.

1. QNAP TS453-A
2. WD White Light
3. Raspberry Pi3b+
4. 15u 19" 450mm deep data cabinet, everything is currently housed in here

Looking for some advise on case, motherboard & CPU to use. I do have a couple of things laying around I can use such as

1. 32GBDominator Platinum DDR4 memory
2. 2.0TB WD Red drive
3. 500GB WD Caviar Blue


The server will be used for a number of things such as

1. Plex
2. Web server for testing web sites, will need php & MySQL
3. Pihole equivalent, currently runs on the Pi3b+
4. Number of VM's for different OS's

If it makes a difference I'm based in the UK. Any advice greatly received.
 

Patrick

Administrator
Staff member
Dec 21, 2010
12,511
5,792
113
Do you want to get rid of the Pi as a pihole device?

Some like to keep those as physical devices.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Creaky

chinesestunna

Active Member
Jan 23, 2015
621
191
43
56
I went through a few builds with NAS, Plex and VM testing as primary objectives. Will this be a 24x7 box? Have you considered running a hypervisor such as ESXi or Proxmox on it and virtualizing everything?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Creaky

Creaky

New Member
Aug 12, 2018
6
0
1
Do you want to get rid of the Pi as a pihole device?

Some like to keep those as physical devices.
Pi will be staying for a while, pihole is working well so no need to change that yet.

I went through a few builds with NAS, Plex and VM testing as primary objectives. Will this be a 24x7 box? Have you considered running a hypervisor such as ESXi or Proxmox on it and virtualizing everything?
It will be on 24x7 and hoping to virtualise everything. Just need to get the stuff bought and built.
 

WANg

Well-Known Member
Jun 10, 2018
1,302
967
113
46
New York, NY
I'm looking to build a server for a homelab for the 1st time, have lots of questions. I currently have the following which I'm looking to replace or use along side.

1. QNAP TS453-A
2. WD White Light
3. Raspberry Pi3b+
4. 15u 19" 450mm deep data cabinet, everything is currently housed in here

Looking for some advise on case, motherboard & CPU to use. I do have a couple of things laying around I can use such as

1. 32GBDominator Platinum DDR4 memory
2. 2.0TB WD Red drive
3. 500GB WD Caviar Blue


The server will be used for a number of things such as

1. Plex
2. Web server for testing web sites, will need php & MySQL
3. Pihole equivalent, currently runs on the Pi3b+
4. Number of VM's for different OS's

If it makes a difference I'm based in the UK. Any advice greatly received.
Well, I think the next question to ask is...how much is your budget and how do you plan to deal with the noise/power usage?
Plex will probably be your CPU/GPU hog, the web server will probably be transient loads (isolated in a VM), PiHole you can probably run isolated as a VM (using QEmu or whatnot), or you can retain as-is. Now, if I have to slap something together, I'll look for something that allows me to run 24/7 while allowing maximum reuse of whatever you have while being easy on electricity or noise - maybe something like an off-lease SFF desktop. I personally like the HP EliteDesk 800 SFF series (4 Desktop DDR4 SODIMM slots, so up to 64GB RAM, a PCIe 3.0 x16 slot, an x4 slot, 2 x1 slots, 2 3.5" HDDs) as it gives you the ability to re-use all those components and not break the bank. If you get ESXi or Proxmox going, you can passthrough an AMD Radeon and use that for Plex. The other VMs you can probably run alongside, and if data availability is a concern, the Qnap can be used as an iSCSI storage device, or for mounting files off an SMB mount.

You can expect to pay around 300 pounds UK for an off-lease ED800 G2 on eBay, which is not too bad, I guess.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Creaky

Creaky

New Member
Aug 12, 2018
6
0
1
I'll take a look at that, would prefer to keep it rackmounted though as I have that setup already.

Also need to keep this as quiet as possible due to it's location.
 

chinesestunna

Active Member
Jan 23, 2015
621
191
43
56
Pi will be staying for a while, pihole is working well so no need to change that yet.
It will be on 24x7 and hoping to virtualise everything. Just need to get the stuff bought and built.
As others have pointed out, it's depends on your budget, tolerance for failure/downtime etc. I started with reusing my consumer hardware for a while but with ESXi hardware support was major pain in butt, esp. if you need PCIe passthrough (VT-d). Used server gear is fairly cheap in US that's a bit older but when I switched I'll never go back, especially if rackmount that's not in same room and running headless, IPMI/BMC remote management pays for itself with first use, it's so awesome being able to manage a system completely remotely including BIOS config/update and OS installs.
Perhaps a older 4U barebone server and move your builds into it?
 

Creaky

New Member
Aug 12, 2018
6
0
1
As others have pointed out, it's depends on your budget, tolerance for failure/downtime etc. I started with reusing my consumer hardware for a while but with ESXi hardware support was major pain in butt, esp. if you need PCIe passthrough (VT-d). Used server gear is fairly cheap in US that's a bit older but when I switched I'll never go back, especially if rackmount that's not in same room and running headless, IPMI/BMC remote management pays for itself with first use, it's so awesome being able to manage a system completely remotely including BIOS config/update and OS installs.
Perhaps a older 4U barebone server and move your builds into it?
Cabinet is only small so 3u would be max and short depth, budget is around £700-800. As a first time build planning on starting small then building up the more I use it