Soo I did a thing (bought a Dell R420) and only have very basic knowledge in servers. I do mean very basic. Are there any good tutorials on literally taking it out of box and installing Windows Server 2019 and it’s set up? Trying to run plex and minecraft server. Thanks in advance
That Dell R420 is just a machine, it doesn’t require Windows Server OS to be useful to you as a Minecraft/Plex server.
edit:
That said, Microsoft has their own courses and certificates and Windows server as per the official certificate training materials is still very clicky clicky.
You might want to load up proxmox (many tutorials online, in written form as well as videos) - that’ll enable you to carve up your server into separate VMs (potentially even running Windows server) for various purposes.
edit2: also, lookup how to reset idrac - that’s Dell IPMI implementation.
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I was told I should not run normal Windows 10 on it due to some sort of issues with the Dell specific hardware. I’ll look up the idrac info and what IPMI means. I don’t want to stay too far away from my comfort zone (Windows) as I don’t have tons to time to learn new things. I have a feeling this in and of itself is going to take me a few months to set up.
I mean its basically the same as a desktop, just with a longer boot.
Have fun.
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Did you buy the whole server or just a motherboard for a r420?
Some things to look out for with Dell servers:
Power: it may beep at you if the power supplies are not all plugged in. Check what config it has.
Fans: not as bad as HP but as above it will complain if you unplug them. I think the 420 was a 1U (,your model may not be) do look out for tiny loud fans
Display: will need a VGA cable / monitor. Until you get remote setup
Storage: Dell backplanes sometimes get confused if you remove some drives. It can forget where to boot. Learn the “interrupt startup” sequence (guide in the manual) to get to the bios.
Learn Linux: just because it’s awesome and is much happier without proprietary drivers.
Have fun and good luck!
Thank you for the info. The one I got is 90% completed. Just waiting on 2 more HDDs. It is a 1u and it will be out of the way from people complaining about noise. It has 2 550w PSUs. I have the monitor and all the good stuff ready to go. I have tried to grasp linux before. (Mint) wasn’t that bad but at the time I just was a late teen messing around. I have bad arthritis and can’t type long so I really hate the idea of command lines and using term often.
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I agree to this. Server spaces are usually Linux based and Minecraft servers and PLEX do run well on Linux. Try one of the big boys server distros: RHEL, CentOS, Debian or Ubuntu Server
My suggestion is to just start tinkering, not being afraid of screwing something up and maybe put into account that you might have to format a couple times.
My suggestions towards servers are Debian or Ubuntu Server. Also OMV is a very good start if you want a good web GUI, set up some drive shares, even Plex is ready to go as an OVM extension.
Again time is my issue. I don’t have much to spare.
In this case, I understand feel you there and wish you good luck. 
Make sure you update the firmware, every secondhand server i have gotten was on really old firmware. and sometimes newer firmware have quieter fan profiles
here is a dell link to get the update ISO’s
Thanks I will double check but the company I got it from seems very reputable and said they do it before it goes out.
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