"New" Home Servere

[Adam]

I'm a big fan of re-purposing things or upgrading old things vs. buying new ones. For years I've been using old machines for other tasks or otherwise playing "trickle down electronics" when one component is upgraded on a machine.

Up until recently, I've been using my old desktop (C2Q-based machine from ~2007) as a "server" to do things like acting as a computer test bed for things. The machine only had 8GB of RAM which was starting to become a serious limitation, so the obvious question was to either upgrade it or get something else. The P45 platform that machine is based on only supports 16GB of RAM which isn't very impressive by modern standards, and DDR2 isn't "affordable" from in the cost-per-GB standard anymore either.

Historically, my next move would have been to build a new desktop then re-purpose my existing desktop as a upgraded server. My existing desktop is also showing it's age, being based on an only slightly newer X58 platform from 2009. That machine officially supports 24GB (and unofficially there are examples of it running 48GB with the right set of modules and timings), but that's not a huge upgrade. Not to mention current generation computer parts are expensive and I don't feel like spending $800+ to put together a new system right now.

So what else is out there? In the world of computers, the most worthless stuff is old server hardware as performance/Watt keeps marching on and IT system operators will nearly always make a quick return on investment by upgrading their H/W every few years. Enter the Xeon E5 platform. The C600 server chipset and LGA2011 socket were the first of 4 generations of similarly named server platforms starting in 2012. The chips themselves were originally released on the Sandy Bridge EP platform (sharing an architecture with the desktop CPUs of the same name). This stuff is getting on 10 years old, sounds like a good opportunity for re-purposing some old stuff!

As great as having a server in my basement would be, I'm not at the point where I want to buy/build a 19" rack and deal with machines that aren't "sound optimized". For that reason, I looked into the equivalent workstation platforms from the same era. All major OEMs made similarly equipped machines (HP, Lenovo, Dell, SuperMicro, etc...). The pricing of said machines varies wildly, seeming driven by the boom-and-bust cycle of machine decommissioning being pushed to eBay by recyclers/re-furbishers.

I settled on a single-socket Dell T5600, purchased on eBay for $80 shipped. This machine has some modern-ish features and as I planned on upgrading it, didn't really matter what the original specs were:
- USB3
- Lots of PCIe Gen 3 slots
- 2 Sockets
- Quad-channel ECC DDR3 RAM
- 6x 6Gbps SATA/SCSI ports
- Gigabit ethernet

Some cons of the workstation platform over the server platform:
- Less internal drive bays (2x 3.5") - though this is somewhat mitigated by the spare 5.25" bay which can hold muti-disk 2.5" drive enclosures and plenty of PCIe slots for future NVME M.2 drives
- Limited RAM slots (8)
- Case doesn't have blinkly lights?

The machine I bought came with a single E5-2620 CPU https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en ... l-qpi.html and a blanking plate over the second socket. While having 6 cores with HT is nice, the relatively low clock speed isn't that nice. Looking a the supported CPU list, there was a 'W' family high performance CPU available (E5-2687W https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en ... l-qpi.html), but as with most highest-performing parts, these are priced accordingly, ranging from $30-60 each on eBay. Sounds expensive. Looking at the nearly as good E5-2690 https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en ... l-qpi.html, those can be had for $20-25 for a pair. Sold! eBay also had a 2nd CPU OEM heatsink/fan combo for $25. Check out the OEM MSRP pricing on those CPUs.

ECC DDR3 RAM is incredibly inexpensive due to market saturation, though it does run at slower speeds than modern DDR4/5 platforms. Should be fine enough with a quad-channel memory interface for each CPU (think multi-drive RAID0 compared to single drive performance for reference). I found a 8x 16GB kit on eBay for $150.

Now lets install it.

You can see the fancy plastic cover over the 2nd socket on the left. This machine also came with a random low end Nvidia Quadro card for my convenience.

Taking the plastic cover off reveals the socket, still with the plastic socket cover in place.

CPU in the socket. Upgrading the original CPU is the same process, just take the heatsink off. This is conveniently done with 4 integrated screws in the assembly. There's something to be said for ease of repair in these OEM chassis.

I decided to try thermal carbon sheets instead of traditional thermal compound. Much easier and less messy to install. The thermal performance seems equivalent - high 30's, low 40's on idle, high 70's under load.

Ran some benchmarks - https://www.passmark.com/baselines/V10/ ... 2884831267


One oversight I originally made - this machine came with a 635W power supply and was rated to support up to 300W of GPU with a single 6-pin power connector. When you upgrade to 2x > 100W CPUs, during POST the BIOS reports the 635W power supply is insufficient (even if you don't have a high-end GPU attached). You can press F1 to continue and everything works, but that's inconvenient. Like most OEM platforms, this one has a quick-release power supply which is case-compatible with the higher end unit (825W) so upgrading was as easy as sliding the old one out and sliding the new one in, no screws required or even opening the case! That's an extra $50 I didn't intend to spend, but now I don't have to go downstairs and press F1 every time I reboot the machine.

What's next? Sort though my random collection of storage and see if anything is worth using. Right now it's running off an old 256GB SSD with a 1TB platter drive for storage.

How much?
- T5600 - $80
- CPUs - $20
- RAM - $150
- Storage - reuse
- Peripherals (mouse, keyboard, display) - reuse
- Heatsink - $25
- Upgraded power supply - $50
------------------------------------------
Total - $325

Future plans:
- Dedicated network connection to the rest of my computers. Right now it's connected via Ethernet to an old router configured as a wireless bridge. This is "fine" except for random latency spikes which can make operating a remote graphical console frustrating.
- Consolidate storage - I have stuff stashed all over the place on various machines/drives. Consolidating to a redundant storage array with a consistent backup solution makes sense.
- "Cloud" gaming. Attaching a real GPU to a VM has some interesting applications. Steam has built-in mechanisms for running a game on one machine and interacting with it on another that perform well.
- Random computery things. Previously, if I wanted to look at or try out random stuff, I always felt limited by my available hardware platforms. Or I'd have to ensure it was work-related and go there to try stuff out.
- Measure power consumption. Idle is probably reasonable, full load is probably exciting.
- Implement Wake-On-LAN for even more power savings

[kevm14]

Of all the things to post about (for the first time in 14 months).

This tells me you are sick of working on and talking about the BMW but are interested in computers as an actual hobby. Go on...

[kevm14]

It's funny that the correct answer was to buy some old Dell workstation and upgrade it. But that is definitely the TL;DR here.

It's also not that surprising because I had a similar experience with my Dell Outlet mini-tower back in 2009. I got an OG Intel Core i7 (Bloomfield) and x58 MB out of it and have since upgraded a few items. The machine is still relevant as a general desktop 13 years later which by historical standards, is mind blowing. No, it isn't compatible with Win 11 but I also refuse to go on the Linux bandwagon at home (mostly because it's not interesting to me).

Side note, I am still running my home built HTPC. I think it's an E7500 C2D. Runs Media Center on Win 7 and still has a nice interface for accessing my ~400 Netflix DVD rip library (I mean DVD backup). I also use it to stream content from DW via browser and in full screen it actually plays fine. Still using the ATI HD4650 GPU (I think the one that my Dell shipped with because it had component out for my long-junked Sony HD CRT). That has an SSD for OS and I think two platter HDDs. That was also built in 2009 and it still works - like I use it and put it to sleep when not using. Problem is Win 7 connected to the internet is....not recommended. So I guess I should put this plan on an exit ramp....that would be another thread. Or just disconnect it from the internet (still would play the movies) and migrate to another solution for browser-based video streaming. No clue what that would be but I suspect a recommendation would be for some kind of Linux on some really cheap hardware.

[Adam]

No, it isn't compatible with Win 11 but I also refuse to go on the Linux bandwagon at home (mostly because it's not interesting to me).

It doesn't have to be interesting, it just has to run/access the applications you want.

No clue what that would be but I suspect a recommendation would be for some kind of Linux on some really cheap hardware.

You should look at this: https://kodi.tv/ It's the evolution of XMBC. On top of any modern Linux, it'll probably run fine on your existing H/W. The allure of newer H/W is a combination of increased performance and reduced power consumption.

[kevm14]

No, it isn't compatible with Win 11 but I also refuse to go on the Linux bandwagon at home (mostly because it's not interesting to me).

It doesn't have to be interesting, it just has to run/access the applications you want.

Is O365 stuff supported?

No clue what that would be but I suspect a recommendation would be for some kind of Linux on some really cheap hardware.

You should look at this: https://kodi.tv/ It's the evolution of XMBC. On top of any modern Linux, it'll probably run fine on your existing H/W. The allure of newer H/W is a combination of increased performance and reduced power consumption.

Yeah it probably wouldn't take much to play my ripped DVD library. Though it needs to offer equivalent functionality (album art, a decent looking interface and transport controls via my MC remote). Yes I can use a different remote if I needed to. Probably should get one that gives me the best lean back browser experience.

[Adam]

No, it isn't compatible with Win 11 but I also refuse to go on the Linux bandwagon at home (mostly because it's not interesting to me).

It doesn't have to be interesting, it just has to run/access the applications you want.

Is O365 stuff supported?

On the web, yes. Native, no. Some people say the apps work under WINE, I've never tried.

[kevm14]

You've already lost me. I guess the Linux crowd would say shame on me for buying into any ecosystem that has OS requirements but everything has OS requirements....

[kevm14]

I could probably just replace Win 7 on my HTPC with whatever Linux does the things I need. Keep the media library on the other drives as they are. The hardware is old but seems to retain the performance required for the functions I still use it for so you'd assume Linux would be the same or better.