2y ago

Looking for a new server

Hello everyone,

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

Requirements:

Reduce power consumption. It currently runs at around 60 watts at idle, I would like to reduce that.
Enough performance for various docker containers
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
At least 4 SATA ports and space for 2 m.2 SSDs
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€

27 comments

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.
- I get both with one of these
  Super low wattage at idle but it transcodes like a beast using QSV
  
  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.
  
  This is really good, do you know if I can plug my 4tb m2 ssd in there? If yes, I'm moving tomorrow😁
  
  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.
  
  That would be conceivable, but I would like to pack my existing HDDs in a case if possible
  
  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.

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

Fewer Letters	More Letters
LTT	Linus Tech Tips YouTube channel
NAS	Network-Attached Storage
PCIe	Peripheral Component Interconnect Express
PSU	Power Supply Unit
RPi	Raspberry Pi brand of SBC
SATA	Serial AT Attachment interface for mass storage
SBC	Single-Board Computer
SSD	Solid State Drive mass storage

7 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 8 acronyms.

[Thread #257 for this sub, first seen 1st Nov 2023, 13:20] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]

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: https://www.ram-koenig.de/Gigabyte-MJ11-EC1-AMD-EPYC-3151-4x27-Ghz-Mini-ITX-Mainboard-ATX-Adapter-Server
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.
- 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.
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.
- 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
  
  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 https://gist.github.com/ironicbadger/5da9b321acbe6b6b53070437023b844d from https://yewtu.be/watch?v=ceUIUyZwchY
  It's showing some really interesting results for various processors and their efficiency while transcoding.
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%.
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.
- Sounds nice. What kind of optiplex exactly?
  
  I believe it is a micro 3070. Amazon link just for example, but very easy to find under $250 and very low power consumption. https://www.amazon.com/Dell-OptiPlex-3070-Desktop-Computer/dp/B07TTCJB2P?th=1
Maybe something like this?
- Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
  Maybe something like this?
  Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
  I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
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
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)

27 comments