For those who are looking for suggestions and advice on how to configure their own hardware for a NAS (Network Attached Storage), HTPC (Home Theater PC) or Virtualization server, here are some useful tips.
First of all:
If you want low power consumption, then the solution is to get HDDs with as large a capacity and as few as possible, obviously. Between 2..4 x 22Tb pieces, it depends on how much redundancy you want.
The 5400 RPM ones have the least power consumption, but obviously the transfer speed is lower. In my own servers, the highest power consumption is given by HDDs. Each HDD adds between 7-10W.
Motherboard:
- – it must have two fully accessible x16 slots, meaning all lanes must be available, regardless of what you add to the motherboard later, because there are motherboards that reduce the lanes depending on what resources are still being used or even completely disable a PCIe x 16 slot if you connect a 2nd nvme or ssd port, etc.
- – look for a model that supports 8 x SATA, this will save you from adding an additional controller that will take up a regular PCIe x16 slot, and if you don’t have a processor with iGPU then you will be left without additional PCIe x 16 slots. Few consumer motherboards have more than 2 x PCIe x16.
- – The motherboard must support: PCIe x16 slot with x4x4x4x4 bifurcation, otherwise you won’t be able to use NVMe Quad adapters that are very cheap and useful.
- – If it also has Bluetooth it’s even better, if not, you can add one via USB/PCIe 1x, possibly also WiFi. It’s useful if you want to connect to various IOT devices around the house (electrical switches, light bulbs, automatic fuses, sockets, UPSs, batteries, solar inverters, power meters, etc.)
- – It should have ports with at least 3.0/USB 3.1 Gen 1 (5Gbps). I also choose to have USB 3.1 (2) gen 2, maybe 10Gbps will be needed in the future! If it also has USB-C, it’s even better.
- – To support a processor with integrated GPU / iGPU.
Controller:
- – If you use an SAS/SATA controller, that adds between 8-20W in idle, depending on the model/age/performance/etc.
- – An NVMe Quad PCIe x16 adapter will be extremely useful in the future.
- – Choose a model that knows IT/HBA mode, configuration is infinitely simpler and is compatible with ZFS.
GPU:
Choose a processor with integrated graphics (iGPU), otherwise the best options are nVidia 750 Ti (1W idle, headless) or something more powerful Nvidia 1050Ti (2-3w idle). The video card is very useful if you want to make a media server with transcoding like Jellyfin, which from experience can support up to 20 1080p streaming using 1050 Ti.
Extra GPU:
As I said above, the best options for a multimedia server (HTPC) are nVIDIA 750 Ti or 1050 Ti models, but if you need a GPU for AI / LLM, etc. then that’s already in another complex area!
MEMORY:
If you use virtualization it wouldn’t be bad to have 128Gb memory, you can start with at least 32gb, but to be good at least 64gb and add another 64 in the future. It will help you a lot, especially if you also have ZFS.
The memory can be as fast as the motherboard supports, but if you have all the slots full, the speed will be lower, in my case with 4 slots I have a maximum of 3200.
CPU:
A model that has 32K L1 cache, otherwise the performance will be poor. More than 32K L1 is not necessary, the performance improvement is small above this value.
I use the Ryzen 5700X 8C/16T model in 2 personal servers and I am very happy with it.
Currently the new generations on AM5 are too expensive. But if I had to choose something on AM5, I would go for the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, 12C/24T, 65W TDP
STORAGE:
Enterprise HDDs like: HGST, WD Black/Gold/Ultrastar, etc …
As models I use SATA and SAS. If you choose SAS, they are found very cheap today, taken out of servers and still good to work for a few more years, but for that you need a SAS controller and preferably IT/HBA mode, your life will be 10 times easier with them. And if you use ZFS, it doesn’t really work with RAID models.
I chose ZFS with raidz1 (3 x HDDs) + external backup on USB
As storage for OS, virtual machines and other needs, choose an NVMe SSD from the range of those that can withstand a lot of stress, preferably PCIe gen 4, and at least 1TB. The higher the capacity, the longer it will withstand write operations. The top 2TB ones can withstand about 1200TBW and as models you can choose from
- – WD Black SN850x,
- – Samsung 990 PRO,
- – Hynix Platinum P4
In the future, there will be other, more powerful ones, especially since it is easy to switch to PCIe 5 and we will probably be preparing for PCIe 6 in 2-3 years (Samsung prepares to unveil 10th generation V-NAND with 400+ layers — ready to power future PCIe 5.0 and 6.0 SSDs)
Case:
Buy a server case that allows you to add at least 1 x 3.5inch/2.5inch Internal HDD Hard Drive Cage For 4x SATAII Hot Swap HDD. I have a case that allows me to add 2 Cage x 5 HDD and 1 Cage with 4 HDD (3.5 inch), meaning a total of 15 possible HDDs, all hotswap.
The case must be one for PC motherboards, for ATX and obviously allow PC power supplies, like ATX.
As for format, at least 2U, ideally 3U so that you you can use any PCIe cards. But the 4U ones are easier to find, they are more ventilated, lower internal temperatures, large and silent fans!!!
BACKUP:
For additional backup and redundancy I suggest a large capacity external HDDs that can be put on standby without any worries, the backup units do not need to be 100% active permanently, they wake up only when needed!
POWER:
The power supply must have at least 500W and be one with very good efficiency. If you have many hard drives (15-20), it would be preferable to have one of 600-700W and with a sata power supply. There are possibly SATA power splitters, but don’t overdo it with them.
If you are using a powerful video card, then make sure that the power supply will easily handle the required consumption, you may need an 800-1000W power supply.
It is mandatory to use a power source for energy backup. For long periods of time, the best solution that I use is a LiFePo4 battery (12v 100Ah) and a UPS that knows how to charge such batteries. There are already LiFePo4 batteries compatible with classic UPSs, so the technology exists, you have to have a budget for your needs.
The UPS is useful to be able to connect to the server so that it can take measures to save data and shut down in time, before the UPS suddenly shuts down.
Additionally, a protective relay for dangerous voltages with a timer must be added to delay the reconnection of the electrical network to short shocks/interruptions, which are very dangerous for electronics.
KVM:
There are cases in which you are not on location and you need to access the server as if you were there, enter the BIOS, reinstall the operating system, etc. And for something like that you need a KWM, and the most recommended would be a PiKVM model with all the necessary accessories: you can physically turn off/on the server, access and configure UEFI/BIOS, you can use Virtual CD-ROM or Flash Drive, high FHD resolution, etc.
If you have time, you can assemble your own PiKVM!
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