This time it is about building a server, i had the whole idea stuck in my head recently that a server was a glorified standard PC. I know that sounds a little silly at first but i still think it kind of is.
Just to set the limits i have around £600 or $1000 to spend on this server and i want it to be the best it possibly can be!
I will also be running ProxMox on this, i will, be running Data servers like a personal Dropbox and i will be doing allot of game servers such as ARMA and Gmod, i will undoubtedly be running a Teamspeak server
Right, down to business, i have a few initial questions -
Should i go for a multi-socket Mobo so that i can have multiple CPU's this has always seemed quite expensive but is it worth at all considering
What kind of CPU should i go for should i got for and Intel Xeon or should i go down the new AMD route of CPU's
What kind of Memory should i get, should i go high frequency, should i get ECC memory. And what brands are best for servers, as-well how much memory
What Mobo should i get, that a simple question but i am more interested in the Chipset
Should i bother with a GPU
Should a get a RAID controller if so what one
What hard drives should i get i have always been a fan of Seagate, is it worth just getting standard drives and should i store them internally or externally
What Case, the case to me is important i want it to look good but to still have an excess of features
What PSU, simple question but i want something that can be powered on for long periods
What kind of cooling should i be looking at, water or air. i would assume air cooling
Should i get a network card, if so what one and why
if you guys feel anything else should be said go for it, i am open to suggestions and this is as much your project and decisions as it is mine.
Motherboard: you can do it with a single socket mobo IMO
For cpu you could go with the cheaper xeon's (think the E5 is in that ball park but don't quote me on that)
Memory you should go after ECC ram, but its all dependent on your budget.
Motherboard go with what fits the cpu and one that you like.
GPU: i think the newer xeon's have integrated graphics but i am not sure on that
Raid controller: Depends on the budget, and the level of paranoia you have :)
Harddrives: I would go WD, i have seen to many newer seagates die within a few months
Case: up to you, but i would go more for function and less for looks (but thats just me)
PSU: a good quality psu should do the job, wattage is depending on what hardware you are running
Cooling: enough :P
Network card: the motherboard should have one
I know my answers are not of much use, but i all comes down to what level of performance you want and what you can get in that budget you have and what level of data security you want, on top of that, there is backups and disaster recovery because something will die sooner or later and how will you deal with that and how long will it take you to get the system up and running again?
File Server / Cloud Storage: Bittorrent Sync, YunoHost, Owncloud and such are not CPU intensive. Storage depends on file types, sizes and numbers. Will you be doing backups for your other systems?
Media Server: Not cpu intensive unless you'll be transcodeing video, then you'll benefit from multiple cores. Storage needs could be moderate if just music and photos, but could be very high if films and TV shows. Also consider that you'll need 1-2 drives of redundancy in any RAID configuration. That will tell you how many drives and SATA ports you'll need. Your LAN/WiFi speed might matter if high bittrate films (blu ray quality).
Game Servers: I don't know the requirements. Internet connection speed might be an issue.
Teamspeak:I don't know the requirements. Internet connection speed might be an issue.
OS / Virtualisation / Filesystems: Consider how many OSes, Virtual Machines and such you'll be running and if'll you'll be using a file system like ZFS which is RAM hungry.
I assume you are in the UK, you could always just grab something like a thinkserver from lenovo, they are fairly cheap, sport powerfull quadcore Xeons with all the virtualization instruction sets, HTT, and ECC ram support. Then dump some more ram into them (you need to really make sure you get the right ECC ram for your system) and your good to go!
They are only like 400 Pound or 350USD or something, with HDD, 4GB ram, onboard GFX and audio support! I don't think you could find a better buy!
A server is to server. If you just want a power box that is headless (no screen) then whatever the specs build it that way. If you want what industry regards as a server you are, in addition to the performance your going to require redundancy, normally in the form of 2+ x Network cards, 2+ PSU, hardware monitoring/alerting, RAID HDD, etc, etc.