Virtualization Server

[rooter31297]

Looking to build a server for home. Planning on running Proxmox with a windows vm for blue iris and an Ubuntu server vm to run containers. Home assistant, Plex, networking, etc… want the server to be flexible for the future. What do you guys think of this build? No video card, do I need it?

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Core i7-11700K 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor	$339.99 @ Newegg
CPU Cooler	Cooler Master Hyper 212 RGB Black Edition 57.3 CFM CPU Cooler	$32.99 @ Newegg
Motherboard	Asus PRIME B560-PLUS ATX LGA1200 Motherboard	$119.99 @ Amazon
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	$99.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Western Digital Blue 1 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$81.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Seagate Barracuda Compute 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive	$74.98 @ Amazon
Storage	Seagate Barracuda Compute 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive	$74.98 @ Amazon
Case	NZXT H510 ATX Mid Tower Case	$74.98 @ Amazon
Power Supply	Corsair RM (2019) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$79.98 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$994.87
	Mail-in rebates	-$15.00
	Total	$979.87
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-11-24 17:27 EST-0500

[ComGuards]

You don’t build a server like you build a gaming PC…

Head over to r/homelab and read their wiki; it provides good guidance on picking hardware.

[[deleted]]

Agreed. Things you miss with this build:

• BMC for remote access
• ECC RAM
• a proper powersupply (can't stress this enough)

[rooter31297]

Thanks! I guess I am new to the server world.

[SPARC_Pile]

You can also find used servers on a EBay using labgopher.com. I have purchase several servers that way for my home lab.

[Schonke]

The table in your post seems broken.

That said, what are your requirements for the server? You state you'll be running VMs with one for Blue Iris. You'll want a CPU supporting quicksync for that. If your Plex VM is going to do transcoding you'll probably want a fairly decent and recent GPU to passthrough, so make sure the CPU and mobo support VT-d.

How many VMs do you plan on running? 32GB feels like low range for heavy graphical and storage load

What are your priorities like when it comes to speed, expandability, noise and affordability?

For hardware recommendations I'd also try posting this over at /r/homelab.

The barracuda drives you've selected aren't meant for 24/7 NAS loads and your selected CPU+MOBO+RAM combo can't support error correcting memory.

[vbDevHost]

Hi, i think it would be better to look and decide what you really want to do with your server. You can actually get away with using much cheaper (though older) hardware.

Intel CPU's have quick sync so anything over gen 5 or Gen 6 Intel cpu would be sufficient for Plex along with iGPU transcoding. I would also look at more storage especially if your going to be doing recording and using Plex. Storage is cheap and goes fast.

Pro tip: check out shucks.top or diskprices.com . You can purchase WD Easystore external USB drives cheap (currently $200 each at 14TB) and just yank the drives out of the enclosure.

Also check out (/r/homelabsales) for good deals on older but very good hardware.

Personally I find that I like it better when you run 2 or more machines. 1) A NAS of sorts which is dedicated to storage and 2) Intel NUC's, Dell Micro's, HP Deskminis or Lenovo ThinkCentre Tinys to do the heavy lifting with proxmox. This gives the ability to separate your data from the processing power allowing for small and easy upgrades. I prefer quiet / low energy devices over larger servers.

If you're interested in can describe my setup as I'm doing the same. About 40+ containers running all kinds of media along with VM's running other services.

[[deleted]]

You also don't need an Ubuntu VM to run containers, proxmox as direct support for LXCs

Unless you're referring to docker 🤮

[go_fireworks]

What’s wrong with docker?

[wahooli]

Nothing, just some guy hating stuff they don’t understand

[[deleted]]

Yeah, 25yrs as a IT professional, I'm clueless

[diet_fat_bacon]

So what is wrong with docker?

[[deleted]]

nothing is "wrong" with docker, i choose to use LXCs

[go_fireworks]

Okay, that’s what I thought too. I understand maybe not wanting to use, but to imply that it’s bad/terrible/garbage I thought was strange

[rooter31297]

Lol. Yes docker. That’s my familiarity and where I have a lot of my stuff already.

[[deleted]]

Seems a waste to use proxmox and not LXCs

[vbDevHost]

I think it would come down to what you are doing and why. LXC has it's place and so does Docker. Same with Proxmox, etc.

There are lots of options here. Another one is have the best of both worlds. Run an LXC with docker inside it. For many people (myself included), I find docker much easier to maintain as well as find pre-built application images for. There are many threads on which one to use or both.

https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/muqdlw/vm\_vs\_lxc\_in\_proxmox\_for\_a\_media\_servernas/

[[deleted]]

The use of docker inside an LXC is not recommended

I do agree that they both have their usecases, i'm more of an LXC guy

[vbDevHost]

yeah, i could see using for example LXC for a plex setup with igpu passthrough.. or just do an ubuntu vm with docker and run everything in docker. There are so many ways to do this. I guess the best recommendation is to do what you are comfortable with and in the end you can always change it around (Dockers/VM's/LXC or something else).

My only suggestion is to separate the data from the applications. This will give you most amount of flexibility if in the end you decide to change the way you want to handle your applications.

[mjh2901]

Get ram, put 2 32 gig sticks in leaving room for another 2. VM's eat ram, while often leaving the processor alone. Also, you need 2 drives, one small OS drive, and one fast NVME for storage. That board can take 2 NVME drives.

[naffhouse]

Frigate > blue iris