Spec me : Homelab tinkering rack mount stuff

[firthy15]

Hello all,

I currently have a nice unraid server based out of a define 7, i3 12100 64gb ram. Runs various dockers / storage / game servers.

I am in the very lucky position that I don't pay for power in my residence.

I am a member of various enterprise hardware selling groups on FB and notice people selling stuff and get shot down a bit due to older hardware basically being E-waste mainly due to performance to power ratio.

As i am in the situation of not paying power could OCuk recomend me what I should look for in some server hardware to just do more of what my server does right now for me to play about with.

I fancy rack mounted stuff with silly amounts of ram for game servers.

I would though have issue with really loud servers and I *think* im a bit stuck with that fact as the way the fans and air flow works they all run mega high RPM but id welcome some info if I am wrong.

For a initial server I can either collect an e-waste server but dont mind spending up to £400 for something a bit nice just outdated.

Thanks all,
Hopefully thats enough to start with some info from you friendly lot but would love to discuss further.

 

[jigger]

Moving to a rack mount is a pretty big commitment as you need at least a couple of square meters (or three) of floor space and some air handling.

Some of the Supermicro systems are reasonably quiet and diy user serviceable. Some of the supermicro power supplies can be annoying but the platinum 2-3u versions aren’t too bad.

 

[BusError]

I use 'older gen' server gear myself for work, I build linux distro. I wouldn't go for anything DDR3, but you can find very good machines with DDR4s and Xeons, and you can stuff them with as much ram as you want for very litttle. DDR4 ECC 32 sticks are round 20 quid each! I got 768GB of disks in mine
Came with a 8 bay SAS raid array in which I have 8*1.8TB 2.5" 12gbs disks. That's 10TB as a raid array; disks are super cheap you can buy 10 for around 120 quid, refurbed. I put 2*E5-2696A v4 in mine for 88 threads. Sure, not the *fastest* but that still churn through stuff pretty seriously!

For *extra* disks, buy s/h SAS disk shelves. I bought a EMC 15*3TB disks shelf for less than 200 and recently added a 25 SSD disk shelf for also around 200 quid -- sure smaller disks (600GB) but that's a ton of fast disks..

And in terms of noise, it's not too bad; they are VERY loud to start with, but when idle I wouldn't necessarily have that in my office, but it is actually not that bad really; fans aren't full on all the time.

I also got a 16 slots LTO 5 tape drive robot for backups (SuperLoader 3). Best thing ever to play with

In terms of power, the rack server uses 200-250W idle (and twice that in full flight) -- the 3.5" shelf uses around 120W, and the SSD rack uses a *tiny* amount surprisingly, like 0.1A -- the Slot Machine is also less than 50W.

I installed a "metered, switched" APC PDU that is really cool as I can switch the shelf/tape on/off remotely when I don't need them.

The whole lot fit in a ~£110 12U rack I got from the bay. Comes as a kit, built like a tank. It's on wheels so I can move it around to reach the back.

 

[BusError]

Here's my rack.