Quiet, cheap, reliable servers - what do you suggest?

[katit]

I know title is very vague, I will explain.
Currently I use powerful workstation as company server. It's got i7-2700K CPU and 32G RAM.
It runs 4 VMs, has enough power for what we need. One VM is dev box with SQL 2012, IIS, etc. Other VMs is Linux with Asterix, SVN, etc. It works great for us.

I want to replace this with rack-mounted server that will have at least that much CPU "power" and I'd like more RAM if possible. 64 will do, more is better. Idea is to run more VMs for testing and development.

I want to get 2 identical servers. It is crucial to not have downtime and my idea is to have 2nd server just sitting in a rack. If first one goes down for any reason (PSU, RAM, LAN, MB, CPU, etc) - I'd just replace HDD and go. We can use 2nd one for testing, etc. But I need 2 identical ones so main server can be up within hour or so.

Soo.. Obviously we are looking for used stuff. But we don't care about power consumption, it's free included in office lease We do need it to be somewhat quiet. We do need at least as much power or more if possible. We will be using SSDs (consumer) only and don't need 12 of them, 4-5 drives will be plenty.

Any suggestions on what kind of servers we should look?

 

[T_Minus]

Are you looking for pre-built or parts to DIY a server?

 

[katit]

I don't know yet. Point is - I need x2 of them, identical ones. I don't want spare parts, etc. I want if I see problem, it went down, etc - just swap drive from one to another and boot it up. This is idea.. Don't know how real, but should be doable, no?

For home I built low power consumption server on 4U Supermicro enclosure. For office - I'm not sure I want to build with new components. I don't know what is available today from eBay as pre-built and for how much. Key is - need to be quiet and affordable. And at least or more powerful than what we have now. And 64Gb. I imagine couple year old servers like this should be available...

 

[T_Minus]

You can just as easily build your own with identical parts as buy used pre-built... you just need to decide which route you want to go, let us know, and suggestions can be made.

You're either going to have to go very new to stay with Intel E3 line to get > performance and >32GB capacity or jump to E5. With current pricing I would jump to E5-2670 single or dual CPU will be much more available processing power than you have now, and RAM (RDIMM) is super cheap to get you to or above 64GB

 

[katit]

Is it correct that I see those E5-2670 around $60 used? I assume they should be better at that original MSRP
And if I go that route, what MB would you suggest? I think one with onboard everything and IPMI is what I'd like so I don't have to deal with RAID and LAN cards. Honestly I don't think we even need dual CPU, maybe have MB support it and put 2 CPUs into main board but only one in standby system...

At the end I will need rack mounted quiet chassis, what that should be? I don't care about many caddies. Just quiet and compact as much as possible. And affordable...

 

[cheezehead]

Yes they are around $60 used. What kind of storage do you need to support? How quiet are you talking about?

 

[rubylaser]

You have a lot of factors here that don't normally all come together well (cheap, quiet, powerful). It would be nice to know the actual budget and what "quiet" means to you (are you sitting next to the rack, is it in your bedroom, or will it be in a basement).

I have three of the e5-2670 systems in both dual and single CPU setups. They are very powerful, and the processors are inexpensive, but the motherboards (other than the Natex boards) are expensive. Also with cases, PSUs, RAM for two hosts, this will cost more than what most people would consider "cheap".

Side note... I would consider picking up a third host and clustering them. If uptime is paramount, this is a much better way to keep them always running (along with a good backup strategy).

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[katit]

This is system for office. Not to serve customers, just for office personnel. Downtime of 1-2hr is acceptable. Right now I just have a fear that if something happens to server I will need days to get it running...
We run everything on VMs and have good backups. We don't need lot's of storage, 1TB is plenty. Right now it's 500Gb mirrored SSDs running our VMs and there is space to spare. 1TB is my goal for new system.

I want to have those 2 servers, switch, router and UPC all in half rack. Someone (most likely me) will be sitting 10ft from it. My current "server" is super-quiet and sits on my desk.

From what I understand clustering is OK, but you still have single point of failure, storage system, correct? And we like speeds we see from internal storage..

I understand all aspects of what I'm trying to do, only one question.. If I have RAID with drives. Let's say controller goes out. I swap drives to 2nd machine. I will still have problem because controllers not setup equally or something like this..

For those 2 machines without storage (disks) I have about $1500 in mind. Cheaper is better..

 

[rubylaser]

From what I understand clustering is OK, but you still have single point of failure, storage system, correct? And we like speeds we see from internal storage..

I'll just hit this point for right now. No, I would suggest a clustered filesystem as well to run on each host, something like Ceph if you chose to use Proxmox (KVM/LXC) for your hypervisor. It's all built right into the web gui and is free. Also, with a proper network setup, this can be very performant.

 

[katit]

No, I will run Hyper-V for virtualization. It works good and I don't want to go different way. Wee keep host OS pretty bare (only backup software running)

 

[TType85]

If you want quiet BYO servers you can do this for around $1500. You need to set the BCM up on the motherboards to quiet down the fans (search here will find the process) You can use different HSF and not use the air duct but Intel's system works well. With the Fixed Power supply P4000M cases you will need a 24 pin power extensions. You can also get rails to rack mount them.

2x Intel P4000M chassis (e.g. Intel P4216XXMHEN Server Chassis 4U Rack, 550W New Bulk Packaging)
see http://www.intel.com/content/dam/support/us/en/documents/motherboards/server/sb/p4000_cg_r2_3.pdf for part numbers and look them up on ebay. Find listings from oemxs/kalleyomalley and do a BO for about half the price. The one I linked I paid $125 for.
2x Intel AXX2IOS I/O Shield for S2600CP2, S2400SC2, and S2400GP2 New Bulk Packaging (Do BO at $6)
2x Refurbished S2600CP Server Motherboard with memory and CPU - Dual 2670, 128GB ram
4x Intel Heat Sink AUPSRCBTP-Newegg.com (Intel Heatsink)
2x Intel FCPUPMAD Air Duct Spare for S2600CP In P4000 - Newegg.com (Intel Air Duct)

Optional
2x Intel Remote Management Module-Newegg.com (IPMI)

If you can deal with the noise of 1u systems you could do 2 of these
Quanta QSSC-2ML Dual LGA2011 Sockets 16 DIMM 1u Rack Server for under $1000

 

[katit]

Now that looks very interesting. And I can get one MB with half ram/one CPU to save some money.
Are those Intel 4U cases really quiet? I can definitely spin them down as this server not going to utilize CPU at all. Maybe small bursts..

 

[TType85]

Now that looks very interesting. And I can get one MB with half ram/one CPU to save some money.
Are those Intel 4U cases really quiet? I can definitely spin them down as this server not going to utilize CPU at all. Maybe small bursts..

I have one sitting right next to me. You can hear it, but it is not loud at all. You do need to make sure you set the fans up in the BCM or else they will be at full speed and sound like a jet engine.

 

[katit]

You linked to heatsinks without fans. Can I run those CPUs without? Stock 2 fans on chassis is good enough?

BTW, I already ordered cases Needed to offer less than 125 )

 

[TType85]

You linked to heatsinks without fans. Can I run those CPUs without? Stock 2 fans on chassis is good enough?

BTW, I already ordered cases Needed to offer less than 125 )

Those HSF are used with the shroud (the chassis fans blow air over them. You could also use something like this Amazon.com: Noctua NH-D9DX i4 3U for Intel LGA2011-0 & LGA2011-3 (Square ILM & Narrow ILM), LGA1356, LGA1366 (wtih Xeon backplate): Computers & Accessories and save some money

 

[katit]

How do I save some money by getting those? They cost more. Or, you mean that I don't have to get shroud?

And question about motherboard. What type of RAID is there? And is there RAID monitoring of some kind?
I wonder if I can pull any disk from RAID1 and start another server..

 

[TType85]

How do I save some money by getting those? They cost more. Or, you mean that I don't have to get shroud?

And question about motherboard. What type of RAID is there? And is there RAID monitoring of some kind?
I wonder if I can pull any disk from RAID1 and start another server..

You don't need the shroud with those.

Manual for the S2600CP boards http://download.intel.com/support/m...cp/sb/g26942005_s2600cp_p4000cp_tps_rev18.pdf

Never looked at onboard raid but if it's there on the S2600CP2J board it would be the intel soft raid. Since you are using windows you could even set up the raid in disk management there. If you want hardware raid, you could pick up a few cheap cards to do it.

 

[katit]

I want RAID1 which will mirror drive exactly so I can just move them between machines. Not sure if windows RAID will do that. What about soft raid? Is it true mirror?

 

[TType85]

I want RAID1 which will mirror drive exactly so I can just move them between machines. Not sure if windows RAID will do that. What about soft raid? Is it true mirror?

I haven't used it myself to move to another computer but I do not see why the windows raid 1 wouldn't work. see this (windows 7, but still applies) RAID 1 Mirroring with Windows 7 « Buildegg Articles

 

[katit]

Now that I think about it, maybe I won't even need that (moving drives).
Just having 2 machines running should be sufficient. I can run one and have second one sitting (running) with HyperV. If something happens - I can just move needed VMs to 2nd machine. This way I can utilize both servers but in case one goes bad - rearrange VMs. There is couple crucial VMs (like VOIP and dev box) , but others can be down for some time..