Looking for recommendations for server hardware

[simon lefisch]

Hi everyone,

I currently am running CentOS 7 on a 10+ yo machine and I’m looking to upgrade the hardware (new processor, mobo, RAM, possibly PSU).

Was wondering if anyone has any recommendations? I currently use it as a files server, Plex media server, vpn server, and would also use it to encode movies that I rip from my Blu-rays. Would like at least an octa-core processor, possibly go with a dual-processor mobo. RAM and PSU I can find on my own. Would like this thing to be a beast and I’m willing to throw some money at it, but don’t want to break the bank, ya know. Thanks for any info anyone can provide!

 

[Alaska_guy]

True server, or are you wanting to build one?

Price per $$... HP DL360, DL380 servers are CHEAP and pretty darn fast. G6 and G7 series would be your best bet as they run around $200-$600 depending how they are configured (IE: Single socket or dual socket.). They are DDR3 memory servers with Xeon processors, SAS drives etc. Basically Mac Pro Classic type hardware. Every once in a while you will find one for $200 with dual socket and 48gb Ram. Data centers are liquidating them as they are upgrading hardware.

Really depends on your budget. There are better options, but the price point per compute power is tough to argue with. The G7 series power management is nice. Using a watt meter with dual socket processors X5550 it pulls under 200 watts.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-ProLian...076974?hash=item2f0a3a9f6e:g:fEcAAOSwIBJaec3T

 

[simon lefisch]

True server, or are you wanting to build one?

Price per $$... HP DL360, DL380 servers are CHEAP and pretty darn fast. G6 and G7 series would be your best bet as they run around $200-$600 depending how they are configured (IE: Single socket or dual socket.). They are DDR3 memory servers with Xeon processors, SAS drives etc. Basically Mac Pro Classic type hardware. Every once in a while you will find one for $200 with dual socket and 48gb Ram. Data centers are liquidating them as they are upgrading hardware.

Really depends on your budget. There are better options, but the price point per compute power is tough to argue with. The G7 series power management is nice. Using a watt meter with dual socket processors X5550 it pulls under 200 watts.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-ProLian...076974?hash=item2f0a3a9f6e:g:fEcAAOSwIBJaec3T

Thanks for your reply. Actually looking to build one, although what you linked to doesn’t look that bad. Plex transcoding is a big thing. Most of my clients can play h265, however there are a couple that cannot so Plex would need to transcode the video on the fly (audio would most likely play directly).

 

[belvdr]

I would avoid HP simply because they force you to have a service agreement to download certain updates like the BIOS. These days, Dell hardware is on par and they provide utilities for RHEL/CentOS to patch firmware and such on the fly directly from SSH.

 

[Alaska_guy]

If he needs BIOS updates for a HP server I can help him out. What Dell based server would you suggest for Nehalem/Westmere that's in the $200-$300 range that's comparable to the HP's?

I get wanting to build a box, however for the price point your going to be hard pressed to find anything close to the ones I mentioned. Most processors are $300 alone.

If you scowered Ebay you may be able to find an i5 machine for cheap, but most i7 machines aren't going to be cheap and the processors arent cheap either if piecing it together.

Xeons excel at compute and multicore stuff, which sounds like what you will be using it for if encoding.