Ideas for a low power, all purpose server? (Web, backup, game server, htpc)?

[noobtastic88]

All,

Maybe I am asking for something that doesn't exist, but I want to build a low power all purpose server. I'm trying to learn some programming, I want to mess around and host a web server and database (low traffic... just want to mess around). I also want to host a game server for a couple of friends, probably 10 simultaneous connections max. My desktop handled it OK but I'd prefer not to leave that thing on 24/7. Would also be nice to store my movies and photos someplace too so I can connect to it from the TV and stream movies vs. plugging a USB with a movie on it into the back of the TV like I have done. Even play around with virtualization. It would be awesome if it could handle all of these things at once, but not necessary.

I'd like to keep this as cheap as possible, should I throw out a figure of $500 to start? I have a lot of hard drives and the OS is no problem so that's going to cut down on some costs. I'd really only need case, motherboard, processor, RAM. My main concern is that this isn't going to drive up my electric bill...

I was looking at the intel NUC, and it seems really cool, just not sure what to do about the storage situation. Assuming I would have to buy a RAID enclosure of some sort. Can you suggest anything?

I'm all very new to this so if you have any suggestions I'd really appreciate them. Thanks!

 

[BadActor]

For a simple server, you don't need a lot of processor power. I've seen some people use tablets or a Raspberry Pi. If you want to do multiple streams and encoding, you're going to need something more than that.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($173.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($42.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone PS08B (Black) MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 380W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($42.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $344.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-20 12:37 EST-0500

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/General-Tech/Building-Configuring-Ultimate-Plex-Media-Server/Building-Plex-Media-Server

 

[imort]

All,
I'd like to keep this as cheap as possible, should I throw out a figure of $500 to start? I have a lot of hard drives and the OS is no problem so that's going to cut down on some costs. I'd really only need case, motherboard, processor, RAM. My main concern is that this isn't going to drive up my electric bill...

You didn't need a much CPU and RAM for the start and Intel NUC will give you the storage problem at least.
Pick some good i5 2+ GHz CPU and the motherboard suitable for that and 8 Gb of RAM at least.
You can always add more later. Maybe you can pick some used motherboard and CPU too if the budget is tight.

Then you can install your the Linux you like, I used to Debian but it's personal.
You also may need to install VirtualBox if you need Windows environment for the game server.

If you need to get some ideas about 'what else can I do with my own server' you can look here

Talking about the electric bills your setup should cost you no more than 150-200W total and most times it will be much less if you turn on the energy save options. So you can calculate the estimate bill grow using the 0.1kW/hour average I believe.