Unsual Request: Server for a small IT company

BlackWizard

Looking for some help on building a server for a small IT company.

1. What is your budget? up to €950

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Running VirtualMachines which will have DBs and web applications/sites.

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? No

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? No

5. Do you need a monitor? No

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? Headless server but on board graphics is needed in case we need to put a head on it.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? No peripherals

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? No

8. How can you pay? Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser, all of the above

9. When are you purchasing? Next week

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? Dublin, but can build myself

11. We need 4 hard drives for RAID 10. Will motherboard do RAID 10?
Also needs to be an core I7. Cheapest Old version is fine. 16gigs or RAM minimum. Case needs room for 4 hard drives. The cheapest dvd reader drive

Everyone seems to order from HARDWAREVERSAND, any reason for this? I'm used to ordering off Dabs.ie

Really appreciate anything you guys can come up with.

Tea_Bag

are you able to get Vat back?

a good start is a xeon E3-1230V2. HWVS doesn't stock it, but scan does I think.

its an 1155 socket i7 essentially, but doesn't OC and is cheaper.

Monotype

In saying "needs to be a core i7", are you familiar with the CPU lines? I presume that given that it's in a server environment, that it will make use of the hyperthreading.

Hardwareversand can be cheap for a lot of things and have a good selection. That said, dabs can be handy for a few small orders and sometimes individual items can be better value.

I'm assuming that budget includes hard drives. Hard drives are expensive enough and if you want some decent ones for RAID, you'll go over budget unless you pick small drives.

BlackWizard

Yeah we can get VAT back but the 1000 euro budget is including VAT. We don't get our VAT back until the end of the year.

I can't find that CPU on hardwareversande? Edit: i see it on scan now

BlackWizard

I'm happy with small hard drives. Say 1tb drives.

I don't know much about server CPUs to be honest. I just know I7s are pretty nice in the desktop. So I'm open to other options

Monotype

Tea_Bag wrote: »

a good start is a xeon E3-1230V2. HWVS doesn't stock it, but scan does I think.

That's pretty good value actually. Been a while since I've looked at the Xeon lines.

1TB? You'll manage that alright. I'll see what I can find now...

Edit:

Item|Price
Intel Xeon E3-1230 V2, Ivy Bridge, S1155, Quad Core 3.3GHz, 8MB Smart Cache, 33x Ratio, 69W, Retail|£173.08
360W Seasonic G-360, 80 PLUS Gold, Quiet Fan, PSU|£48.00
4 x 1TB WD WD10EFRX RED 24x7, SATA 6Gb/sec, 64MB Cache, IntelliPower, 8ms NAS/Enterprise|£268.70
Thermalright True Spirit90 Heat Pipe CPU Cooler with one 90mm Fan, supports 2011/1366/1156/1155/775 & AM2+/AM3+/FM1|£20.38
Samsung WriteMaster SH-S222BB/BEBE 22x DVD±R, 12x DVD±R, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, SATA, Black, OEM|£12.95
MSI Z77A-G45, Intel Z77, S 1155, DDR3, SATA III - 6Gb/s, SATA RAID, PCIe 3.0 (x16), D-Sub/ DVI-D/ HDMI, ATX|£76.52
Enermax ECA3250-BW Ostrog USB 3.0 Black / White ATX Midi Tower Case|£36.72
2 x 120mm Enermax UCCL12 Cluster TWISTER Fan (M.B.T) Veri Speed, White LED (on/off) inc Rubber A/V Plugs|£21.55
16GB (2x8GB) Corsair DDR3 XMS3, PC3-12800 (1600MHz), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 11-11-11-30, 1.5V|£61.39
Shipping|£9.15
Total|£730.27

~ €910.

You could also look at the enterprise drives. It might make more sense if they're being constantly access. They have a few different versions but I'm not sure which are the newest. These ones are quite frugal with power but perhaps speed is high priority?

BlackWizard

Thanks Monotype.

Fast hard drives is kinda important. But because I will have them in RAID 10, they might seem kinda quick?

I won't be used for anything like a heavily used database. It's mostly VMs sitting there at idle and a few web applications using up gigs or RAM.

If the server is attached to a large 1080p monitor, would it make sense to buy a dedicated graphics card or is the onboard graphics good enough? We may need to display 1080p promo videos or applications.

ED E

BlackWizard wrote: »

Thanks Monotype.

Fast hard drives is kinda important. But because I will have them in RAID 10, they might seem kinda quick?

I won't be used for anything like a heavily used database. It's mostly VMs sitting there at idle and a few web applications using up gigs or RAM.

If the server is attached to a large 1080p monitor, would it make sense to buy a dedicated graphics card or is the onboard graphics good enough? We may need to display 1080p promo videos or applications.

TBH for that I'd get something like a ROKU to connect to the monitor and then just have a DNLA host on the server, keep the server for server tasks. Its also about the same price as a decent GPU.

Monotype

Hmmm... now that you mention it, I see that the Xeon doesn't have integrated graphics. That would explain why it's cheaper than the consumer series. Just get a 6450. Unfortunately, while the 6450 has low power consumption, it wouldn't be as good as the on-chip graphics and power consumption is important for systems that you're keeping on all day.

The WD red drives individually top out at about 150MBps. Their new blue lines are around 180MBps. They probably have equivalent enterprise ones. Seagate would be around the same speeds.

BlackWizard

Okay ill add a GPU to that list.

I noticed a few of them items are awaiting ETA. Any idea how long that usually takes?

BlackWizard

I need an alternate motherboard and psu because the other two are not in stock.

PSU - http://www.scan.co.uk/products/430w-corsair-builder-series-cmpsu-430cxv2uk-80-eff-uncertified-quiet-fan-atx-v23-psu

MB - http://www.scan.co.uk/products/gigabyte-ga-z77-d3h-intel-z77-s-1155-ddr3-sata-iii-6gb-s-sata-raid-pcie-30-d-sub-dvi-d-hdmi-atx

Will they be okay to go in this build?

Looks like I have the makings of a nice little server

Monotype

That PSU is complete trash in comparison. Is this build going to be on 24 hours?

Yeah, that board should be fine. Actually, how about getting a mATX board?
I think in general they can use a little less power.
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-z77ma-g45-intel-z77-s-1155-ddr3-sata-iii-6gb-s-sata-raid-pcie-30-d-sub-dvi-d-hdmi-micro-atx

U_Fig

A while back I was asked to build a server/render box for a company and after research I found that.. If the server is going to be on 24/7 you'd be better off getting server grade parts.. Intel Xeon.. Buffered ECC ram.. Server grade motherboard.. Gives more peace of mind for the business inviorment.. You'll pay extra in most cases tho..

Also I'd you decide not to go down this route and go sonewhst consumer class the b75 chipset is optimised for business use and may provide useful fratures

BlackWizard

Monotype wrote: »

That PSU is complete trash in comparison. Is this build going to be on 24 hours?

Yeah, that board should be fine. Actually, how about getting a mATX board?
I think in general they can use a little less power.
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-z77ma-g45-intel-z77-s-1155-ddr3-sata-iii-6gb-s-sata-raid-pcie-30-d-sub-dvi-d-hdmi-micro-atx

Power consumption isn't actually an issue at all. But it will be running 24/7. Could you recommend a decent psu? I'd love to order it next week so that's why I can't wait around for the other one.

U_Fig wrote: »

A while back I was asked to build a server/render box for a company and after research I found that.. If the server is going to be on 24/7 you'd be better off getting server grade parts.. Intel Xeon.. Buffered ECC ram.. Server grade motherboard.. Gives more peace of mind for the business inviorment.. You'll pay extra in most cases tho..

Also I'd you decide not to go down this route and go sonewhst consumer class the b75 chipset is optimised for business use and may provide useful fratures

I know what ya mean. But I've had pcs running 24 7 and so far no issues. The psu I might need to find a good one but the rest of the components I'm happy being general desktop specs. The hard drives will be backed up so I don't mind them not being server tested either.

Monotype

This one looks to be alright. Nice enough actually. Bit dearer though. 400W is a good bit above your needs, but should be fine.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/400w-be-quiet!-straight-power-e9-bn190-929-eff-80-plus-gold-quiet-fan-atx-v23-psu

The hard drives are designed for NAS use, running 24/7. But that doesn't necessarily imply under load 24/7!

BlackWizard

Here is the build so far. I don't know how to create a table like I seen in other posts.

https://secure.scan.co.uk/aspnet/Shop/SavedBasket/Show.aspx?id=7027c32651ef4124acfe63cafeab9460

The CPU should be in stock by Tuesday. I also order more ram. So it will have 32gb of ram. The motherboard says it supports it. I hope it does.

Just over 1000 euro. I'll see how that flies in work. If its too much I'll take out some RAM.

Edit: Will I need to order thermal paste and sata cables?

Monotype

Yeah, you'll need SATA cables alright. Thermal paste - you'll probably get some with the heatsink but if you need to remove it again, you'll need thermal paste.

You get two SATA cables with most motherboards.

BlackWizard

I'd just like to say thanks to everyone that helped me on this mini adventure.

The server has been built and running 24/7 for two weeks now. Temperatures are really low. Awesome CPU cooler.

Attached some pics for you