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Myself and two other co-workers are doing a group server build within the next month or two. We have done some research and have spec'd out a few paths for the hardware but I did want another set of eyes to glance over what we were thinking.
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
All three machines will be servers. They are looking to build a media server/plex server. They want to stream their content to various devices. At most, each server would have a max of 3-4 stream at once (rare instances).
My server is a little different. I have a Ubiquiti setup so I would need the server to also be able to handle running the Unifi controller. Therefore, I would want my server to handle at LEAST the following three roles:
In the long run, I may want to run two VMs (Win Server 2012 and maybe linux) to mess around with
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
The lower the better. Honestly, I’m looking at a build cost of $350-$400 without storage
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
USA, Newburgh NY. We have a micro center 45 min away.
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 (mATX or mini-ITX)
CPU
Mobo (mATX or mini-ITX)
RAM
PSU
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
None
6) Will you be overclocking?
No
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
N/A
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Within the next month or two
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.
USB 3.0, at least 6xSATA3, On-Board video wouldn’t be bad.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, we already have OS licenses. 64-Bit Win Server 2012
The guys are leaning towards mini-ITX because they like the SFF cases. I, on the other hand, and nervous in dealing with such a small enclosure for future growth. Therefore, I was looking at mATX as well. Therefore, we are really up in the air on which solution to go with.
I started doing some research and came up with the following two mATX builds for you to look over. The build features 8GB of RAM. I know with ESXi and multiple VMs, I would need more. This is just a starting point.
A few questions:
1. A lot of users on the Plex boards really like the G-series chips. Are these really enough for streaming? Most of the streams will be direct-play, so there will be minimal transcoding.
2. If the chip is enough for streaming, will it be able to handle running 2x Win Server 2012 VMs? Or am I better off with the i3?
3. I would assume a 500w PSU should be more than capable of handling the server with 6-ish drives, no? The OS drive will most likely be a 90-128B SSD.
Finally, we are also open to AMD based systems. However, I've been out of the AMD game too long so I don't know what they have to offer at this point.
Thanks!
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
All three machines will be servers. They are looking to build a media server/plex server. They want to stream their content to various devices. At most, each server would have a max of 3-4 stream at once (rare instances).
My server is a little different. I have a Ubiquiti setup so I would need the server to also be able to handle running the Unifi controller. Therefore, I would want my server to handle at LEAST the following three roles:
- Plex Media Server
- UniFi Controller
- Be able to run backups of client machines
- I would possibly run a mix of two VMs to handle the server listed above. For example, a Windows Server 2012 VM for Plex and another for the Unifi Controller and backups, etc. I would run ESXi. If this isn't feasible, I will just run a dedicated Win Server 2012 box.
In the long run, I may want to run two VMs (Win Server 2012 and maybe linux) to mess around with
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
The lower the better. Honestly, I’m looking at a build cost of $350-$400 without storage
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
USA, Newburgh NY. We have a micro center 45 min away.
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 (mATX or mini-ITX)
CPU
Mobo (mATX or mini-ITX)
RAM
PSU
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
None
6) Will you be overclocking?
No
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
N/A
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Within the next month or two
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.
USB 3.0, at least 6xSATA3, On-Board video wouldn’t be bad.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, we already have OS licenses. 64-Bit Win Server 2012
The guys are leaning towards mini-ITX because they like the SFF cases. I, on the other hand, and nervous in dealing with such a small enclosure for future growth. Therefore, I was looking at mATX as well. Therefore, we are really up in the air on which solution to go with.
I started doing some research and came up with the following two mATX builds for you to look over. The build features 8GB of RAM. I know with ESXi and multiple VMs, I would need more. This is just a starting point.
A few questions:
1. A lot of users on the Plex boards really like the G-series chips. Are these really enough for streaming? Most of the streams will be direct-play, so there will be minimal transcoding.
2. If the chip is enough for streaming, will it be able to handle running 2x Win Server 2012 VMs? Or am I better off with the i3?
3. I would assume a 500w PSU should be more than capable of handling the server with 6-ish drives, no? The OS drive will most likely be a 90-128B SSD.
Finally, we are also open to AMD based systems. However, I've been out of the AMD game too long so I don't know what they have to offer at this point.
Thanks!