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I'm at a loss on what server to buy

I’m pretty new to self-hosting, and the NAS I’m using right now has been a pain since the moment I bought it. The Synology DS220+ just doesn’t have enough CPU power for my needs, and I’ve recently used up all the disk space I installed, so I’m looking for a new server.

Unfortunately, all the options I’ve found online prioritize storage space over CPU, and I haven’t had much luck finding anything that fits my needs.

Requirements: CPU: Intel Core i3 or higher, but preferably Core i5 GPU: Not needed RAM: max 64 GB, min 16 GB Storage: max 32 TB, min 10 TB Network: 10 GB SPF+ Price: max 6K CAD, preferred 3K CAD

I’m hoping to run TrueNAS Scale with Plex and Nextcloud installed, and my media library isn’t likely to get larger than 5 TB, so CPU is really the main limiter of my current NAS.

As an example of something almost perfect: The TrueNAS mini X+ and R varieties would work excellently, but don’t meet the CPU requirement. I wanted to look at the other systems on offer from TrueNAS, but they don’t list out CPU specs for anything more advanced than the Mini line.

Of the Lenovo stuff, since it was one of the few websites with a filterable picker, the ThinkSystem SR630 V2 was the closest of fitting my requirements. It comes short on the CPU, though, and is verging on the price limit too. I also don’t need 12 TB of RAM, or 1.2 PB of storage.

What do you use? Can you recommend any websites I can go to find something that fits my needs better?

SethranKada OP ,
@SethranKada@lemmy.ca avatar

If this isn’t the right community to post this, please let me know, and I’ll take it down. I don’t want to cause any trouble, I’m just looking for help. I’m really new to this kinda stuff.

socphoenix ,

I think this is a fine community, but as a question, is there a reason you aren’t considering building a server? You could fit those requirements into a normal desktop chassis and likely still have some pci slots free for future upgrades.

BearOfaTime ,

Yep, spec a case to meet the drive needs, then find the motherboard that meets the performance needs.

catloaf ,

I’d pick a CPU before the motherboard.

SethranKada OP ,
@SethranKada@lemmy.ca avatar

Mostly, I just don’t know much about hardware in general. I’m sure I could follow a tutorial online on how to put it together, but I don’t know much about what I’d need to buy in the first place.

I’ll look online and see what I can find though, this does seem like what I’m going to have to do to get the specs I want.

socphoenix ,

You can look at things like

www.newegg.com/tools/custom-pc-builder

To see some ideas of what would work, and I hope you feel free to ask around as you look at things! We all had to learn somehow and once you know what you’re looking for it’s just a small puzzle.

Quick suggestion is to decide on the cpu (I’m partial to amd so I’d pick something ryzen based if you want processing power) first then compatible motherboard, as after those two you should be able to just look at spec sheets and see things like the kind of ram you need case type etc.

SethranKada OP ,
@SethranKada@lemmy.ca avatar

Thank you, I’ll do just that

quaff ,
@quaff@lemmy.ca avatar

You should try out pcpartpicker.com

Great tool to spec out a computer and give you an idea of how much it’ll cost you.

SethranKada OP ,
@SethranKada@lemmy.ca avatar

Thanks!

sylver_dragon ,

Have you considered just beige boxing a server yourself? My home server is a mini-ITX board from Asus running a Core i5, 32GB of RAM and a stack of SATA HDDs all stuffed in a smaller case. Nothing fancy, just hardware picked to fulfill my needs.

Limiting yourself to bespoke systems means limiting yourself to what someone else wanted to build. The main downside to building it yourself is ensuring hardware comparability with the OS/software you want to run. If you are willing to take that on, you can tailor your server to just what you want.

BearOfaTime ,

This is the answer.

I’m currently running 2 boxes, one an old desktop with space for 8 full-size drives (which it has). The other is a Dell SFF with three 2.5" drives as a media server/testbed.

Hard to heat either one for the cost. To buy the equivalent of the SFF as a pre-built NAS, I’d have to spend $1500.

fuckwit_mcbumcrumble ,

My home server literally was just my old desktop for the longest time. I upgraded the components in my desktop, and put them into another case and that became my server. Proxmox is based on Debian so any remotely sane hardware should be supported well, then I just virtualize everything else (including the NAS) and hardware compatibility isn’t even a concern.

My current case is a Fracal Define R4 which natively supports 7 hard drives + 3 5.25 slots so I could add hot swap bays there. If I need more storage I have an extra drive cage, and the suggestion from people online is to just zip tie it to the normal one, and that gets me 11 drives of storage. Sure it won’t look pretty, but it works, it’s cheap, and it’s scalable, and that’s all that matters.

foggy ,

This is the way.

pezhore ,
@pezhore@lemmy.ml avatar

I would consider using your Synology for what it’s good at - storage.

My homelab has a Synology DS1618 and servers are Lenovo M90q systems. They have enough compute to get the job done, and use the Synology NFS mount for storage.

just_another_person ,

Exactly. It’s plenty useful for Network-Attached-Storage. That’s what it’s built for.

Your network needs are a bit over the top, but maybe consider the Minisforum MS-01. Small form factor, i5 or i9, up to 96G. RAM, and 2x SFP, and some low profile PCIE space if needed in the future. This is WAY more than you need for your service needs, and you can just expand your Synology disks for extra storage super easily. Saves money, and solves your problems without needing a full rack-sized server.

SethranKada OP ,
@SethranKada@lemmy.ca avatar

Thank you so much! After searching it up online, the Minisforum MS-01 seems to check off every box I’d had when I went looking.

I’ll look around to see if there is anything more suited, but for now, it seems like what I’ll end up going with.

MalReynolds ,
@MalReynolds@slrpnk.net avatar

I was here to say the same as pezhore, separating storage and compute is almost as important as separating church and state. Muck around, break things, have fun, all the while your data is safe (don’t forget offline backups though). The MS-01 is a fine looking box, but any old NUC / SFF will do for your purposes (modern AMD cpu or a graphics card if you need / want plex transcode).

just_another_person ,

This is a new model they’ve released, and I’ve been looking for something similar for a certain purpose for almost a year. There isn’t much lol.

For my specific project, I ended up using a Fractal Design Ridge case, and the components that fit within because I needed a GPU. The MS-01 was JUST shy in the PCIE to make it my preferred device. Maybe have a look at the Fractal Design Ridge case and a Mini-ITX AMD build if you really want to stretch your dollar and get more performance-per-watt like I did. The cost will be about the same.

epyon22 ,

I made the jump to a full server a few years ago and there’s some pretty high limits but you can get them spec’ed pretty low. Something like a dell r730 Single 8 core xenon 32gb ram and a couple tb of storage running 4-500$. They can be upgraded over time to be dual 16 core xenon 1tb ram and petabyte of storage.

knobbysideup ,
@knobbysideup@sh.itjust.works avatar

Rack mount server class machines at home generally aren’t great options. Definitely stick with tower/mini designs.

That said, for a home server a general workstation may be best. I personally have a System 76 Thelio. I added a second drive and installed proxmox with a ZFS mirrored pool.

system76.com/desktops

biptoot ,

I disagree! They can be great options, inexpensive and reliable. My current home server is a Dell r620 with xeon CPUs, 64gbs of RAM, and 2 terabytes storage in raid 5. It serves several vms, a mix of Windows and Linux. More than enough for many home set ups. Boots the os off a 16gb flash card. Cost me $185. Thing has been a tank.

I bought two short L brackets from home Depot, and have it hanging flat against the wall. It’s been fabulous.

Decronym Bot , (edited )

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:

Fewer Letters More Letters
LXC Linux Containers
NAS Network-Attached Storage
NFS Network File System, a Unix-based file-sharing protocol known for performance and efficiency
NUC Next Unit of Computing brand of Intel small computers
SATA Serial AT Attachment interface for mass storage
ZFS Solaris/Linux filesystem focusing on data integrity

[Thread for this sub, first seen 12th Aug 2024, 01:05] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]

curbstickle ,

Tiny/mini/micro makes up my server environment (and two customs using old cases and replaced parts).

Storage is a 1520+ and the two customs, with the 1515+ for backups I don’t want to lose (syncs to two other locations).

Tiny/mini/micro is the majority of compute tasks, mostly proxmox, LXC’s, and a few VMs.

The little machines have plenty of processing power, usually nvme but I can add it on if needed. Combine it with network storage, and you don’t need anything else imo.

Bonus is they are small and cheap as off lease machines being auctioned off.

__init__ ,

Some good ideas on this site if you are interested in building your own forums.serverbuilds.net/t/…/13956

SethranKada OP ,
@SethranKada@lemmy.ca avatar

Thank you! I’ll check it out, it seems to have quite a few good suggestions.

__init__ ,

I’ve been considering moving to this build in particular for lower power usage and heat output, but they have some other dual socket builds if you want more cpu power.

catloaf ,

Are you looking at Dell/HP/Lenovo’s sites? Don’t do that, those are going to be way overpriced and way overkill. Also most of them are rack servers, not really suited to home use. If anything, you’d want to spec it out as a tower workstation.

Personally I build mine out of parts, and usually used parts. Currently I’m using a little U-NAS NS-410 case, and I replaced all the internals with something better. Total cost was less than $400, I think.

sudoroot ,
@sudoroot@lemmy.zip avatar

No one has brought up Unraid OS specifically yet. Others have said just build your own machine, and yes absolutely this is the way. And then just slap Unraid on that and you have yourself exactly what you’re looking for. It’s user friendly, as powerful as your wallet can handle, and plenty of room for expandability.

tills13 ,

TrueNAS if you’re on a budget

haui_lemmy ,

For many reasons I would go used. There are used server vendors which have great machines for a reasonable price. You can of course build your own with that money but if you go used you will have a beast which will likely run for decades still.

atzanteol ,

If you think about what the “S” in “NAS” is you’ll realize why they prioritize storage…

You want a general purpose server.

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