Howdy, not totally sure if this is the correct place to post this, but if not, please move it.
Also, this is going to be a long one.
PREQUEL:
I live in a two bedroom apartment, where one of the bedrooms currently is a server room/storage/man-cave, but life happens and we are expecting a baby in a few months – hence I need to give up my man cave to give room for the baby (until we end up moving somewhere bigger).
I currently have the following gear:
Dell J727N 2700 W UPS
I got this "as a part of the deal" when I bought my 22U server rack. Unfortunately it makes too much noise – and I also don't really have the fuses/power (?) to support it. It works and all that, but it ideally requires more power than I have specced in this room. So it's currently just a heavy paperweight in the bottom of my rack (it lacks a rack mounting kit).
Dell R210 II (OEM branded, flashed to Dell)
I use this for OPNsense – it's the brain in my small network. It's connected to a cable modem, a dumb switch, and a Netgear R7000
- 1 x Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E3-1220 @ 3.10GHz
- 4 GB (2 x 2 GB) memory DDR3L PC3-10600 1333MHZ ECC REG 1RX8 LP
- 500GB SATA drive for OPNsense
Dell R710
ESXi host with a few VMs. OmniOS ZFS datastore, backup, plex, rtorrent, flexget, etc. (I’m not even close to maxing out the capacity.)
- 2 x Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU X5650 @ 2.67GHz
- 144 GB (16 x 8GB) memory DDR3 1066 PC3-8500 8GB ECC REG 2RX4
- Perch H200 (flashed IT mode)
- 6 x 3,5” caddies
- 2 x 870 Watts PSUs
- iDrac 6 Enterprise
Since my homelab most likely is downscaling soon, I got my hands on a Dell T420 tower server that also is a bit quieter than my R710. I got a Dell T420 and a Dell T310 for ~120 USD (I'm in Europe, so it's approximately) – a pretty good deal I thought. My plan is to have this in the corner of our living room.
The T310 I’m probably just gonna scrap.
Dell T420
- 1 x Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2430 0 @ 2.20GHz
- 4 GB (2 x 2 GB) memory PC3-10600U, 1333MHz, 1.5V, CL9
- Perc H310 (flashed to IT mode)
- 8 x 3,5" caddies. Only 4 caddies (but I've ordered new)
- 2 x 750 Watts PSU's
- iDrac 7 Enterprise
The idea is that the T420 is taking over for the R710 as a VM host. It could be I also need to virtualize my R210 II with OPNsense, but I’m hoping my SO will let me keep it running. I'm not sure what's up with the low memory on the T420, but somebody switched out the 3 x 8 GB ECC memory (from the service tag inventory specs) with 2 x 2 GB non-ECC.
QUESTIONS
T420:
I guess I need to upgrade the memory to use it as an ESXi host.
- Could/should I use the some of the memory from my R710 (is it compatible?)? Or is it better to buy more from e-bay (is this listing a good deal?)
- How much is ideal? I was thinking about 6 x 8gb?
I’m also thinking about upgrading with one more CPU
- Should/could try to get an identical CPU – or do I need to buy them as a pair?
- Any recommended CPUs to get?
Bonus question:
I also have a few spare parts from upgrading my R710:
- Perc 6II (Part number: T954J1)
- 2 x Intel® Xeon® CPU X5570 @ 2,93GHz
- 1 x Intel® Xeon® CPU X5650 @ 2.67GHz
- I’m also considering the PSU (all tough I could use that later if I get a more suited space). On another note, the power supply is really stable here (I’ve been running for two years without interruption), so I guess it’s not that critical anyway.
Is it worth trying to sell anything of this? I guess it’s not as big of a market here (Norway).
Any other thoughts/advice, feel free to share!
Thanks for reading!
Also, this is going to be a long one.
PREQUEL:
I live in a two bedroom apartment, where one of the bedrooms currently is a server room/storage/man-cave, but life happens and we are expecting a baby in a few months – hence I need to give up my man cave to give room for the baby (until we end up moving somewhere bigger).
I currently have the following gear:
Dell J727N 2700 W UPS
I got this "as a part of the deal" when I bought my 22U server rack. Unfortunately it makes too much noise – and I also don't really have the fuses/power (?) to support it. It works and all that, but it ideally requires more power than I have specced in this room. So it's currently just a heavy paperweight in the bottom of my rack (it lacks a rack mounting kit).
Dell R210 II (OEM branded, flashed to Dell)
I use this for OPNsense – it's the brain in my small network. It's connected to a cable modem, a dumb switch, and a Netgear R7000
- 1 x Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E3-1220 @ 3.10GHz
- 4 GB (2 x 2 GB) memory DDR3L PC3-10600 1333MHZ ECC REG 1RX8 LP
- 500GB SATA drive for OPNsense
Dell R710
ESXi host with a few VMs. OmniOS ZFS datastore, backup, plex, rtorrent, flexget, etc. (I’m not even close to maxing out the capacity.)
- 2 x Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU X5650 @ 2.67GHz
- 144 GB (16 x 8GB) memory DDR3 1066 PC3-8500 8GB ECC REG 2RX4
- Perch H200 (flashed IT mode)
- 6 x 3,5” caddies
- 2 x 870 Watts PSUs
- iDrac 6 Enterprise
Since my homelab most likely is downscaling soon, I got my hands on a Dell T420 tower server that also is a bit quieter than my R710. I got a Dell T420 and a Dell T310 for ~120 USD (I'm in Europe, so it's approximately) – a pretty good deal I thought. My plan is to have this in the corner of our living room.
The T310 I’m probably just gonna scrap.
Dell T420
- 1 x Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2430 0 @ 2.20GHz
- 4 GB (2 x 2 GB) memory PC3-10600U, 1333MHz, 1.5V, CL9
- Perc H310 (flashed to IT mode)
- 8 x 3,5" caddies. Only 4 caddies (but I've ordered new)
- 2 x 750 Watts PSU's
- iDrac 7 Enterprise
The idea is that the T420 is taking over for the R710 as a VM host. It could be I also need to virtualize my R210 II with OPNsense, but I’m hoping my SO will let me keep it running. I'm not sure what's up with the low memory on the T420, but somebody switched out the 3 x 8 GB ECC memory (from the service tag inventory specs) with 2 x 2 GB non-ECC.
QUESTIONS
T420:
I guess I need to upgrade the memory to use it as an ESXi host.
- Could/should I use the some of the memory from my R710 (is it compatible?)? Or is it better to buy more from e-bay (is this listing a good deal?)
- How much is ideal? I was thinking about 6 x 8gb?
I’m also thinking about upgrading with one more CPU
- Should/could try to get an identical CPU – or do I need to buy them as a pair?
- Any recommended CPUs to get?
Bonus question:
I also have a few spare parts from upgrading my R710:
- Perc 6II (Part number: T954J1)
- 2 x Intel® Xeon® CPU X5570 @ 2,93GHz
- 1 x Intel® Xeon® CPU X5650 @ 2.67GHz
- I’m also considering the PSU (all tough I could use that later if I get a more suited space). On another note, the power supply is really stable here (I’ve been running for two years without interruption), so I guess it’s not that critical anyway.
Is it worth trying to sell anything of this? I guess it’s not as big of a market here (Norway).
Any other thoughts/advice, feel free to share!
Thanks for reading!
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