Hello,
I’m figuring out a build for a VM/NAS server. The goal of the server is to run some VMs (handful of Docker containers, FileMaker Server, a Windows VM, and NAS). The setup is going to be in my office. I’m planning on using TrueNAS Scale as the base with a 2.5 SSD pool of around 8-15TB (to service the VMs and provide a local backup/file archival for my computer). Also, I plan to have backup/sync setup on this NAS with another a 36TB NAS at home.
The containers will run a couple automation tools (Airflow) along with some databases (MySQL and PostgreSQL), the Windows VM is there to offload some automation tasks that need Windows, and my FileMaker Server instance will be pretty basic.
I originally looked at getting a Mini Forum PC for the VMs and another computer for the NAS, but decided a single system could keep costs down but also result in more powerfully single system.
There are a couple other tools that I would like to run if it makes sense.
- PfSense because the office building provides public internet to every tenant, and I plan on running a router in my office so my computer, NAS, and printer are all on the same private network.
- Adding a GPU for ML training (I’ve gotten into creating ML Art and training my own LLMs and like the idea of training without using my work computer’s resources.
Main Questions
- Which build makes the most sense for these use cases (or should do you recommend something completely different, e.g., consumer hardware)?
- Am I okay switching to consumer SSDs instead? I’m only expecting my regular write need to be around 1-5GB a day (with the occasional 50GB+ days).
There are two systems I’m looking at:
Supermicro SYS-530T-I for $2,600 USD.
- Intel Xeon E-2378G (8c/16th)
- 128GB DDR 4 3200 ECC (4x32GB)
- 7.68 TB SSD (4x1.92TB D3-S4520 SATA SSD
- 480GB M.2 7450 PRO NVMe
Custom EPYC 7302P for $2,700 USD (plus another $1,000 for drives)
This one is overkill for the performance, but I saw the recent LTT video and imagine I could find some uses for the extra power in the future.