Hello everybody!
As a new member I'd like to thank everyone for making this community so great. Thank you!
I've been lurking on this forum for some time now but never bothered registering as I've used it primarily to gather information for my first server build. I haven't been able to contribute so much as I am very new to server builds. Server hardware is not really my strong side. I've worked with IT for ten years, currently employed as a Windows Server technician. Meaning I've only worked on OS and software level. We have a separate department that maintain our server hardware. Meaning I have little to no experience at all regarding server hardware. I have however built workstations since my teenage years. The reason for registering now is because I feel I really need your help with my first server build at home.
Here's the background and reason for the server build... Me and my wife live in a 3 bedroom apartment. We will extend our family with another member. She is due end of January next year. This means that we have to convert the current computer/hobby room to a bedroom. The result being we have to move my PC to our bedroom. We find this solution not so good. The PC is quite large and even though I've replaced all the fans with less noisy ones we find the noise to be too much for having it in our bedroom. My solution to this is to move it to our rather large walk-in closet and turn it to a more of a "pure" server. At present time it is running the following:
The system is not that old either. It was built early spring this year. Here are the hardware specifications:
So here's what I was thinking of doing with the current hardware...
I know that some, or maybe even all of you, are already thinking... The hardware above is not pure server hardware, I know. At first I was thinking of buying completely new server hardware, install all the necessary goodies as Plex etc. and just shut down the main PC in the bedroom when we feel like it. However when I was adding up the numbers for the new server hardware I felt it would be too expensive. The current hardware is relatively new and powerful and it would be a waste to "just" use it as a normal PC and not run VMs, Plex etc. Basically it all comes down to economics. In time the above hardware will be outdated and would then be changed to "real" server hardware.
So my questions and thoughts regarding this is:
If the answers to the above questions are yes, I would also have to invest in extra NICs and RAID controller(s). The onboard NIC does not work so well with WS2K12. This brings up new questions:
Long first post... I apologize for this. Any suggestions, comments or feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
As a new member I'd like to thank everyone for making this community so great. Thank you!
I've been lurking on this forum for some time now but never bothered registering as I've used it primarily to gather information for my first server build. I haven't been able to contribute so much as I am very new to server builds. Server hardware is not really my strong side. I've worked with IT for ten years, currently employed as a Windows Server technician. Meaning I've only worked on OS and software level. We have a separate department that maintain our server hardware. Meaning I have little to no experience at all regarding server hardware. I have however built workstations since my teenage years. The reason for registering now is because I feel I really need your help with my first server build at home.
Here's the background and reason for the server build... Me and my wife live in a 3 bedroom apartment. We will extend our family with another member. She is due end of January next year. This means that we have to convert the current computer/hobby room to a bedroom. The result being we have to move my PC to our bedroom. We find this solution not so good. The PC is quite large and even though I've replaced all the fans with less noisy ones we find the noise to be too much for having it in our bedroom. My solution to this is to move it to our rather large walk-in closet and turn it to a more of a "pure" server. At present time it is running the following:
- Host OS: Windows 8
- Virtualization: VMware Workstation running 3-4 VMs
- VMs: DC / AD / DNS / and other network services (used partly for lab)
- Host is also running Plex Media Server, FTP and serving as a file server on our LAN.
The system is not that old either. It was built early spring this year. Here are the hardware specifications:
- CPU: 1 x Intel Core i7-3770 (no OC) : ARK | Intel® Core™ i7-3770 Processor (8M Cache, up to 3.90 GHz)
- Motherboard: 1 x ASUS P8Z77-V - ATX / Z77 : P8Z77-V - Motherboards - ASUS
- Storage:
- 1 x Samsung 840 Pro Series SSD 256GB SATA3 Basic Kit (MZ-7PD256BW) (for host OS) : 840 Pro Series SSD - 256GB 2.5-inch | Samsung MZ-7PD256
- 1 x Samsung 840 Pro Series SSD 512GB SATA3 Basic Kit (MZ-7PD512BW) (for VMs) : http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/memory-storage/MZ-7PD512BW
- 2 x Western Digital Red 3TB SATA III (IntelliPower / 64MB Cache / WD30EFRX) (configured as RADI1) : Product List[/INDENT]
- Memory: 1 x G.Skill Ares 16GB DDR3 PC-14900 1866MHz CL10 (F3-1866C10D-16GAB) (2x8GB) : Ares - F3-1866C10D-16GAB - G.SKILL DDR3 Memory
- Display adapter: 1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 2GB Windforce 2x OC (GV-N660OC-2GD) : GIGABYTE - Grafikkort - NVIDIA - PCI Express Solution - GeForce 600 Series - GV-N660OC-2GD
- Power: 1 x Corsair 650W Bronze
- Case: Lian-Li PCA71 : Lian-Li Global | PC-A71
So here's what I was thinking of doing with the current hardware...
- Upgrade memory to 32GB.
- Add 2 x Western Digital Red 3TB SATA III HDDs and configure RAID10.
- Add 1 x Samsung 840 Pro Series SSD 512GB SATA3 and configure RAID1. This will host the VMs. RAID1 for redundancy.
- Install Windows Server 2012 as host OS and run Hyper-V as hypervisor.
- Use the WD Reds as storage area, maybe run a VM with OpenNAS or Windows Server 2012 with the File and Storage Services installed.
- Run a VM for Plex Media Server
- Run two VMs as DCs (for redundancy).
- Run a VM with Windows Server 2012 with the RDS role installed. The idea here is to use a thin client in our bedroom instead that connects to RDS.
- That way the wife and me can use it as our main "PC".
I know that some, or maybe even all of you, are already thinking... The hardware above is not pure server hardware, I know. At first I was thinking of buying completely new server hardware, install all the necessary goodies as Plex etc. and just shut down the main PC in the bedroom when we feel like it. However when I was adding up the numbers for the new server hardware I felt it would be too expensive. The current hardware is relatively new and powerful and it would be a waste to "just" use it as a normal PC and not run VMs, Plex etc. Basically it all comes down to economics. In time the above hardware will be outdated and would then be changed to "real" server hardware.
So my questions and thoughts regarding this is:
- Is this doable or am I being optimistic?
- Can the above hardware be used with Windows Server 2012? I've only worked with Windows Server OSs on HP and SuperMicro hardware.
- Is the above hardware powerful enough to achieve this?
If the answers to the above questions are yes, I would also have to invest in extra NICs and RAID controller(s). The onboard NIC does not work so well with WS2K12. This brings up new questions:
- Dual or quad port NICs, which manufacturer and model?
- RAID controller, which to choose?
Long first post... I apologize for this. Any suggestions, comments or feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
