Building a rackmount server

[thisissparta]

I want to build a 1-4U rack server with the following specs for as cheap as possible.
I don't mind if its supermicro, dell, hp, or anything else, as long as it works.
Dual Intel Xeon L5520 or better. AMD works as well, but a minimum of 16 threads is a must.
64Gb DDR3 RAM(ECC/Non-ECC, both work)
4x3TB SATA drive in hardware RAID10, along with appropriate RAID card
How much would this run me? And where can I build this? I have built tower servers before, but I don't have any experience with building a rackmount.

 

[DComander1x]

I want to build a 1-4U rack server with the following specs for as cheap as possible.
I don't mind if its supermicro, dell, hp, or anything else, as long as it works.
Dual Intel Xeon L5520 or better. AMD works as well, but a minimum of 16 threads is a must.
64Gb DDR3 RAM(ECC/Non-ECC, both work)
4x3TB SATA drive in hardware RAID10, along with appropriate RAID card
How much would this run me? And where can I build this? I have built tower servers before, but I don't have any experience with building a rackmount.

This barebones based build should make it easier to put together a rackmounted build & it has 32 Threads, over four 8 core AMD Opterons, two 1 TB SSDs and 16 TB over four 4 TB HDDs. It also has 128 GB of System Memory over two 64GB System Memory Packs and they are DDR3 1600, so bandwidth should not be an issue.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Storage: Samsung EVO 1TB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($539.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung EVO 1TB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($539.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Other: SUPERMICRO AS-2042G-6RF 2U Rackmount Server Barebone Quad Socket G34 AMD SR5690/SR5670 DDR3 1600/1333/1066 ($1899.99)
Other: 4 x AMD Opteron 6220 Interlagos 3.0GHz 16MB L3 Cache Socket G34 115W 8-Core Server Processor OS6220WKT8GGUWOF ($2219.96)
Other: 2 x Wintec Server Series 64GB (4 x 16GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) ECC Registered Server Memory Model 3RSL160011R5H-64GQ ($1299.98)
Total: $7219.87
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-03 14:05 EST-0500)

 

[CarlMurillo1]

What is the purpose of this server? If could tell us this, then I could suggest a more specific type.

We recently bought “Rackform iServ R4552” from Silicon Mechanics at our office. It’s got the Intel Xeon E5 processor. Take a look in case it’s something along the lines of what you’re looking for. http://www.siliconmechanics.com/i51253/gpu-4u-4-node.php. Silicon Mechanics, Thinkmate, PogoLinux are some great companies. They provide customized/configured rackmount servers. You can approach any of these guys and compare rates for yourself.

 

[chrishollidge]

There is a lot to consider when build a rackmount server, I would probably start with where it's going to be installed. Rack room where noise and cool air isn't an issue, or in you nice quiet office?

As a guide 1U is easy to cool but limited room means fans need to be powerful and that means noise. 4U obviously takes up a lot of room but you can get some great slow speed/high airflow fans.

Processors you need to be looking at Intel Xeon E5 CPUs, v3 versions are the latest. Bought some stuff from here before but they aren't component suppliers http://g2digital.co.uk/products/rack-pc/