I am currently looking for a replacement for my aging server, I currently use it exclusively for a medium sized minecraft server ~10 players consistently during the week ~15 on the weekends. I want to replace it with something that will have better performance for the Minecraft server, while being usable for a nas, and maybe hosting a few other things (plex maybe, maybe a small web server).
My current server is a (don't laugh) laptop, more specifically the Samsung qx411, though without the nvidia GPU and with 8GB of ram instead of 6.
I also have a hodgepodge desktop whose specs are this. I currently use my desktop as a nas, I want to use the new server for that purpose.
Here's the options I've been considering,
Buy something like a dell R710, and buy two extra 4tb hard drives and run freenas with VM's
Upgrade my Desktop and use my current desktop as the server,
When I was into servers I just got a HP Proliant ML370 from a recycling center for 50 bucks. Its around 2006 but it runs fine for Pentium 4 based Xeons. Problem is getting SCSI drives in my area. But the MC Server ran fine. Even ran a Tekkit server and it ran great.
Otherwise look around for a Lenovo TS140. It says server on it, but its just a desktop. Get one with a Xeon in it and you're golden.
I would recommend a first or second gen IBM X3650 system, quiet enough and will only set you back around $100 for server, you could use the left over money to put 48Gb of ram in it? I ran many MC servers off of it and it runs fine!
but building your own could be reasonable, you can get 8core xeons off ebay for dirt cheap atm, if (big if) you can find a mobo for it, you could have a nice 8-16core server with all the bells and whistles. Then set up ZFS (and samba + NFS) and presto.
I got one from my brother. Running an I3 and 16GB ECC RAM. Works great for my FreeNAS box. Though you may need more horsepower for Minecraft server. Not sure though, I've never ran a Mincraft server.
How about getting the new build then sticking FreeNAS on what is your current PC? That'll suit the Minecraft server and the other bits you wanted to do with it. That or a hosted solution, like AWS or Linode.
Yeah, I looked at those, but the performance with a Xeon isn't that different from my current PC and I could just upgrade my PC to a better one, which would be more expensive, but Minecraft is almost completely single threaded, so I'd prefer the better single threaded performance, and the new PC parts don't hurt, I would be able to afford more storage though. I'm pretty much rambling now, I'm pretty conflicted about this.
Not really. A Xeon 1225V3 is a good chip, plus a bunch of ram stuffed in. If you had an i3 maybe it'd bu meh, but I doubt you'll use 2 8 core processors in a rack mount server that in total the machine is 10 times more energy hungry than the TS140.
Mmmmmno. However for running a storage solution and a minecraft server, possibly a web server with low traffic as a download mirror (considering network speed and NIC's) I haven't seen any problem with using a machine that far back, to be honest.
I'd grab an R710 or a HP D380 G6 or G7, and slap in a couple X5670's or X5680's. Get like 32GB of ECC Registered DDR3 off of ebay, and throw in your choice of drives. Maybe an LSI HBA to make freenas happy. Get a Raid Z2 going of 2TB drives, and use that Minecraft plugin freenas has to host your server.
That would be one of the cheaper ways to go, but I've read that most of the servers like the R710 are pretty loud, which won't pass the girlfriend test unfortunately.
Edit: Unless you know of a relatively cheap way to quiet the system down while still cooling it properly.
Yeah it will be pretty loud. There are I think 6 fans in there, and they're all the insanely loud fans that you shouldn't replace. The heatsinks and everything depend on having fans that push that much air, so you can't really change them.
cpu's this link has 3x for 19$ each free shipping 14 day warrenty you can use 2x or 4x
this link has 10+ with a 30 day warrenty at 25$ each
uses ddr3 ecc registered or non ecc ram so 8-128$ fo 8-128 gb of ram 4$ a stick but no refund return free shipping. thats 1$ per GB which is ridiculously good. if you want to use this as both the minecraft server AND the nas, i would consider throwing in a larger amount of ram then you need and using a portion of it as a ramdisk for the operating system and various programs, and then saving on a ssd and using only hdd's for the nas and one small one for the back up os and whatever.
1100 watt power supply 21.76$ after shipping 30 day warrenty
cpu cooler 13.20$ after shipping so 26.40-52.80$
for a case the cheapest thing to do is find a old dresser in the free section of craigslist and turn a large drawer into a case using motherboard risers
you'll need a drill and a saw to shorten the "case" if you want to and a hole drill attachment for easy ventilation. i suggest using 2x 120 fans per cpu tower and using wire/zip ties to secure them and either drilling many small ventilation wholes, a few big ones, or just not make a lid. for the lid you can use the bottom of a second drawer and just screw it on with 2-4 screws, or throw on 5$ worth of hinges and a latch but then you need ventilation. up to you.
leaving you at a grand total of 239.16$ if you use 2 cpu's and 16gb of ram and 306.56$ if you use 4 cpus (32 cores 64 threads) and 16 gb of ram. this is NOT including fans which are cheap or cables. if you want to go really cheap and not mess around in the bios you can run non pwn fans with 7 volt adapters and an extra 4$ for every 4gb's of ram you want to add.
now you have a 700$ dollar budget, so you could buy a comperable server or even a lesser one all ready to go no work needed for more money. but if you buy the parts used and separate you have 300+ left over to upgrade your pc with say a rx 480 and a water cooler to oc that i5 a bit more and maybe less hodge podged ram.
and last but not least a similar desk drawer build
I'm not really concerned with high core count as much as per thread performance, my biggest concern is the Minecraft server, as even with a 4 core system I'll still have 3 very under utilized cores after the minecraft server.
2.7 ghz turbo with 24mb cache so you should be able to handle 20~ people fine. and the server can break up the work into multiple cores and threads, just not very well. it can handle each individual player and the chat and such on a separate core but the world itself(the hard part) can only be done on a single core. however with all the extra cores you can handle the nas and the os and everything else even during the most demanding times and still have room left over to add more game servers or a virtualized pfsense server or whatever you want. oh yea the manual http://site.pc-wholesale.com/manuals/Dell-PowerEdge-R810.pdf
Get a VPS server for minecraft . I use Digital Ocean myself and a 15 sec google
Sure its a monthly fee but the server is yours with fast internet and can be located in many places in the world and moved if needed. My serverr costs $5 month so a cup of coffee and the hardware is up and maintained. All I do is keep the software running / patched.