Want to build a file server that also doubles up as rendering machine in times of need. Is E5-2651 V2 a good buy?

[kvkrissy]

I am looking to build a file server where all our project files will reside and my team with other 10 systems will connect to work and save file in the server. We work in Maya, C4D, 3DS Max, After Effects, and do heavy 3D modeling, animation, rendering and video editing. though the primary use of the system is as a file and backup server, I will also use it as a rendering machine when we are in tight deadlines. I need atleast 4 HDD hot swappable storage bays with atleast 32G ram. A vendor has offered XEON E5-2651 V2 (12 core) or Dual processor system or Xeon E5-2680 V2 (10 core) dual processor. I found that Xeon E5-2680 V2 (10 core) is discontinued and doesn't support DDR4. I am not able to find much info on Xeon E5-2651 V2 (12 core) on the intel site. My question is, 1. Can I invest on a discontinued processor like eon E5-? 2680 V2 (10 core) 2. Your suggestion if it is advisable to choose one among both.3. Your suggestion on any other processor which would suit my requirement better. 4. Please help me with a suitable system configuration that will suit my needs. My budget is around 3,500$ Would be thankful for your help.

 

[groves.damien]

I am looking to build a file server where all our project files will reside and my team with other 10 systems will connect to work and save file in the server. We work in Maya, C4D, 3DS Max, After Effects, and do heavy 3D modeling, animation, rendering and video editing. though the primary use of the system is as a file and backup server, I will also use it as a rendering machine when we are in tight deadlines. I need atleast 4 HDD hot swappable storage bays with atleast 32G ram. A vendor has offered XEON E5-2651 V2 (12 core) or Dual processor system or Xeon E5-2680 V2 (10 core) dual processor. I found that Xeon E5-2680 V2 (10 core) is discontinued and doesn't support DDR4. I am not able to find much info on Xeon E5-2651 V2 (12 core) on the intel site. My question is, 1. Can I invest on a discontinued processor like eon E5-? 2680 V2 (10 core) 2. Your suggestion if it is advisable to choose one among both.3. Your suggestion on any other processor which would suit my requirement better. 4. Please help me with a suitable system configuration that will suit my needs. My budget is around 3,500$ Would be thankful for your help.

your request is like me asking which race car can also be used weekdays for commuting
trying to have a system that does both will most likely equal a system that does neither task well
if you need a file server, buy a NAS, or a old system with a low power cpu and a older low power video card

a rendering system depending on what type of rendering you want to do is a system that requires lots of ram, a fast CPU with a high single core "IPC" number, and a modern video card, some newer rendering software is also able to make use of multi core cpu's and dual socket systems, all of this is just the opposite of what a file server needs

i for one would not want to be rendering on a system that was also doing file server work.

 

[kvkrissy]

I am looking to build a file server where all our project files will reside and my team with other 10 systems will connect to work and save file in the server. We work in Maya, C4D, 3DS Max, After Effects, and do heavy 3D modeling, animation, rendering and video editing. though the primary use of the system is as a file and backup server, I will also use it as a rendering machine when we are in tight deadlines. I need atleast 4 HDD hot swappable storage bays with atleast 32G ram. A vendor has offered XEON E5-2651 V2 (12 core) or Dual processor system or Xeon E5-2680 V2 (10 core) dual processor. I found that Xeon E5-2680 V2 (10 core) is discontinued and doesn't support DDR4. I am not able to find much info on Xeon E5-2651 V2 (12 core) on the intel site. My question is, 1. Can I invest on a discontinued processor like eon E5-? 2680 V2 (10 core) 2. Your suggestion if it is advisable to choose one among both.3. Your suggestion on any other processor which would suit my requirement better. 4. Please help me with a suitable system configuration that will suit my needs. My budget is around 3,500$ Would be thankful for your help.

your request is like me asking which race car can also be used weekdays for commuting
trying to have a system that does both will most likely equal a system that does neither task well
if you need a file server, buy a NAS, or a old system with a low power cpu and a older low power video card

a rendering system depending on what type of rendering you want to do is a system that requires lots of ram, a fast CPU with a high single core "IPC" number, and a modern video card, some newer rendering software is also able to make use of multi core cpu's and dual socket systems, all of this is just the opposite of what a file server needs

i for one would not want to be rendering on a system that was also doing file server work.

 

[kvkrissy]

I am looking to build a file server where all our project files will reside and my team with other 10 systems will connect to work and save file in the server. We work in Maya, C4D, 3DS Max, After Effects, and do heavy 3D modeling, animation, rendering and video editing. though the primary use of the system is as a file and backup server, I will also use it as a rendering machine when we are in tight deadlines. I need atleast 4 HDD hot swappable storage bays with atleast 32G ram. A vendor has offered XEON E5-2651 V2 (12 core) or Dual processor system or Xeon E5-2680 V2 (10 core) dual processor. I found that Xeon E5-2680 V2 (10 core) is discontinued and doesn't support DDR4. I am not able to find much info on Xeon E5-2651 V2 (12 core) on the intel site. My question is, 1. Can I invest on a discontinued processor like eon E5-? 2680 V2 (10 core) 2. Your suggestion if it is advisable to choose one among both.3. Your suggestion on any other processor which would suit my requirement better. 4. Please help me with a suitable system configuration that will suit my needs. My budget is around 3,500$ Would be thankful for your help.

your request is like me asking which race car can also be used weekdays for commuting
trying to have a system that does both will most likely equal a system that does neither task well
if you need a file server, buy a NAS, or a old system with a low power cpu and a older low power video card

a rendering system depending on what type of rendering you want to do is a system that requires lots of ram, a fast CPU with a high single core "IPC" number, and a modern video card, some newer rendering software is also able to make use of multi core cpu's and dual socket systems, all of this is just the opposite of what a file server needs

i for one would not want to be rendering on a system that was also doing file server work.

Thank you very much for your reply Damien. Appreciate your time to analyse and share your experience. I am so thankful for that. You have questioned the design philosophy itself. I have to agree with your point. So can I put it this way, It works as a file server during the day and at night, its a rendering machine. We are a small company of 10 and I thought, we can put the machine to good use in the night when its idle and only during my peak load period (a couple of days a month or so) . So probably the idea is to build a good system for rendering and then use it as only a file server during the day. Now would you be able to suggest in these lines? Can you help me with the two processors that i mentioned?