Need component help/advice on building 4U server

[scsi stud]

I am building a 4U server for my family business and wanted to make sure I am purchasing the correct/compatible components that you all would recommend.

I know I want to get Dual Xeon E5-2620 CPUs and run a virtualized environment using Hyper-V. I'm looking to build out about 4-6 VMs, nothing too serious (Domain Controller, 2 DNS machines, Database Server, Application Server, etc.).

Here are the specs I have chosen so far:

2 x Intel Xeon E5-2620 CPUs: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819117269

1 x Rosewill RSV-L4500 4U case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147164

1 x SUPERMICRO MBD-X9DR3-F-O EATX motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813182348

2 x Antec Kuhler H2O 620 Liquid Cooling System: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835209049

2 x SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series MZ-7PD512BW SSD Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820147194

1 x Athena Power AP-RRP4ATX6508 80 PLUS Certified 20+4Pin 2 x 500W Mini Redundant Server Power Supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817338047

1 x Kingston 64GB (4 x 16GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Registered DDR3 1600 Server Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820239276

1 x Adaptec RAID 2405 2260100-R Controller: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16816103092

I had a couple of questions regarding this setup:


1) Am I missing anything critical?

2) What Power Supply would you recommend? Is the one I picked overkill? I want to get something that is the best bang for the buck, but also at the same time provide some sort of redundancy should one PSU fail (which tends to happen with me more often than not)

3) Would you go with the 2 Samsung 512GB SSD drives (in RAID 1) or 2 Western Digital 1TB VelociRaptors, assuming space on either isn't an issue? Of course, I want the most reliable solution without sacrificing too much speed as well.

4) Do I need to purchase a separate RAID controller card, for reliability reasons, or can I use the one built into the motherboard?

5) As for RAM, can I use regular non-ECC memory? The cost increase to go with ECC/Registered is quite significant and I'm not sure if I will need the added benefits...


Many thanks in advance or any help or advice.

 

[LurchFrinky]

I don't have enough experience with your applications to be very critical. Generally speaking, you have some good quality components and I happen to be a fan of Supermicro motherboards.

I do have a couple of questions though:

Is there a specific reason for rackmount and 4U and the liquid cooling? I am assuming you have rackspace but you also need it as quiet as possible? I always thought people got 4U cases to fit a bunch of hard drives.

And, speaking of hard drives, I happen to also be a fan of software RAID. The controller card you picked is better than onboard RAID, but so is software (OS level) RAID. I may be wrong, but I think if you are going to invest in hardware RAID for reliability, you might want to find a card with battery backup.

And the only reasons to go with platters over SSD is cost and sequential I/O when in RAID 0. I don't think you have either of those reasons.

 

[tarmc]

if space isnt a huge issue, would 4x 500g velociraptors in raid 10 be a viable option? might cost a little more than 2x 1tb but quite a bit less than 2x 512 ssd. im not sure how they would compare performance wise, but the added redundance of the raid 10 might be worth it. the motherboard does support raid so i dont know if a seperate controller would even be needed?
or if you dont get the controller card put the $ towards more hd space, 4x 1g velociraptors raid 10?

 

[PCTC2]

Hey scsi_stud. Holy long-time lurker!
A few things:

1) I would recommend getting memory in multiples of 8. The E5 processors are quad-channel and you could be better off fully populating all 8 channels (four per CPU).
Also, you can't use the Kuhlers. The board you chose doesn't have the normal LGA 2011 Square ILM. It's the narrow-ILM Socket 2011, which you generally only can get server HSF mounts for. So I would go for a Supermicro SNK-P0050AP4 heatsink (it's relatively quiet and it comes with the proper mounts). Be warned... Supermicro puts WAY too much thermal paste on their heatsinks. I would recommend scraping off their stock paste and replacing it. Don't ask me what paste because I've just been using whatever I've gotten free from vendors. Lately that's been EVGA's paste, which is easy to work with but a major PITA to clean off (too liquid-y and it gets everywhere when you're trying to clean it off with alcohol).

2) Your power supply is anything but overkill. It's fine but I wouldn't go any lower, especially if you want to add any drives or anything in the future. If you get this power supply, you'll also need one of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119267

3) I would go with 2x 128GB Samsung 840 PROs RAID1 for OS AND 2x 1TB Velociraptors RAID 1 for your data and toss your VMs on the Velociraptors.

4) I would recommend a hardware LSI controller card over the Adaptec you chose. Out of all of the cards I've used over the years, I prefer LSI over Areca or Adaptec. The onboard software RAID for the SCU SAS ports is terrible, TBH. A good mid-range LSI controller is the LSI 9260-4i. If you're not going to have this on a UPS, I would recommend getting a LSI BBU 07 for the 9260-4i (it mounts directly on the card.)

5) Go with 8x8GB DDR3 ECC Registered Memory. You generally can't get 16GB DIMMs in non-ECC form, and 16GB DIMMs are pretty expensive (even $113 at distributer pricing). 8GB DIMMs should be dirt cheap somewhere. Also, as I said before, get in multiples of 8 for Intel E5 dual socket systems.

Though my thought of "dirt cheap" might be skewed since I've been dealing with enterprise TCO too long. But feel free to PM me with questions, and I'll get back to you next time I'm online.

 

[scsi stud]

Many thanks for the responses, everyone.

I am going with 4U simply because space really isn't an issue and I thought the more, the merrier. in addition, this machine is being housed in a place where there should be adequate air flow, but in the event that air flow/temperature is tight, I wanted to have a very solid cooling solution.

I don't mind paying the extra money for SSD's in RAID 1 provided that they are fairly reliable on a day to day basis. Would you still go with 2 x 128GB SSDs and 2 x 1TB velociraptors?

About the motherboard, would you recommend me getting a different motherboard that can support those liquid coolers, or keep the same motherboard I selected with the cooling fans you recommended?

Also, mentioning UPS brought up a good point - I do want to purchase a UPS for backup, what would you all recommend for this?

 

[dtessman]

scis_stud,

How did the build work out for you? Any changes from your original plan?

I have been looking at the Rosewill RSV-L4500 4U case as well.

Thanks!

 

[scsi stud]

@dtessman: The build worked out great. I ended up using the Rosewill case with most of the rest of the things I listed.

The only gripe I had was that the power supply I got didn't 100% fit in the case, so I was only able to screw about half of the screws, and the power supply is kind of lopsided in its place. It's secure and working, but it's not ideal.

Other than that, everything else worked just fine.

 

[XavierMace]

It makes me sad seeing that much money put into Rosewill's crappy, crappy cases. The two R4000's I've got was my first lesson in just how bad you can make a case. They make Norco cases look like Rolls Royce's.