Build Advice How's my proposed server build - - I'm stuck on picking a chassis ?

[TantalizingMoon]

Hi all.

I'm building a server to store all the sensitive files for a few of my companies as well as my personal private files. I'm trying to fit it into a 1U chassis, but I'm open to moving up to a 2U if necessary.

I'm very familiar with desktop building, but servers are newer to me. So, I'd love your thoughts on my proposed build.


Here's the components I've selected:

CPU: Intel Xeon E E-2336

Motherboard: SUPERMICRO MBD-X11SCA-O

RAM: Crucial 2x16GB DDR4 SDRAM ECC Unbuffered DDR4 2666

Storage: Raid 6:

4x Seagate Exos 7E10 6TB 3.5" SATA 7200rpm

Raid 1:

2x Intel D3-S4510 1.92 Tb Solid State Drive - 2.5" Internal

Raid Controller: LSI 9300 MegaRAID SAS 9361-8i

Network: Intel/Dell X540-T2 (for 10GbE)

PSU: Hoping to have it included in the chassis

Cooling: Hoping to have it included in the chassis

OS: Likely Ubuntu


What chassis do you recommend? It will need to fit 4x 3.5" HDDS and 2x 2.5" SSDs. Hoping to be under $350.


Any improvements that could be made on my components?

 

[kanewolf]

Hi all.

I'm building a server to store all the sensitive files for a few of my companies as well as my personal private files. I'm trying to fit it into a 1U chassis, but I'm open to moving up to a 2U if necessary.

I'm very familiar with desktop building, but servers are newer to me. So, I'd love your thoughts on my proposed build.


Here's the components I've selected:

CPU: Intel Xeon E E-2336

Motherboard: SUPERMICRO MBD-X11SCA-O

RAM: Crucial 2x16GB DDR4 SDRAM ECC Unbuffered DDR4 2666

Storage: Raid 6:

4x Seagate Exos 7E10 6TB 3.5" SATA 7200rpm

Raid 1:

2x Intel D3-S4510 1.92 Tb Solid State Drive - 2.5" Internal

Raid Controller: LSI 9300 MegaRAID SAS 9361-8i

Network: Intel/Dell X540-T2 (for 10GbE)

PSU: Hoping to have it included in the chassis

Cooling: Hoping to have it included in the chassis

OS: Likely Ubuntu


What chassis do you recommend? It will need to fit 4x 3.5" HDDS and 2x 2.5" SSDs. Hoping to be under $350.


Any improvements that could be made on my components?

Four drives is not optimal for RAID 6, IMO. RAID 6 uses 2 disks for parity. So your 4 disks become a RAID 10 equivalent with a lot more overhead.
You are better off doing JBOD for your system disk and using the second for backup. Your data will be better protected. Maybe RAID 1 for system would give you better up time.

BUT, if this data is critical you need to think about the 3-2-1 rule. 3 copies on 2 independent sets of hardware with one copy at an off-site location. Your server doesn't meet those requirements.
RAID is not a backup. Don't rely on it. It only provides uptime, not data security. You would be better off with 2 two-bay commercial NAS units. Have them replicate from primary to backup. You could put one at a different location and do replication over a VPN.

 

[TantalizingMoon]

Four drives is not optimal for RAID 6, IMO. RAID 6 uses 2 disks for parity. So your 4 disks become a RAID 10 equivalent with a lot more overhead.
You are better off doing JBOD for your system disk and using the second for backup. Your data will be better protected. Maybe RAID 1 for system would give you better up time.

BUT, if this data is critical you need to think about the 3-2-1 rule. 3 copies on 2 independent sets of hardware with one copy at an off-site location. Your server doesn't meet those requirements.
RAID is not a backup. Don't rely on it. It only provides uptime, not data security. You would be better off with 2 two-bay commercial NAS units. Have them replicate from primary to backup. You could put one at a different location and do replication over a VPN.

I'm going to stick the rack server route rather than NAS route for my purposes.
I agree about the Raid 6. Not sure what I was thinking.

 

[kanewolf]

I'm going to stick the rack server route rather than NAS route for my purposes.
I agree about the Raid 6. Not sure what I was thinking.

How are planning on providing backups for data security?

 

[TantalizingMoon]

How are planning on providing backups for data security?

I think what I'll do is run Raid 10. I plan to keep backup drives in safes off-site. Updated weekly.

I know I "technically" don't need a server for my purposes. My main concern is that there's a plethora of files and data I need to store, but I want the data in a secure location (not any property I own) but I need to be able to access the data. My plan right now is to put this server in a colocation. I want to own my data, so renting a dedicated server isn't ideal for me.
I'm planning to encrypt the drives and files and require a YubiKey for every login.

Do you have any other solution than this server that I'm overlooking?

 

[kanewolf]

I think what I'll do is run Raid 10. I plan to keep backup drives in safes off-site. Updated weekly.

I know I "technically" don't need a server for my purposes. My main concern is that there's a plethora of files and data I need to store, but I want the data in a secure location (not any property I own) but I need to be able to access the data. My plan right now is to put this server in a colocation. I want to own my data, so renting a dedicated server isn't ideal for me.
I'm planning to encrypt the drives and files and require a YubiKey for every login.

Do you have any other solution than this server that I'm overlooking?

IMO, if you are pre-encrypting, then cloud storage is a better answer. It becomes an op-ex rather than a cap-ex.

 

[faalin]

#1 that CPU will not fit that board. the board is socket 1151 and the CPU is socket 1200
#2 the seagate drives will not saturate a 1GB nic, so adding a 10GB nic is kinda pointless

To save you a ton of money i would just pick this up, HP DL380 G9 server, i have bought 3 HP servers from them over the years and all are still working. The last one was a HP DL380 G8, think i bought around 2015, that is running at work as our internal backup server.

 

[TradeJack01]

Are you an experienced Linux sysadmin? If not perhaps re-consider your plan and look for cloud storage where everything is managed for you.

If you are an experienced admin you could consider LVM instead of hardware-raid. Also, ZFS has huge advantages if your data is really critical. And like others have said, you would need a copy of the data on independent hardware, and a good backup.

 

[Misgar]

To save you a ton of money i would just pick this up, HP DL380 G9 server,

Seconded. I bought a couple of HP ML350P G8 servers way back and converted them to run TrueNAS Core ZFS RAID-Z2. With dual redundant PSUs, repurposing old hardware is often cheaper than building a new system.

#2 the seagate drives will not saturate a 1GB nic, so adding a 10GB nic is kinda pointless

The six Toshiba N300 6TB drives in my RAID-Z2 server (circa 2018) often exceed the capabilities of 1Gbit Ethernet, but not by much. Typical transfer speeds over 10Gbit SFP+ reach 1.25 Gbit/s. A slight improvement over 1G, but still within the capabilities of 2.5G.

Second hand 10G cards are cheap, especially SFP+ fibre optic, but I admit 10G switches are more expensive. I use MikroTik.
https://www.servethehome.com/the-ul...ers-guide-netgear-ubiquiti-qnap-mikrotik-qct/

I can justify the expense of 10G when throwing files between M.2 NVMe drives on other systems. That's when 5G can be a bottlenexk. For even more speed consider 25/40/100G.

 

[faalin]

Seconded. I bought a couple of HP ML350P G8 servers way back and converted them to run TrueNAS Core ZFS RAID-Z2. With dual redundant PSUs, repurposing old hardware is often cheaper than building a new system.


The six Toshiba N300 6TB drives in my RAID-Z2 server (circa 2018) often exceed the capabilities of 1Gbit Ethernet, but not by much. Typical transfer speeds over 10Gbit SFP+ reach 1.25 Gbit/s. A slight improvement over 1G, but still within the capabilities of 2.5G.

Second hand 10G cards are cheap, especially SFP+ fibre optic, but I admit 10G switches are more expensive. I use MikroTik.
https://www.servethehome.com/the-ul...ers-guide-netgear-ubiquiti-qnap-mikrotik-qct/

I can justify the expense of 10G when throwing files between M.2 NVMe drives on other systems. That's when 5G can be a bottlenexk. For even more speed consider 25/40/100G.

Yes its nice to have 10GB at home, or a local environment that you control. But he's placing the server into a paid colocation where hes paying for rack space, network, and internet. Maybe the colocation only has 1Gb network or you can pay extra for 10GB network, the same for internet. What is his internet at home/business? Short of the initial setup of loading all the data how much data will be uploaded/download each day.