I use a lot of proxmox servers and very happy with them most are for small office use running a router, win server and samba file server and a win 10 for remote users to vpn into most of the hardware is used dell 4-6th gen I-7 (cheap 4 cores 8 virtual) with zfs raid 1 2 SSD's for redundancy and a spinner HDD for back up 32-64 gb ram and meet my needs with ease. both at home and work. I have used rack servers but they are hard to fit on a shelf, HOT and use a lot of power and sound like a jet taking off. (I have a few to donate free) my point is do not over think or spend money to build a home lab or hardware that you will need to replace due to your use case. I still have one on a duel core 8 gb ram 2 250GB spinning disks that I use as a router and zoneminder camera DVR in a un air conditioned vacant office it just chugs along in 118 heat I have a twin to it that is all set up ready to run that I would be willing donate also. Todd On Thu, Jul 20, 2023 at 3:09 PM George Toft via PLUG-discuss < plug-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org> wrote: > Be very careful with ESX. I know someone who bought a random server and > ESX7 was not supported. It used to run on anything, now, not so much. > Check the support matrix before you buy. > > Regards, > > George Toft > > On 7/20/2023 1:12 PM, greg zegan via PLUG-discuss wrote: > > Hello, > I appreciate this topic. I have been wondering for a while now if there > is an affordable home server out there for EXSi and such. Is there any way > for someone to come up with a few choices for people like me? Is there a > low end, mid range, and high end home server for someone to list with parts > or suggested parts? > > thanks, > Greg > > On Thursday, July 20, 2023 at 01:01:13 PM MST, Keith Smith via > PLUG-discuss > wrote: > > > Thanks!! > > On 2023-07-20 11:36, Ryan Petris via PLUG-discuss wrote: > > I personally wouldn't even go for a used server. They're generally > > loud, and even when they aren't they use much more electricity than > > what you would get from a consumer platform. There's really no benefit > > unless you have room in your house to make a real server room with > > racks and the electrical capacity to go along with it. > > > > On Thu, Jul 20, 2023, at 10:59 AM, Stephen Partington wrote: > > > >> the downside for these processors is their mainboards are still very > >> pricy to buy. much more than the CPU itself. you are almost better > >> off looking for and buying a refurbished server which you can get > >> for almost ludicrously inexpensive prices. > >> > >> On Thu, Jul 20, 2023 at 1:56 PM Ryan Petris via PLUG-discuss > >> wrote: > >> > >> The CPU's cheap because it's old and no one wants them anymore -- > >> it's of the same generation as 6000 series intel processors (i.e. > >> skylake). It also uses a server socket, so the only motherboards > >> you're going to be able to find are server motherboards. Those are > >> going to be expensive and/or have other quirks, such as requiring a > >> vendor specific heatsink, or a vendor-specific power supply, or take > >> 5 minutes to start up, etc. > >> > >> You'd be better off spending money on a last-gen cpu and > >> motherboard, for instance here's a combination that is relatively > >> cheap: > >> > >> $174 for an i5-12400, which according to cpubenchmark.net [1] is > >> nearly 30% faster than the Xeon you linked (score of 19501 vs 15146, > >> much faster single-core score as well): > >> > >> > > > https://www.amazon.com/Intel-i5-12400-Desktop-Processor-Cache/dp/B09NMPD8V2/ > >> > >> $139 for a compatible motherboard: > >> > >> > > https://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-B760M-DS3H-AX-Motherboard/dp/B0BSP61QZC/ > >> > >> I also wouldn't pay so much attention to the number of "threads" you > >> think you'll need; you can run many VMs with a total number of > >> virtual processors that is much more than what you actually have, > >> and as long as you're not trying to go whole hog on every machine at > >> the same time you'll be fine, and even if you do, you'll still be > >> better off with a faster processor with a few fewer threads than an > >> older slower cpu with more. > >> > >> On Thu, Jul 20, 2023, at 10:26 AM, Keith Smith via PLUG-discuss > >> wrote: > >> > >> Hi, > >> > >> I was surfing the Inter Web when I happened upon a Xeon server CPU. > >> It > >> > >> is marked at $32.49 at Newegg. It has 12 cores and 24 threads and > >> has a > >> > >> good benchmark score. > >> > >> > > > https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Xeon+Silver+4116+%40+2.10GHz&id=3179 > >> > >> https://www.newegg.com/p/274-000A-007K2?Description=Xeon > >> > >> In the future at some point I would like to build something with 20 > >> plus > >> > >> or minus cores and 40 threads more or less for Proxmox. This would > >> be > >> > >> over kills because I only need 1 or 2 VMs active at one time... > >> maybe 3 > >> > >> in an extreme situation. > >> > >> This 12 core/24 thread CPU with 64Gb of Ram and a 1Tb SSD would > >> really > >> > >> be more resources than I would ever need. Off the top of my head > >> this > >> > >> means I might be able to build a decent Proxmox server for $500 - > >> $600. > >> > >> I do not need fancy video except for one VM that might be running > >> Win 10 > >> > >> or 11... I assume a server grade CPU would handle Win 10 and 11? > >> > >> Am I on the right track? > >> > >> Thank You For Your Feedback!! > >> > >> Keith > >> > >> --------------------------------------------------- > >> > >> PLUG-discuss mailing list: PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org > >> > >> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > >> > >> https://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > >> > >> --------------------------------------------------- > >> > >> PLUG-discuss mailing list: PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org > >> > >> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > >> > >> https://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > > > > -- > > > > A mouse trap, placed on top of your alarm clock, will prevent you from > > rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button. > > > > Stephen > > > > > > > > Links: > > ------ > > [1] http://cpubenchmark.net > > > --------------------------------------------------- > > PLUG-discuss mailing list: PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org > > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > > https://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > --------------------------------------------------- > PLUG-discuss mailing list: PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > https://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > > --------------------------------------------------- > PLUG-discuss mailing list: PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings:https://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > > --------------------------------------------------- > PLUG-discuss mailing list: PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > https://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > -- Todd Cole Ubuntu Arizona Team 2928 W El Caminito Phoenix AZ 85051-3957 toddc@azloco.com 602-677-9402