Looking for Advice on a DIY Home Server Build
###Build Help/Ready:
Have you read the sidebar and rules? (Please do)
Yep.
What is your intended use for this build? The more details the better.
I'm planning on setting up a small, cheap home server for use as a NAS, personal cloud server, VPN server, and probably some other things. It's one part new toy and one part learning tool.
If gaming, what kind of performance are you looking for? (Screen resolution, framerate, game settings)
No gaming.
What is your budget (ballpark is okay)?
$500 maximum
In what country are you purchasing your parts?
US
Post a draft of your potential build here (specific parts please). Consider formatting your parts list. Don't ask to be spoonfed a build (read the rules!).
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/YxwCPs
The two HDDs would be in a RAID1 configuration, and the SSD is for the server OS.
Provide any additional details you wish below.
I'm mostly looking for advice/thoughts on the hardware choices (it doesn't need to be powerful, so I went with cheap hardware. I tried to build something using a used Xeon CPU, but in every combination I could find either the CPU was $200+ or the motherboards for the CPU didn't exist). This is going to end up sitting in my living room, probably in my TV stand (the case fits, already measured), so I'd like it to be out of the way and relatively quiet (hence why I went with a DIY instead of just buying a prebuilt server).
Also, I'm looking for input on what OS to load onto it. At the moment I'm thinking Ubuntu Server, but I'm also tossing around the idea of a hypervisor to get more experience working with those and setting up servers within VMs.
And yes, I already asked r/HomeServer, and unfortunately that subreddit isn't terribly active.
Posted May 21, 2017, 2:06 AM UTC
You're going to have a hard time implementing VMs with only 2 cores. You had it right in the beginning, kinda: Buy a used Xeon workstation. You can find 4 core with HT, 8GB RAM for about $300.
Skip the SSD for OS or get one big enough to support hypervisor + multiple OS.
Amazon is selling used HGST Ultrastar drives for very cheap. They're built like a tank, extremely reliable. I've got a 2 in RAID1 and 4 in RAID10 running for over a year.