I was thinking about setting up a Steam Game Server at my home instead of renting one from the various servers. I have about 20 people that use the server currently.
Games played are Ark, 7 Days to Die and I want to setup Empyrion and maybe some others. Not a huge load.
I was thinking of going the regular route of just an i7-6700 or so in a normal desktop mobo with about 32GB of ram. I would be running Proxmox on it so I can have a Linux server for the games that are able to run through linux (preferred) and for those that don't have a linux version, an alternative OS (bleh).
Currently I have a 4 year old i3 with 8gb of ram that runs my media type stuff and other linux services that is able to run ark and 7days for about 4 people with zero issues. I know that is not good enough to go further and this is why I am looking for a new setup.
I also need to check my internet usage but I believe 20Mbit up should be sufficient for a small number.
Any suggestions? PS. I am in Thailand so a lot of the 2nd hand server hardware can be an issue to source or get sent over. However, if you have suggestions for xeon boards etc. let me know and I can try find way to source it. 2nd hand is definitely doable.
Cheers Talung
PS. Not worried about GPU because this will be a headless box. Console for everything. Windows server will just connect monitor as needed, but onboard video card/ cheap addon one should be sufficient.
I can get most stuff on ebay... however sometimes there is an issue with cost of shipping and taxes.
Funny story, Amazon would ship the t16000m FCS Hotas joystick to me.. but the taxes where almost as much as the actual product. Plus add shipping and the price was more than double.
I did however take a look at some of the xeon boards etc, but honestly have no idea where to start. I don't have a server rack or anything like that.
You dont need a server rack to have a xeon, there are workstation boards and even some server boards can fit in larger cases. Do you have some kind of forum for buying and selling used stuff in your area, like craiglist?
Not that I am aware of, but I am not a Thai native so there might be some Thai websites that have that.
So you would recommend a dual xeon setup over a single i7 for my usage? Any recommendations I can start trying to scrounge up?
Just thinking of it... there is Pantip Plaza which is a computer building that has about 5 floors of just IT stuff.. new and second hand.. might be able to pick up some stuff there. Usually dirt cheap too.
It appears I will almost certainly go the xeon route now.. just need to find the right stuff to put together. Worked with many servers, but not too much on the hardware side, so this should be fun. :)
So it looks like I am gonna pick up some xeon 2670's on ebay and then I think I will go for this motherboard.
Was looking at ebay and not a whole lot of options of different prices. But it is ATX, so just an ATX case should be fine. thinking of also getting 4x8GB DDR3 RAM to make up the 32GB can always throw in another 32GB later if needed.
Need to find some quiet coolers for the chips and a good PSU now. Any suggestions on things to change?
Now I unsure about the the PSU if it is ok or need something more powerful. This is really just going to be a home server to host games and my media server. Not planning to add any extra cards to it at all.
Memory: Do I really need ECC RAM or can I get away with non-ECC. Regardless looking at 32GB DDR3-1600
Please let me know if my thinking is wrong or what corrections I need. Also, some good RAM suggestions would be helpful. Bit stuck on that atm.