New computer type for me - server with low power draw ($600)

[Breath_of_the_Dying]

Hey guys, I'm building a personal use home server for development, learning, and storage. I'm planning on using it to host development services like TFS and Atlassian products (Jira and possibly confluence). This will be single use only and maybe some remote access, and the main feature I would want is a low overall power draw so I can leave it running when I want to access it and I'm not at home.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing?

• Hosting services like Team Foundation Server, Atlassian Jira, and any home brew development web projects. None of my projects will ever be massive, so even if I run TF Build, I dont have high needs for cpu power.
• Storage Server (code repo and plain file storage)

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

• Without needing high power parts, I'm hoping to keep it under $600 total.

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.

• Orange County, CA. Fry's is driving distance from where I live

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
[*]

• Case
• PSU
• Motherboard with onboard gpu
• CPU (and fan if not included)
• Memory
• Wireless N network (my router is NETGEAR WNR2000-100NAS Wireless-N)

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

• 2 TB SSHD and 80 gig SSD
• Keyboard
• Mouse
• Monitor

6) Will you be overclocking?

• No

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?

• 1920x1080 55" TV

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

• As soon as this weekend if I'm comfortable with the build out and it fitting my needs

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.

• Onboard video and cutting any bells and whistles to save power

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?

• Will be running Server 2012

I know I could just set up my current computer to run all my services, but a lot of this is just for learning purposes of setup, and keeping my gaming rig clean of too many of the services running that I'd have to start/stop when switching between development/gaming.

I've never ran my own server machine, I dont know how much cpu power it needs. If this is only for my use, I wouldnt expect it need to need much power.

Would a N band connection over wireless be sufficient? I'm planning on having this connect to my TV setup and just connect to my network through wireless (router will be in the same room no more than 15 feet away.

Is an SSD necessary? I dont even need blazing fast boot up times, so beyond that I dont think SSD will provide any noticeable benefit.

Even running TFS and multiple Atlassian products concurrently, I dont expect the memory footprint to spike. I'd say 8gigs is enough, but if possible I'd like to just get 16gigs to be safe.

 

[Breath_of_the_Dying]

This is my current build out, any help is appreciated!

CPU: LGA 1150 Intel Pentium G3258 Dual core 3.2 GHz Link $69.99 (haswell contains intergrated graphics)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Link $89.99 (contains 802.11ac wireless)
CPU Cooling: Zalman CPU Cooler Link $ 31.95
Case: Cooler Master elite Link $44.99
PSU: SeaSonic SSR-450RM Gold Certified Modular Link $79.99
Memory: GSkill Ares 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 Link $121.99

Total before shipping + tax: 437.91

Updates: No OS and HDs are needed. I'm gonna pull a SSD from my gaming comp and also use the SSHD, and I'll be using Windows Server 2012

 

[cortexodus]

I kinda like what you've got going there.

I've been thinking about a similar "low power server" type build for awhile based on this thing. but yours might be better in some regards.

 

[rhansen5_99]

Hey I like what you got but check out this deal: http://slickdeals.net/f/7607428-len...w-visa-checkout-after-20-rebate-free-shipping
Maybe upgrade the ram in it

 

[Dangman]

Would a N band connection over wireless be sufficient? I'm planning on having this connect to my TV setup and just connect to my network through wireless (router will be in the same room no more than 15 feet away.

IMO, no. A server should always be hard-wired to the switch/router. Wireless, even in its current AC form, still isn't quite on the same level as a regular ethernet port for reliability.

Is an SSD necessary? I dont even need blazing fast boot up times, so beyond that I dont think SSD will provide any noticeable benefit.

For large projects, yes you would need a SSD for the SQL server aspect. But try your SSHD and see what happens.

As for your planned setup, it's a good start. BUt there's two changes I would make:
1) You don't need the Zalman HSF. Not only are there better HSF for the money out there, you really don't even need one as the stock HSF will do the job.

2) You'll be fine with this lower power PSU. Yes it's non-modular but there's not that many cables to hide anyway on account of the low wattage:
$63 - Seasonic G Series SSR-360GP 360W PSU

As for the Lenovo server, let me start by saying that I don't factor in MIR until I receive them. So with just the Visa checkout promo code, that server costs $320. Just for comparison, your planned setup if you take my recommendations would be $389. $69 difference.

Your planned setup + my recommendations pros:

• Confirmed high quality PSU of higher efficiency
• Longer warranties as the Lenovo only has a one year warranty. Your motherboard and CPU have three year warranties whereas your PSU has a five year warranty. The RAM has a lifetime warranty.
• Four times as much RAM.
• Significantly smaller in size.

That Lenovo setup's pros:

• Faster CPU
• Already assembled
• Technically more safe for your data if you buy ECC unbuffered RAM for it. However ECC unbuffered RAM costs significantly more money than regular consumer RAM.
• Could go up to 32GB of RAM

Personally for me, I'd go DIY simply because PSU quality is extremely important to me. But for a small business, I wouldn't have such qualms about recommending that Lenovo.

 

[Breath_of_the_Dying]

Thanks a bunch! I'm definitely leaning toward DIY. I'm going to do a final pass on pricing for the parts then I'll pull the trigger.

As for the wireless issue I'll probably see how it goes, if it's not sufficient for my needs I'll find a way to keep it closer to the router.

 

[cortexodus]

As for the wireless issue I'll probably see how it goes, if it's not sufficient for my needs I'll find a way to keep it closer to the router.

I tend to agree with Dangman's assessment on wireless vs wired for something defined as a server but, if you're not trying to reach that server from anywhere outside the local network it might work ok. I ran a Hyper-V server via Wireless-N to a router that would, in turn, connect via N to the client bridge in my office and never had any serious issues with doing work on 2-3 RDP sessions to VMs on the hyper-V server at the same time. However, accessing that server from my workstation at work was pretty much a waste of effort as almost anything I did would ultimately time out.