Snazy's Home Server Setup

[snazy2000]

Hey Everyone, I have been here for while and have seen so many amazing threads about peoples setup's and I thought I would finally share myn! I mainly use my servers for testing new software and hosting my media for home on my storage server.

I recently got a new 18U rack from ebay for £50!

Current Specs

Netgear GS724Tv3 24 Port Gigabit Switch

Raritan KX116 16 Port KVM Over IP Switch

1U Custom Router -
Case - SC-13250
CPU / Motherboard - GIGABYTE GA-E350N-USB3 (Max 18w)
Ram - 8GB Ram
Hard Drive - 30GB SSD
Cards - Intel Dual Port Gigabit Nic
OS - Sophos UTM Home Edition

Vigor 120 Modem

4U Custom File Server
Case - 4U Generic Rack Case (With Rails from XCase)
CPU - I3 4130
Motherboard - MSI Z87-G55
Ram - 24GB
OS - Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials
OS Drive - Kingston 60GB mSATA drive
Media Raid - 5 - 1TB Drives
Other Hard Drives - 2 x 500GB, 1 x 750GB, 1 x 1TB

2 x Dell CS24-NV7
CPU - AMD 2373 EE 2.1Ghz
Ram - 32GB ECC
OS - Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter
OS Drive - 1 x 60GB SSD
VM Drive - 2 x 1TB (Raid 1)
Cards - Dell Perc6i

I've just ordered a new file server case today the Xcase RM 420 Gen 2! Should be here tomorrow and I will post pictures of the build when it arrives!

The two Dell servers are both hyper-v hosts, i'm planning on having the storage server as the vm storage and get some 10GB Brocade 1020 cards to link them all together.

Any questions please ask! I will get some more pictures soon

 

[Jeggs101]

Ever think of moving to 2 larger drives for the file server? You'd save a lot of power.

 

[snazy2000]

Ive never thought of it no i would lile to get bigger drives but the cost i cant warrent at the moment as i already have drives

 

[HellDiverUK]

Can't help but think you could run everything off the i3 and save on the power consumption of the Dell - I'm sure it's not easy on juice.

 

[MiniKnight]

Can't help but think you could run everything off the i3 and save on the power consumption of the Dell - I'm sure it's not easy on juice.

Some people like having more physical nodes as a lab. With the EE processors even though older they are probably not terrible power wise. Older gear is cheaper so I can see it.

@snazy2000 I might look into larger drives too. You have <8TB which means you could probably consolidate down to two 4TB or 6TB drives. You'd save maybe 4-5w/ drive so 7 drives saved x 4w each = 28w. It does cost more up front but may be worth looking at.

 

[snazy2000]

On average the whole rack pulls about 300 watts which really isnt to bad for what i use it for

One of the dell nodes is currently used for my final project at uni and will be located in my uni's computer lab as im a computer science student. Once i bring the server back home i will be using them both as failover cluster. I got the dells for £150 each so i really cant complain about power as has saved me lot in terms of buying whole new hard ware specially if you look at price of ram atm would be nearly same amount as the server :/

 

[TangoWhiskey9]

You have a nice setup for a student! Subscribed for pictures.

 

[snazy2000]

Built my new file server today in new case, love it!!

Next thing on list is a new raid card and then start filling storage with my media

 

[snazy2000]

Will take some pics of the full system tommorow, forgot to take some!

 

[snazy2000]

Can anyone recommend a hard drive seller thats cheappppp in the UK?

 

[TallGraham]

Built my new file server today in new case, love it!!

Next thing on list is a new raid card and then start filling storage with my media

Love the case. Very jealous. That is the replacement for my one and has USB3 on the front too

 

[snazy2000]

I love it! Well worth the money!! Will last me years to come which was the plan!!

 

[snazy2000]

Heres few pictures of the new server.

Only currently using two rows of drives as need new raid card, and had issue with one of the backplanes but getting that sorted

 

[TallGraham]

Can anyone recommend a hard drive seller thats cheappppp in the UK?

Depends what drives you are after really. Different resellers all seem to do one manufacturer cheaper. I got 2.5" 1TB WD RED drives for my server. Only because I wanted to keep both noise and power really low. I probably could have got 3TB or maybe even 4TB 3.5" drives for the same money.

 

[echo87]

Love the case. Very jealous. That is the replacement for my one and has USB3 on the front too

What make and model is this? Looks awesome!

 

[snazy2000]

What make and model is this? Looks awesome!

Its the X-Case RM 420 Gen II its a lovely case and its solid!

 

[jimmy_1969]

Looks very nice. How noisy would you rate that X-Case? Got my gear in open living space so noise levels are always an issue.

 

[Kristian]

After removing the rear exhaust fans and swapping the stock 120mm fans imho its still a little too loud for open living space.
(Of course it depends on what 120mm fans you choose. But: open space quite will probably rund your hdds at temperatures you are not comfortable with.

 

[snazy2000]

I used to have myn in dining room which and never used to hear it but i guess in the raxk that kills some noice but im used to some noise of servers so doesnt bother me lol. My partner never complains so cant be to bad