Hardware spec

[mason64]

Hi

I am building my first proxmox server for a client and he wants to go down the custom build using standard pc parts not server hardware.

I have come up with the following specs - anything pop out that maybe a problem? help is much appreciated. (missing a cooler / case i know )




Its going to be used for about 10 windows 10 / 11 vm's to run some backup software or python scripts for moving data around the network, nothing heavy.

Thanks anyone and everyone for reading!

M

 

[VictorSTS]

I would avoid those Intel CPU as they are suffering issues that may cause freezings/reboots (look for Intel Core 13th and 14th Gen instability). Those drives lack PLP and have low DWPD rating, so they are bad for ZFS or Ceph. Memory doesn't have ECC correction. And the mobo isn't designed to be up 24x7, it's just for gaming, which is a completely different workioad than server tasks.

Any second hand/refurbished server hardware will run better and more reliabily that any PC hardware. Given that the workloads are light, I'm pretty sure you can get proper server hardware within budget.

 

[mason64]

Hey @VictorSTS

Thanks for the info and reply, i will go back to the client now as i have had this conversation with him 3 or 4 times but will give him options again and ask him to sign something if he decides again to use standard hardware.

Thanks!

 

[mason64]

just specc'ed this what do you think

https://www.bargainhardware.co.uk/hp-proliant-dl380-g10-2u-rack-server-configure-to-order?c_b=978

 

[Darkk]

I would avoid those Intel CPU as they are suffering issues that may cause freezings/reboots (look for Intel Core 13th and 14th Gen instability). Those drives lack PLP and have low DWPD rating, so they are bad for ZFS or Ceph. Memory doesn't have ECC correction. And the mobo isn't designed to be up 24x7, it's just for gaming, which is a completely different workioad than server tasks.

Any second hand/refurbished server hardware will run better and more reliabily that any PC hardware. Given that the workloads are light, I'm pretty sure you can get proper server hardware within budget.

While I agree on used server hardware just putting it out there that I am running a gaming motherboard as this one is the only one I could find that supports ECC memory for my Ryzen 9 5950X

ASUS AMD AM4 ROG Strix X570-E Gaming ATX Motherboard with PCIe 4.0, WiFi 6, 2.5Gbps LAN, Dual M.2, SATA 6Gb/s, USB 3.2 Gen 2​

No issues running it 24/7 for the past three years. Just make sure it got proper cooling.

 

[mason64]

Thanks for letting me know @Darkk but it hink it would be better for my client to go for server hardware as much i as i understand what you are saying.

 

[Darkk]

Thanks for letting me know @Darkk but it hink it would be better for my client to go for server hardware as much i as i understand what you are saying.

Yep. I run my servers at home so those old Dell poweredge servers are just too noisy for it. lol.

 

[Dunuin]

Yep. I run my servers at home so those old Dell poweredge servers are just too noisy for it. lol.

Some servers don't use proprietary hardware and will have standardized connectors and E-ATX/ATX/uATX formfactor (I like those older supermicro boards). Combine those Server mainboards with ECC RDIMMs, Server CPU, Enterprise SSDs and some quiet ATX PSU, tower cooler and case and you have a reliable and cheap server that is still silent enough to sleep in the same room.

Here for example a 16-core Xeon E5-2683 v4 with a Supermicro Towercooler (92mm fan), 8x 16GB DDR4 ECC RDIMMs on a Supermicro X10SRi-F (ATX, silent 40mm fan added for additional chipset cooling) in a cheap Inter-Tech 4U case (2x 120mm + 2x 80mm fans), Supermicro 900W PSU (ATX, 120mm fan) 4x shucked CMR HDDs and 16x Enterprise SSDs, 2x HBAs, GPU, SFP+ NIC, Quad Gbit NIC. The bigger problem is the power consumption (nodes with lots of idling VMs consuming 45, 75 and 120W)...but hey...how should I add all those disks and PCIe cards into a MiniPC or Gaming PC? I really need all those PCIe lanes any consumer board wouldn't have.

 

[VictorSTS]

just specc'ed this what do you think

https://www.bargainhardware.co.uk/hp-proliant-dl380-g10-2u-rack-server-configure-to-order?c_b=978

Seems good. I would ditch that HDD and use a couple of 400GB SATA SSD enterprise for the OS or even use a small partition in the other two SSD drives. I also don't know that controller at all, so I can't tell for sure if it supports real HBA mode for ZFS/Ceph. You can use hardware raid + LVM, of course, which makes sense in this case as it is a single server. Given that the workloads will not require a lot of threads, I would go for a CPU with less cores and higher base clocks, like Intel Xeon Gold 6150 18-Core 2.70GHz (3.70GHz Boost, 165W) or Intel Xeon Gold 6136 12-Core 3.00GHz (3.70GHz Boost, 150W).