Starting A Home Lab.

[Slow Pri]

Hey Guys!

I'm starting a Home Lab, I want to build a server. I have found a few parts on Craigslist and a few on Ebay. I don't feel as if it's needed to purchase new parts at this very moment.

I'm planning on buying a bare bones server case, along with a LGA 1155 motherboard ($49-$89), I haven't decided on the CPU just yet (prob a i5) and paired with at least 8GB ECC ram. I'll end up buying a network adapter as well.

I really want to build it this way just because I hate pre-built. I might go along with a VPN (hardware). I don't know what else I'll buy for this lab maybe even a switch.

I'd love suggestions as well as any sort of tips I need. I'm learning as well since i'm in school as well for networking.

Thank you

 

[USAFRet]

Why a server case? That seriously limits your parts selection, and probably ups the noise factor.


A "server" is software, not the form factor.

 

[Slow Pri]

Why a server case? That seriously limits your parts selection, and probably ups the noise factor.


A "server" is software, not the form factor.

because i want one

 

[thebigbug]

because i want one

It might run louder and with more electricity than you'd like as compared to the same hardware in a desktop case with larger fans. Just a heads up.

You mentioned ECC ram, but it requires a Xeon processor and a motherboard that can support it. Might bring costs up a bit.

Try eBay. Look up the Dell r210 II. That's probably the best bang for buck you'll get. If you're building yourself, it'll cost more. An 8-core Sandy Bridge processor would run you ~$130 (half the cost of the entire Dell I mentioned) and the motherboard will run ~$250 new. Even the 1155 motherboards are $150 new. If you get one of the consumer motherboards that runs as low as you mentioned, forget about ECC RAM. I found some used server motherboards on eBay that fit that price, but make sure you get one that doesn't have a proprietary format.

I personally am running a whitebox (2xE5-2680,128GB RAM, etc.) and a Dell r210ii. Saw a nice deal a while back on the Dell R720 which was way under what I spent to build my whitebox, and at the same specs too. If you're doing this to learn, it's probably better to go with something like that r210ii so that you know how to deal with them in a business environment (it's a little different with the upgrades and stuff, plenty of cool things you've never seen before, etc.). Building computers is fun and all, but make sure it makes sense. My whitebox did for me because I could still fit a regular GPU in there and the fans were big enough to keep it quiet in my room.

Whatever you do, just make sure you get one with IPMI. You'd be surprised how often it comes in handy.