Looking for a new server

Hello everyone,

I am looking for a new home server to replace my existing hp proliant microserver gen8.

Requirements:

  1. Reduce power consumption. It currently runs at around 60 watts at idle, I would like to reduce that.
  2. Enough performance for various docker containers
  3. Enough power for 4k HDR video transcoding for a jellyfin container, whether graphics unit in the CPU or an additional graphics card doesn’t matter
  4. At least 4 SATA ports and space for 2 m.2 SSDs
  5. 16GB of RAM is a minimum

It doesn’t have to be a ready-made solution, I have no problem putting everything together myself.

Edit: Budget is ~500€

pandad0x0n,

Judging by your name and the high price of electricity you stated, I assume you live in Germany?

If so, mabe this could be an interesting option to consider in search for your server: ram-koenig.de/Gigabyte-MJ11-EC1-AMD-EPYC-3151-4x2…

It definitely is “a project” as it is a custom board from gigabyte, designed to be used in a Mining rig. It abides by ITX standards however an ATX adapter is required for power delivery to the board.

I got mine from Ramkönig, bought 32GB of registert ECC ram on eBay (27€) so the total for the server (if you have a case and HDD) for me was under 100€.

Power consumption is at around 20-30 watts in idle and according to the tdp of the CPU 45W higher when under load.

What is also interesting is the option to use an M2 SSD on this board. It also has 4 SATA ports.

GerPrimus,

Thanks, that sounds interesting. Unfortunately the board is not available. But I’ll keep an eye out for it. Case shouldn’t be a problem.

westyvw, (edited )

Your requirements are confusing.

I get the sata ports, but why the 2 m.2 SSD’s?

Why the 16 GB ram minimum? My server has multiple containers/services and barely uses 3 gb ram.

I say this because this is the crux of the issue:

  1. Enough performance for various docker containers

What you do here effects everything else right?

So a little clarification about what services might help make design a little easier.

GerPrimus,

Jellyfin alone needs at least 8 GB of RAM, and since I would like to have room for improvement, 16 GB is the minimum for me.I have two unused m.2ssds lying around here that I would like to install. Of course this would also be possible via a PCI board, but I would like to keep that free if possible.

gravitas_deficiency,

I think your best bet will be an SFF/USFF/1L box used on eBay. The tiny/1L ones mostly have energy-efficient CPUs (like intel T-suffix SKUs), but they also don’t support the SATA connections you specified (unless you go for an external USBC/TB3 enclosure, which many people do)

avidamoeba,
@avidamoeba@lemmy.ca avatar

If you drop the SATA req and go for USB instead, you could use any small form factor machine like the ThinkCentre 715q or the likes. I have one of those with a Ryzen 2400 with 4x 8TB external disks. I’ve clocked the whole thing pulling ~50W at full tilt.

darcmage,

Is 60W a lot? I think a system with a few mechanical hard drives and fans will be at least half of that regardless of the processor used. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

GerPrimus,

I pay around 34 €cents/kWh. That’s around €12 per month in electricity costs. Doesn’t sound like much, but if I could use less, I that would be nice

darcmage,

Do you mind including your budget in the OP? That would help others do their own calculations on electricity savings vs cost of hardware over time.

I’ve been monitoring this page gist.github.com/…/5da9b321acbe6b6b53070437023b844… from yewtu.be/watch?v=ceUIUyZwchY

It’s showing some really interesting results for various processors and their efficiency while transcoding.

GerPrimus,

Thanks, I’ll study the list more closely. Budget now is in the op

qaz,

Maybe something like this?

GerPrimus,

It was Wolfgang’s channel that gave me the idea to rethink my current server.

Xeno,

I’ve had similar requirements for a few years. Finally settled on 8 bay synology with a dell micro optiplex. I have a 10gb card in the synology and actually use a usb to 2.5gbE in the dell with zero stability issues. Some synology products can transcode a stream or two of 4k with quick sync but not many of the 8 bay ones. I have a 9th gen i5 with 32gb of ram that handles all my transcoding needs. Done 2x 4k transcodes with no issues while also streaming other 1080p for additional users.

GerPrimus,

Sounds nice. What kind of optiplex exactly?

Xeno,

I believe it is a micro 3070. Amazon link just for example, but very easy to find under $250 and very low power consumption. www.amazon.com/…/B07TTCJB2P?th=1

DrJenkem,
@DrJenkem@lemmy.blugatch.tube avatar

I don’t know for certain, but I think you’ll ultimately have to decide between either low power consumption or 4k transcoding. I doubt you’ll be able to achieve both.

entropicdrift,
@entropicdrift@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

I get both with one of these

Super low wattage at idle but it transcodes like a beast using QSV

BearOfaTime,

Wow, that’s pretty slick. Thanks, you may have just solved one of my project plans.

At that price/performance, it would supplant 4 Raspberry Pis I was planning on using for a variety of tasks.

I’ve been lazily running a gaming desktop as a “server” for far too long. Trying to reduce power consumption now.

entropicdrift,
@entropicdrift@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

It’s pretty sweet. I went the other way, starting on a Pi 4, moved up to a cheap ($110) Celeron N3350 device, then finally this little beast when I started getting HDR content and needing to transcode with tonemapping. 4 times the RAM, double the cores and it’s just way faster in general.

It’d also be perfect for light desktop use IMO

BearOfaTime,

Wow, that’s pretty slick. Thanks, you may have just solved one of my project plans.

At that price/performance, it would supplant 4 Raspberry Pis I was planning on using for a variety of tasks.

I’ve been lazily running a gaming desktop as a “server” for far too long. Trying to reduce power consumption now.

GerPrimus,

That would be conceivable, but I would like to pack my existing HDDs in a case if possible

entropicdrift,
@entropicdrift@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

Yeah, in my case I host my hard drives on a cheap ARM Synology NAS and an external drive plugged into an M1 Mac Mini running Asahi. Just have an external SSD plugged into the Jellyfin server as a cache/transcodes drive

DrJenkem, (edited )
@DrJenkem@lemmy.blugatch.tube avatar

And you’re able to transcode 4k with that? 1080p with hardware offload isn’t surprising, but 4k really requires some extra horsepower.

EDIT: Maybe I’m wrong, seems like quicksync even on a Celeron has gotten pretty good.

entropicdrift,
@entropicdrift@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

Yep, 4k to 4k tonemapping, even, which was one of the use-cases my previous Celeron N3350 server couldn’t handle (it got ~14 fps)

8tomat8,

This is really good, do you know if I can plug my 4tb m2 ssd in there? If yes, I’m moving tomorrow😁

entropicdrift,
@entropicdrift@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

I haven’t personally opened it up, but it does internally use a replaceable m.2 NVME SSD according to the info that came with it, so you should be able to.

lemmyvore,

Check that it uses the same interface for the M2 slot as your SSD (PCIe vs SATA).

8tomat8,

It does. What concerns me is the sign “up to 2TB”. And I don’t understand if it is a limitation of preinstalled os or hardware.

filister,

Maybe check some options with Intel N300/305. To be honest I don’t know how good Intel Quicksync is, so you might need an external GPU as well. You also need a power efficient DC PSU at low wattage.

It is also important what components you put inside, like low-end SSDs have the lowest power consumption and maybe are your best bet. I would also recommend you buying a 5400rpm power efficient HDD if you need it. Disabling all unnecessary ports in the bios can also help lower your power consumption and tweaking the power limits of the C-states, and enabling C10.

My suggestion is first try to play a bit with your current server BIOS settings and the power optimization in Linux. If your power consumption at full load is like 90-100, maybe consider swapping your current PSU with a DC one, as they have superior power efficiency and after each change evaluate the performance and the power consumption both on idle and on 100%.

GerPrimus, (edited )

Thanks for pointing out the ports, I’ll see which ones can be deactivated. I’ve been reading up on c states lately.I just suspect that my configuration leaves little room for maneuver.The microserver is currently running proxmox with openmediavault and a vial pihole on lxc. I would swap the vial pihole for a raspberry and only use OMV.

filister,

Keep in mind that RPI is good for containers, but not for virtualisation, so if you want to run some VMs or have proper expandability I would advise you against RPI.

Plus disabling the ports won’t make a big difference I presume, a couple of Watts at best.

I recently bought an N100 powered firewall appliance and the idle consumption is around 13 Watts, with two SSDs and 32Gb of RAM, a bunch of USB and video ports and 4x2.5Gbps ports all switched on. People are even reporting that this can be pushed down to 7-8W, comparable to what you would get with RPI.

The i3-N305 has 8 physical cores and TDP of 15Watts, which can easily be reduced to around 9-10.

GerPrimus,

Sorry, there was a typo. OMV I would also run the new server and pihole on a raspberry. OMV without the detour via proxmox

KpntAutismus,

sounds like you might wanna underclock stuff, LTT made a video about a cost competitive gaming pc which is more effficient than an equivalent gaming console. or get something like a rockchip-based Raspberry pi clone with pci-e slots

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