Best home server

[rcfant89]

I want to set up a home server to run the following:

3+ IP cameras recording 24/7 (preferably at 720p if possible)
host website (very low traffic, like a few hits a day max)
media (movies/music/pictures/etc)
smart home features (smart locks/nest/lights/etc)
imaging (ghostcast)
test lab (VMs for testing)

Maybe a couple other things as they come around. I see lots of Dell PowerEdge R710s for around 500 bucks and up and I think they would handle all that with ease if I got one with specs like:

2x 6 core (24 total cores including the hyperthreading)
24 GB ram (not sure if I would need to up it to 36 GB+?)
4x 2TB (not included in above price, 3.5" SATA 7200 rpm)
2x 120 GB ssd (not included in above price, for C drive)

I want to mirror the drives so 120 GB C drive for the OS (with 120 GB mirror) and 4 TB for main storage with 4 TB backing that up.

Something like this for example: http://goo.gl/rESYUN

This should be able to easily handle the above mentioned tasks with plenty of resources to spare, right?

 

[TechyInAZ]

I personally would say that's overkill for your uses. But for $500, that's a great deal. how many VMs are you planning on using at once?

Or, if you want to save energy you can make a DIY server that uses way less energy.

 

[kanewolf]

I would recommend a commercial NAS unit. Much easier to setup. Not as cheap, but more reliable and much lower runtime cost and noise.
A 2U server like an R710 will be very hot and very noisy.

Get something like a Synology DS415+, or a Qnap TS-453 Pro, or a Thecus N5810PRO

Put 4 x 4TB WD Red Pro disks and you are good to go.

 

[rcfant89]

Power should cost about 50 cents a day so it's pretty negligible and I don't pay for it anyway as it's included. As for the NAS, I don't like the idea of not having a full availability of options. By that I mean with a server, I can install any program, run any piece of software, etc. On a NAS, you are basically stuck to running a mobile app and/or Linux right? It does not have a windows os? I know you can connect to it on your desktop and access the files in a normal manner but what about accessing it from an outside computer, from work or a friends house? I don't think you can RDP to it since it is not windows or a normal os.

As for noise, if I put it in a closet I don't see that being an issue at all. Is that wrong? As for the overkill, I want it to be overkill so that I can expand it in the future and have options to do pretty much whatever I want and not be limited to what a cut down system (nas) can do.

And lastly as for ease of setup, I am in IT so this would be a learning/experience thing for me as well. I have setup servers before so that will not be an issue.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[rcfant89]

Also, my coworker told me that the perc raid card in the above server would not handle a 3 TB disk (only handle up to 2 TB). That is a concern for me. So how about this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Poweredge-R710-2x-Xeon-X5550-2-66ghz-QC-32gb-2x-Trays-H700-2PS-/371372251970?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item567782db42

Procs a little slower but has h700 raid card so I can use 3 TB disks.