NAS and Lightweight Server Build Planning

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ejecthawk

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May 18, 2019
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I am looking to build a new server to replace my Dell R510 with. When I first got the server about 5 years ago, I was doing a lot of virtualization and messing around with it as a lab, but in recent years I don't spend as much time doing so. I got the server while in school and am now employed in the field, so it sits pretty much idle 24x7.

My issues with the server first and foremost are power, heat, space. I've got 8x3.5 7,200RPM drives, a pair of L5630s, and 8x4GB DDR3 sticks. The server will typically idle between 170-190W and with about 25-50% load will hit 200-220W. 100% load will get it to 300W. With the power is also obviously the noise, I use a script to downplay the fans but the server sits in my office and is still the loudest thing by far. I also have a small 4 post rack in the office which is a bit unsightly and would be nice to get rid of; my switch, router, UPS are all smaller and could easily fit on a small table next to my desk.

My use case is to serve as my Plex server and as a NAS for general files. I direct stream in house and don't have a 4K TV. I do share the server with a friend or two and do externally access a bit myself. I'm really looking at maybe 2 transcodes max at a time. I do run a small VM for my PiHole server, but that's not much of a load.

I think I'll stay with Windows as my OS; my workflows are all built around this (backups, hoarding Linux ISOs, PiHole, etc). I'll consolidate down to 2x10-14TB drive. I'm thinking of using Stablebit to balance and duplicate the more important files. I have a good backup regiment (2x portable drives switched weekly for critical data, 1x portable drive updated quartly or so for less critical data). Having all the disks I have in RAID doesn't help with the power, noise, expense and I don't need high availability.

Not counting disks I'd ideally like to be in the $500-$600 range as that's what I estimate the power savings to be at over 5 years. The new disk cost I'll look to recoup somewhat in selling the old gear.

I've narrowed it down to a couple of options really (ignoring boot and storage disks for easy comparison):

HP Microserver Gen10
  • AMD x3421 Processor (5k Passmark)
  • 16GB DDR4 ECC Unregistered
  • 4x3.5 Bays
  • About $450
DIY - No IPMI
  • Intel i3-8100 (8k Passmark)
  • Asrock H370M (Dual 1GB NICs)
  • 16GB DDR4 Non ECC
  • InWin MS04 (4x3.5 Bays)
  • About $435
Now here I think the DIY is a no brainer. I don't need ECC for my use case and the unregistered RAM isn't cheap. The HP does have an additional expansion slot going for it and uses slightly less power Though I think the DIY is the better use of cash with more performance and the iGPU even with 1 less expansion slot. I don't have 10G in the environment now, so I consider at least 2x1G connections on board mandatory in an ITX form factor.

The biggest con with either of those builds is no IPMI so I looked into almost the exact same build with it:

DIY - IPMI
  • Intel i3-8100 (8k Passmark)
  • Supermicro X11SCL-IF (Dual 1GB NICs, IPMI)
  • 16GB DDR4 ECC
  • Supermicro 721TQ-250B (4x3.5 Bays)
  • About $675
I know having IPMI would be nice but it's hard to justify it at a near $250 premium. Granted the ECC memory and Supermicro quality are also a benefit, but at a 33% premium.

I'd love to hear some thoughts on the plan. I think right now I'm leaning towards the DIY no IPMI route, but I'm not fully decided. I could also entertain other ideas in a smallish (small mid tower or smaller) and low power (50-75W idle) form factor around the $500 mark.
 

ThisPageLeftBlank

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Apr 29, 2019
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Dell frequently runs a deal on the T30 (mini-tower) for $299 which runs cool, quiet, and draws few watts from the wall. It might be worth taking a look at; they’ll run the standard deal again for Memorial Day I would imagine.

The T30 ships with a Xeon E3-1225v5 and 8GB ECC memory along with a throw-or-give-away 1TB hard drive. Cooling is very basic with just one rear exhaust fan but I’ve run one full of WD Reds (it’ll fit 4x3.5) without issue. The specs are starting to look dated but it’s not far off from the i3-8100 at around 7800 Passmark and supposedly it will accept non-ECC memory too, though I haven’t tested that personally. Plenty of people will buy the memory it ships with on eBay if you don’t want to pay extra for a matching ECC module, which would offset the cost of buying the less expensive non-ECC DIMMs to get to your target of 16GB.

You can use AMT to gain a lot of IPMI-like functionality with the T30 also. Using something like Mesh Commander (Open Software Projects), you get KVM access for free, as well as the ability to power on or off the machine, reset, mount virtual media, etc. The hardware also comes with a 1yr 5x10 NBD parts warranty unlike a DIY build where you might need to wait on RMAs and such.

Again, the specs aren’t cutting edge but in my opinion, it’s still a decent bang-for-your-buck and it ticks a lot of boxes. Just something else to consider...I’m sure others will chime in with some ideas as well!
 
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ejecthawk

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May 18, 2019
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Thanks for the suggestion, I came across that server in my search as well. I think by time you get another 8GB DIMM you're pretty close to the same price point.

So for pluses you get the ECC, more PCIe slots, and AMT (which is interesting, I wasn't aware of this). On minuses it's larger, older iGPU, drive access isn't as nice.

I think I'm leaning towards a smaller form factor with the only real con being less expansion slots, but I'm definitely going to keep this in my mind.
 

Marsh

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May 12, 2013
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Welcome to our hangout.

If you keep reading Great deal forum here.
You would find random great deal
Example:

Supermicro 721TQ-250B (4x3.5 Bays) sale around $75
Xeon-d 4 core board range from low $100 to $200 , more dollars for 8 core board.
RAM with ebay coupon is down to $55 per 16gb ecc stick.

Total: $75 + $200 + $55 x 2 ( 32gb ram ) = ~ $385

It would qualified low power and cheap build.

I have no idea what your time line? your location?
The example may not work for you.
 

ejecthawk

New Member
May 18, 2019
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Welcome to our hangout.

If you keep reading Great deal forum here.
You would find random great deal
Example:

Supermicro 721TQ-250B (4x3.5 Bays) sale around $75
Xeon-d 4 core board range from low $100 to $200 , more dollars for 8 core board.
RAM with ebay coupon is down to $55 per 16gb ecc stick.

Total: $75 + $200 + $55 x 2 ( 32gb ram ) = ~ $385

It would qualified low power and cheap build.

I have no idea what your time line? your location?
The example may not work for you.
Thanks! I've been reading the main site for a few years now and occasionally hit up the forums, but only lurked.

I looked in the deals section, are those ones you've referenced fairly old? Couldn't find much recent on the Supermicro 721 case and really the only recent Xeon D post I see is an mATX board for like $300ish.

Biggest downside to the Xeon D is no iGPU for transcosing, but the right setup could definitely be a better option than the i3.

I'm in the US so should be pretty well set for a lot of the deals. And no real time frame, I could jump on something today if a great deal came up or I could wait a couple months.
 

Marsh

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May 12, 2013
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My memory is fading , must be getting old.
https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/supermicro-cse-721tq-250b-80-at-newegg.21249/

The price for Supmericro case was posted July 2018 for $80.
I purchased 4 case during the newegg sale using 2 x accounts and address.

I posted the deal myself, couldn't believed it is been 10 months already.

There were various xeon-d boards in the forsale section by member.
I remembered one forsale theread, $200 for Gigabyte xeon-d board , seller had 2 boards. I already owned more than 5 xeon-d system, I hesitated and spent few hours to think about the purchase, then both boards were sold.

There was a deal with Datto 8 core xeon-d board for about $200 in Great Deals section.

For Plex , Emby transcoding , I been using Quadro P400 ( $50-$60 each ) along with unlocked driver.
Transcoding 4 x streams no issue.
 

Marsh

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May 12, 2013
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Peanuthead

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Jun 12, 2015
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What about something like a Supermicro X10 mATX setup? More slots, more RAM, etc. while keeping near the same form factor/overall size.
 

ejecthawk

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May 18, 2019
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I'll keep an eye out on the deals thread, hopefully something good comes up. Those U-NAS for $33 were a steal, I've seen those cases but at the same price point I think the InWin is a nicer case from what I've seen.

On the thoughts of the mATX setup, I'm definitely open to it but it's hard to find a case that's not giant and fits 4x3.5 drives. If I have 2x1GB onboard I should really be fine with networking. My desktop is SFF with a GPU in my only PCIe slot, so only 1GB even pushing a file copy at the max from the desktop and streaming a bunch of Plex 2x1GB should be plenty. Should be set for drives with either SATA or M.2. Most likely the use of a PCIe slot would be a GPU for transcoding if necessary down the line. I also want to keep to 4 drives max and 2 sticks of RAM for power reasons and really because that's all I need for what I do with the server.

Edit: Not the best looking case in the world, but the SilverStone TJ08-E looks like the smallest mATX case with 4x3.5 that I can find. Not too bad in size really.
 
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cageek

Active Member
Jun 22, 2018
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According to a user on slickdeals, the Dell T30 mentioned about should be onsale on May 22 with order code PE_T30_12084SE for $299:

Dell Poweredge T30, E3-1225 - $299 - Doorbuster - 5/22 11:00 am ET [slickdeals.net]

I think you could get it, try it for 30 days, and return it if it's too noisy.

Another alternative would be an older used HP Proliant ML310e Gen 8 v2 on ebay with xeon v3's fo $150 to $250. Lot's of configuration options, but I don't know about support. Sporatic reports of noise fixed by software upgrades, but most people said it was quiet.
 

ejecthawk

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May 18, 2019
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Been going back and forth on this and I'm almost leaning back towards what I started at, the Microserver. I found it on Amazon for $299.99 with free shipping, $50 or so less than I was finding it before. Add a 240G SSD for $25 and pickup another 8GB UDIMM on eBay f0r about $75 if I need it and I should be set for $400.

I looked into the NIC drivers on the H730m and they seem non-existent without some hacking to get running on Windows Server, it would be nice to not deal with messing around on that.

Sure I lose about 3k passmark, but if I need transcoding power down the line I can add a GPU and still have a slot for a NIC. The review on the main site makes me want those power numbers.

I've seen the $99 AMD APU option in the great deals and thought about throwing that in the InWin MS04, but then you're at the same price point.

There was a stellar deal on a Datto NAS built from a U-NAS case, but by time I saw it they were sold out.

I looked into some of the other suggested server grade boards, but honestly a Java KVM is about as useful to me as no KVM and that's what a lot of those older systems use. I have a Chromebook laptop so no Java and my desktop sits right next to my server.
 

ejecthawk

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May 18, 2019
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Closing the loop here on this one; I did end up picking up a MicroServer for $299. I threw in a boot SSD and a couple adapters to get me to around $335 on the cost of the server, to this point 8GB has been enough so I haven't thrown in another stick.

I paired this with 2x10T shucked EasyStores pooled with Drive Pool; most of my volume of data is media that doesn't need to be highly available the documents and photos that are are 2x duplicated. I have an offsite rotated backup for the important data that is rotated weekly and then a large backup for everything else I update maybe once a quarter.

Performance is about what I expected, not a work horse server but it does everything I need. If I need more transcode power down the line I'll drop in a GPU. Disk speeds are actually much faster compared to my old RAID6 setup due to the write penalty. My office is much quieter, gear is taking up less space, and I'm using less power so I'm pretty happy with the setup.
 

ejecthawk

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May 18, 2019
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Not exactly, the model you linked has the X3216 CPU which is lower tier option. I bought the model with the X3421, which is the highest tier option.

4C, 3.4Ghz (4928 Passkmark) vs 2C, 3.0Ghz (2366 Passmark)

It looks like the price on Amazon has gone up by about $50 though.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DFPDRV8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Unless your requirements were super low on the hardware side, I'd think the X3216 model would be a poor choice.
 
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