Hello everyone,
I am looking for a new home server to replace my existing hp proliant microserver gen8.
Requirements:
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Reduce power consumption. It currently runs at around 60 watts at idle, I would like to reduce that.
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Enough performance for various docker containers
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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
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At least 4 SATA ports and space for 2 m.2 SSDs
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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€
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.
Thanks, I’ll study the list more closely. Budget now is in the op
It was Wolfgang’s channel that gave me the idea to rethink my current server.
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%.
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
vialpihole on lxc. I would swap thevialpihole for a raspberry and only use OMV.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.
Sorry, there was a typo. OMV I would also run the new server and pihole on a raspberry. OMV without the detour via proxmox
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 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
That would be conceivable, but I would like to pack my existing HDDs in a case if possible
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.
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:
- 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.
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.
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)
