Silent homeserver - hardware

[bjohansen]

Hi there, Im looking at buying hardware to host a minecraft server, a small website, ftp and media storage.

It needs to be silent and I'd prefer if it was mini-ITX so it can fit in everywhere.

Been looking at this setup:
Intel Core i3 Dual Core i3-2100T, 35W, low power
ZOTAC H67ITX WiFi, Socket-1155
Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1333Mhz 8GB CL 9
Fractal Design Array R2, 300W PSU included
Samsung Spinpoint F4EG 2TB (5400 RPM)

I like the size and price of this build, but I'm not sure about the performance. Will it be enough for a Minecraft server with a decent amount of players and be used as a media server on my local network?

Noise is a vital point. It needs to be silent since it's gonna be in my bedroom. My current server is a bit too loud (AMD Athlon 64 3700+ stock fan is making a bit of a noise)

 

[Davidh373]

Intel Core i3 Dual Core i3-2100T, 35W, low power
ZOTAC H67ITX WiFi, Socket-1155
Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1333Mhz 8GB CL 9
Fractal Design Array R2, 300W PSU included
Samsung Spinpoint F4EG 2TB (5400 RPM)

This outta do it, but XMS3 isn't that good. You'll want 1.5v RAM like these

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-422-_-Product

 

[bjohansen]

This outta do it, but XMS3 isn't that good. You'll want 1.5v RAM like these

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-422-_-Product

Thanks for the comment. Too bad I can't order those memory modules from a norwegian netshop. They only sell Kingston, Crucial, Corsair, OCZ and Mushkin.

If you're able to navigate your way through a norwegian website, I'll give you some URL's:
http://www.komplett.no/k/kl.aspx?bn=11209 <-- Prefer that shop, good service.
http://www.netshop.no/Avdelinger/Dat...3-1333MHz.aspx
http://www.dustinhome.no/lp_1173_7224.aspx

You think the rest of the setup will work fine?

 

[Davidh373]

The following will do the job

-www.komplett.no-

http://www.komplett.no/k/ki.aspx?sku=599035

http://www.komplett.no/k/ki.aspx?sku=574681

http://www.komplett.no/k/ki.aspx?sku=578918

-http://www.netshop.no-

2x - http://www.netshop.no/Avdelinger/Dat...CL9-47303.aspx

http://www.netshop.no/Avdelinger/Dat...924-40571.aspx

-http://www.dustinhome.no-

2x - http://www.dustinhome.no/pd_5010168426.aspx

EDIT: I have no idea what the value of your currency is, but all of those will have the same performance, so pick whatever site you feel is most reliable and then pick what is least expensive from that site

 

[bjohansen]

EDIT: I have no idea what the value of your currency is, but all of those will have the same performance, so pick whatever site you feel is most reliable and then pick what is least expensive from that site

1 dollar = 5.4 nok

http://www.komplett.no/k/ki.asp?sku=599035 = 320 dollar
http://www.komplett.no/k/ki.asp?sku=578918 = 108 dollar

Any reason why the last modules are any better than the XMS3? What do I look for to determine which is better?
http://www.komplett.no/k/ki.aspx?sku=599037 (XMS3)

 

[Davidh373]

Voltage. Any voltage over 1.5 could damage your processor over time. Since the XMS3 DIMMS have a range of 1.5V-1.65V, the other RAM DIMMS having Straight 1.5V is better.

http://www.komplett.no/k/ki.asp?sku=599035 = 320 dollar

I apologize, this is registered server memory. Some chipsets intended for servers have a certain amount of DIMM slots. So a server motherboard can fit say 96GB of Unregistered memory, and 144GB of ECC registered memory.

^The above was stated to ensure you wouldn't misunderstand that you would somehow need the more expensive RAM for your purposes. Normal RAM will do you the same as ECC RAM will.

 

[bjohansen]

Voltage. Any voltage over 1.5 could damage your processor over time. Since the XMS3 DIMMS have a range of 1.5V-1.65V, the other RAM DIMMS having Straight 1.5V is better.

Thank you!

I guess I'll add http://www.komplett.no/k/ki.asp?sku=578918 to my cart.

The rest of the setup will do the trick? Minecraft server with a decent amount of people?

 

[mfenn]

The setup (with Kingston RAM) should be quite good. It isn't going to be silent though. Very quiet, yes. Silent, no.

 

[Zap]

I don't know what it takes to run Minecraft servers.

It isn't going to be silent though. Very quiet, yes. Silent, no.

This. The CPU and PSU have fans, plus the HDD makes noise. The PSU should be relatively quiet. The CPU fan will be quiet if you enable a fan profile in BIOS. Overall, should be "quiet" but not "silent." Should be sufficiently quiet for most ears.

 

[bjohansen]

The CPU and PSU have fans, plus the HDD makes noise. The PSU should be relatively quiet. The CPU fan will be quiet if you enable a fan profile in BIOS. Overall, should be "quiet" but not "silent." Should be sufficiently quiet for most ears.

Thanks guys. My current "server" is using a AMD Athlon 64 3700+ (San Diego) and the CPU fan is running at 5400 RPM which is just too loud when trying to get a good night sleep.

Im not familiar with Intel CPU's since I havent had one, so I dont know how well the fans cool at low RPM or if you're able to control the RPM at all (I can't with this CPU).

 

[mikeymikec]

I'm planning to replace my server soon, at the moment I intend to go for AMD Zacate as I want better media playback as well (it's a server that's also hooked up to my TV to play back movies). I want the power usage to be as low as possible to save on energy bills, I'm sure that it'll help reduce the cooling requirements as well.

My current server has a P3-866, total power usage when idle is just under 50W.

 

[TheStu]

Thanks guys. My current "server" is using a AMD Athlon 64 3700+ (San Diego) and the CPU fan is running at 5400 RPM which is just too loud when trying to get a good night sleep.

Im not familiar with Intel CPU's since I havent had one, so I dont know how well the fans cool at low RPM or if you're able to control the RPM at all (I can't with this CPU).

I have an older Core 2 Duo system using stock cooling. The intel stock cooler is whisper quiet, and the heatsink is actually pretty decent for stock. The fan doesn't even turn back on (it spins up at boot) until the computer has been on for about 15 minutes. My PSU and GPU are almost whisper quiet, the loudest thing in my case is a 120mm fan on my drive cage. With the 6-7 fans in my case I can barely hear it from about 3ft away, and without the 'noisy' fan, I can only hear it if I put my ear up against the case.

Your results will vary of course, I have a larger case with plenty of room, I am not sure how a mini-ITX case will change matters.

But Zap is right, quiet is easy, even sub-whisper quiet is easy. Silent is really, really hard and expensive. It means moving to 0 moving parts, so SSD instead of a platter drive, huge tower cooler, undervolting the CPU (probably), getting a fanless GPU and PSU, and then adding some noise dampening material (probably) in order to kill any capacitor whining noise that might bleed through.

 

[Zap]

Thanks guys. My current "server" is using a AMD Athlon 64 3700+ (San Diego) and the CPU fan is running at 5400 RPM which is just too loud when trying to get a good night sleep.

Im not familiar with Intel CPU's since I havent had one, so I dont know how well the fans cool at low RPM or if you're able to control the RPM at all (I can't with this CPU).

Compared to your current server, your proposed new build will sound absolutely SILENT.

Intel uses 4-pin PWM fans which are controllable if the motherboard has the built-in BIOS controls. I have yet to see one that does not - you just have to enable it.

 

[bjohansen]

Compared to your current server, your proposed new build will sound absolutely SILENT.

Intel uses 4-pin PWM fans which are controllable if the motherboard has the built-in BIOS controls. I have yet to see one that does not - you just have to enable it.

Thanks again

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZlbiZjEbk0
At 0:52 he's looking at CPU Fan Control Mode, is that what you talked about?

 

[mfenn]

Thanks again

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZlbiZjEbk0
At 0:52 he's looking at CPU Fan Control Mode, is that what you talked about?

Yep, that's correct. It looks like that particular board gives you pretty good control over the fan ramp.

 

[Zap]

Yup. They won't all look like that, but almost all current boards have it in some way, shape or form, even AMD based boards. They will be called various things like "Smart Fan" or "Q Fan" or whatever. Some just have enable/disable, some give you pre-set profiles such as auto/performance/quiet, some give you manual control, etc.

 

[Paperlantern]

A bedroom does not a server room make.

I never understood why people feel the need to put a server in thier bedroom. My servers are in a designated closet a good bit away from my bedroom. Even so, I sleep with a fan on anyway, my Siberian Huskies appreciate it, and it helps me sleep now, hard to sleep without white noise it's been so long.

More on topic, that will be MORE than enough for your needs. Honestly, with 8GB of RAM... if that CPU supports VTx (I didnt look it up to see), I'd install ESXi and separate out some of the roles. Id install a CentOS box with 4GB of RAM for Minecraft, slap webmin on it, along with some scripts for backing up and updating Minecraft (this is how I run my Minecraft server). Then the other 4GB should be more than enough to handle a web server/file server. Plus, you can always back up the VMs and if anything ever happens to the actual hardware, installing ESXi on replacement hardware and importing the VM would be much easier than rebuilding another physical box.

 

[Zap]

I never understood why people feel the need to put a server in thier bedroom. My servers are in a designated closet a good bit away from my bedroom.

Don't know about your place, but most apartments/condos/etc. I've been in don't have walk-in closets nor power outlets in the closets. Nicer houses will have a walk-in closet in the master bedroom, but who knows if it'll have power outlets. The other thing is networking. Maybe the router/modem is in the bedroom?

 

[Paperlantern]

Don't know about your place, but most apartments/condos/etc. I've been in don't have walk-in closets nor power outlets in the closets. Nicer houses will have a walk-in closet in the master bedroom, but who knows if it'll have power outlets. The other thing is networking. Maybe the router/modem is in the bedroom?

The closet I have my stuff in does not have a power outlet IN it, nor does it have a cable drop. As much as I would like those things in there I had to run cabling into the closet. There is a power outlet about 3 feet to the right outside the closet, the 850 VA UPS INSIDE the closet has a cord that runs out to that, and a coax I ran along the ceiling into the closet for the cable modem. Outlets and data don't have to be IN the closet to supply stuff in the closet. Although ideally I'd like those things eventually, but it is fine the way it is, its an out of the way closet sown in my mancave where I do all my repair work anyway.

I realize not everyone has a house with available closets in out of the way areas, but I would still never think to try and put a SERVER, or a desktop PC doing server duty... in a BEDROOM. THat just doesn't compute to me. Heh, but, ya gotta do what ya gotta do I guess.

I would think his available bandwidth on his home network connection would be more of a concern having "several people" on his minecraft server, then the hardware he listed choking. My ESXi server is a 2.4GHz Dual Core Xeon machine with 8GB of RAM. A proliant DL320 G5 actually. Runs several boxes, one of them the minecraft server. Handles 4 people on at once with no issues. Depending on the actual numbers though, his players may experience lag due to the server not being able to get them game data quickly enough. Ive had this issue with other game servers in the past, though I dont know specifically about minecraft and what its average bandwidth needs per connected user are. But I'm thinking if "Several" equals 4 - 6 players he'll be fine, more than that though could be questionable.