Part 2: Picking and sourcing your hardware
stay flexible and be ready to substitute
Here’s the first crossroad:
Build your own versus OEM or prebuilt.
I choose both, harvesting OEM for my builds.
OEM servers come in 2 variants: appliances or general purpose
Appliances from ArcServe, NetApp, Oracle, SmallTree, etc. are made by the bigger OEM’s and rebranded with some special sauce.
These are the cheapest way to get hardware as there will be firmware locks, firmware incompatibilities, little to no documentation, and general mayhem. You can get known good configurations for less than individual components.
These will typically be 1u or 2u servers and very loud.
The cheapest usable system is an OEM general purpose servers or workstations from any of the major players:
AsRock Rack, Dell, Gigabyte, HPE, Lenovo, Supermicro, that was alphabetical… not the order to look for.
Problems arise when you go to deploy or more specifically fix an oem server or workstation.
Dell, HP Enterprise, and Lenovo use proprietary hardware including power supplies, motherboards, down to the small bits like TPM modules which are required for modern Windows deployments.
More on that later.
Asrock Rack, Gigabyte, and SuperMicro are OEM’s but also motherboard manufacturers for custom builds. Again, alphabetical, not order to look for.
These OEM’s are typically more expensive used, but if you can find a prebuilt system using an off the shelf motherboard it’s a serious shortcut and you may be able to swap the board into a taller case for quieter cooling and be done very easily.
Prebuilt systems save a ton of time troubleshooting compatibility. Even if you build your own, a running system is a good baseline to revert to in worst case. If you’re into cars, it’s like a donor car versus piecing it together.
Lacking enterprise gear experience?
I’d strongly recommend buying a complete OEM server or workstation. The amount of RAM is not a critical factor at time of purchase, but having enough RAM to boot and test everything is all you need.
You can then harvest what you need for your build.
Form factor:
Servers and workstations come in all shapes and sizes from 1u to 6u with workstations typically being rack mountable 4u and 6u. The general rule is larger servers are quieter, unless we are dealing with high density blade enclosures which are the loudest of all.
Servers also come in half or full depth, though half depth is typically reserved for OEM networking appliances or aftermarket builds.
You can retrofit some OEM servers with quieter fans, but that may introduce hardware warnings when the fan speed is not what the manufacturers recommend. This can cause boot issues. Additionally, OEM’s are notorious for using proprietary fan headers so splicing is required.
1u servers are the least desirable and the cheapest on the used market.
A room with sufficient noise isolation to quiet a 1u server is not common.
I prefer half depth 4u Chassis when rack mounting or need hot swap drive bays.
Alternatively, large gaming cases like the 6000D airflow can fit EATX boards so you can have a full server in a consumer case.
Where you buy:
Second hand resellers often test components prior to selling, which helps when purchasing individual components.
Complete systems are better sourced from auction sites.
Auctions are my go-to, but it is a gamble with risks and rewards.
eBay is the next safest on the list, but that all comes down to the seller
I’ve won and lost big buying from eBay while hoping my due diligence is enough to protect me.
Last and most dangerous, but potentially most profitable is surplus auctions.
Most surplus servers go to auction missing RAM, sometimes CPU’s (with the coolers installed), and always with the drives removed.
You cannot test them and have to bid accordingly.
Additionally, surplus sales are not done by IT professionals so you can expect errors in description.
I’ve purchased a stack of servers pictured complete only to pick up barebones lacking power supplies, drive caddies, RAM, CPU, and even the CMOS battery.
TPM and Windows:
TPM is the Trusted Platform Module and for many OEM servers / workstations completely impossible to acquire.
If you want to virtualize Windows 11 24H2 or newer, you’ll need a TPM module and passthrough or be left behind with hacked and EOL versions of Windows. Not a great place to be. This was well intended by Microsoft, but side stepped in the past due to TPM availability constraints.
Windows Server 2022 and 2024 require TPM 2.0 modules for security and cryptographic roles to be enabled and functioning.
Boards from SuperMicro, Gigabyte, and Asrock Rack can all have TPM 2.0 modules added and are readily available back to Intel Xeon Scalable and EPYC 7000 series. The modules range from $40-80 USD but are necessary if you need Windows in 2025.