EDIT : I’m going to use a Lenovo P500 (at around $130) with 8 threads (will upgrade it later) and 64gb of RAM. It support the E5 v4 family so that’s great. If someone knows the power consumption, that would be cool!

Hello, I want to build a “homelab” and I’m searching for a server, what do you propose me as good options? I need something with at least 64gb RAM, can buy used, and minimum 16vcores… Around 150$ If you have any good options let’s comment below 👇 THX ❤

53 points
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66 points

Looking for recommendations for a racecar, at least 800 horsepower. Needs to hit 60 mph in under 4 seconds.

My budget is $2000. Please give recommendations.

LOL

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15 points
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4 points

“67 hemi cuda!”

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8 points

Used HP ProLiant. It’s nearly 10 years old, but has 16 cores 64GB of RAM, and is just under $150 with free shipping

https://www.ebay.com/itm/235286275608

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11 points

The hidden cost of power usage could be a lot more expensive then something more modern though lol

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5 points

Agreed. 100% would not recommend going this route for a homelab, but it does meet every specified requirement

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2 points

Look at my edit do you think it’s better?

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2 points
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Xeon E5-2670, with 115W TDP, which means 2x115=230W for the processor alone. with 8 ram modules @ ~3W each, it’ll going to guzzle ~250W when under some loads, while screaming like a jet engine. Assuming $0.12/kwh, that’s $262.8 per year for electricity alone.

Would be great if you have an isolated server room to contain the noise and cheap electricity, but more modern workstation should use at least 1/4 of electricity or even less.

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0 points

I just want to correct something is that the TDP is the power under load, so if the cpu is not 100% used it could be 20 hours at 25W and 4 at 90W

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1 point

If they are up for that, I’d be happy to part with mine for cheap. They’d need to get an E5-2650 (v2) to meet their 16 core requirement but a pair of those are pretty cheap.

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1 point

Wouldnt bother with Gen8. We literally throw them in the e-waste recycle bin.
Either get a Gen9 if tight with cash (also EOL) or Gen10 servers which are currently supported and get current updates.

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0 points

Look at the edit I will maybe take that

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32 points

At that price, the hardware will be ancient and you will spend more on electricity in a year than you spent on the server.

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1 point

there’s no solution? maybe mini pc’s?

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33 points
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Not with 64gb ram and 16+ cores on that budget

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1 point

Not the cores but you can get 2x16gb sodimms for something like an Intel (now Asus) NUC. But that won’t be cheap lol.
Dunno if there are 2x32gb kits but maybe some higher end mini-pc has 4 bank ram or even full length dimms.

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3 points
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30 points
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Lmao dude thats simply not happening at that price.

You could get part of the way there with an old Dell server, but you’re probably gonna be paying closer to 2-300 for a decently spec’d one like you’re describing. You’re probably gonna be looking at a 10 year old twin quad core setup with a tdp of like 500W combined for JUST the cores. Your power bill is going to murder your budget, even if you somehow find a magical deal on the box.

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2 points

You can usually find HPs for cheaper although they are pretty picky on what they work with. For some reason, HP decided that it will work with stuff they have not certified but the fans will constantly be at 100%.

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0 points

I’ve edit the post with what I found, seems good and be more power efficient

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24 points

Bear in mind, a system that is built to be a dedicated server will be meant to crunch data. That means 2 things:

  • loud fans

  • heavy electricity use

If you just want a lab, I suggest getting a desktop PC and loading a server OS on it. Practical hardware experience isn’t too valuable because platforms change and they usually make them super simple to maintenance with lots of online support. Getting a desktop will also save you some bread on initial investment.

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1 point

A self-hosting server does not necessarily crunch data and it doesn’t have to have loud fans or use lots of power. It can idle in the 15-20W range with an Intel CPU and if you put the HDDs on standby when idle.

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2 points
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Yep, I’m speaking in generalities. Overall, my point is that a homelab doesn’t need something expensive because it may not be heavily used, so most of those features are not necessary. If the guy had mentioned running a business or customers, that’d be a different story.

You even had to qualify your own statement that one has to modify hard drive power consumption to achieve acceptable noise levels.

I had a SIEM running on a mini-pc like a champ. It cost me fifteen bucks and taught me a lot. Build to requirement, not title.

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20 points

Honestly that sounds overkill for someones. First time into self hosting.
I would start with something like a Nuc or a secondhand 1 liter PC (dell optiplex/HP elite mini/Lenovo ThinkCenter) which are dirt cheap on eBay.

Do you have an indication of what you want to run that requires that mid range gaming setup?

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10 points

Definitely agree. If you need to spin up a bunch of discrete VMs for labbing, that’s one thing, but noise, cooling, power consumption, and space all come into play for dedicated hardware. I host a variety of services and they all run on small, low energy hardware (which is often pretty cheap). I just spun up a matrix server on a $100 ebay HP ProDesk which has plenty of power (probably enough to deploy my whole stack).

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