Very loosely organized notes of server builds.

Plex server

Ideally 1U or 2U. Probably should be an intel chip that supports “Quick Sync” for efficient video transcoding. Supermicro barebones seems to have the ideal chassis+mobo combo. Must have 10Gbe or SFP+

1U barebones/prebiult supermicro

• mini, low power SYS-E300-9C
  • with coffee lake i7 can this handle transcodes?
• lol $5k SYS-110P-FRDN2T
  • 16" depth
  • uses LGA-4189 socket
• SYS-110C-FHN4T
  • 12" depth
  • uses cheaper CPU LGA-1200 socket
• 5019c-l
  • doesn’t have 10Gbe nic ; can probably be added later

DIY

Should probably go with intel 1151 socket, based on serverbuilds.net and Perfect Media Server guy

Final candidate build (~$2425)

• $129 MSI B560M PRO-VDH WIFI LGA 1200 Intel B560 SATA 6Gb/s Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
• $215 Intel Core i5-11400 - Core i5 11th Gen Rocket Lake 6-Core 2.6 GHz LGA 1200 65W
  • $69 Thermaltake Engine 27 1U Low-Profile 70W Intel 60mm Low Noise PWM Fan Forty Fan Blade CPU Cooler
• $272 (2x$136) Crucial 32GB Single DDR4 3200 MT/s CL22 DIMM 288-Pin Memory
• $99 SAMSUNG 980 M.2 2280 1TB PCI-Express 3.0 x4, NVMe 1.4 V-NAND MLC Internal Solid State Drive
• $199 PLINKUSA 2U Rackmount (2x5.25+2x3.5 HD+2x2.5 HD)(15.16" Deep)
• $95 CORSAIR RM650 650 W ATX 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Power Supply
• (already purchased) $1375 ($687x2) SAMSUNG 870 QVO Series 2.5" 8TB SATA III Samsung 4-bit MLC V-NAND Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
• sata cables already ordered
• #TODO: 10Gbe/SFP+ card

Potential build:

• mobo/cpu opt 1
  • $249 AsRock Rack E3C246D4U
  • $299 Intel Xeon E-2126G Coffee Lake
• mobo/cpu opt 2
  • $129 MSI socket 1200
  • $175 core i5 10th gen (rocket lake) 65W
• $99 SAMSUNG 980 M.2 2280 1TB
• $199 2U PlinkUSA chassi
  • I dont think the Noctua low-profile will fit in 1U
• $280 4x16 GB RAM
• $95 650W PSU

NAS

• Can probably DIY

• need to understand SAS vs SATA; physical disc connection limitations

• apparently 6 2.5" ssd can fit in 1 5.25" drive bay

• chassis:

  • rosewill, plinkusa, chenbro, silverstone seem to be the only short-depth ones
  • stylish 2U 16" deep PLinkUSA
  • 2 x 5.25" front drive bays 2U short PLinkUSA
    • 15" depth
    • uses full ATX PSU, which seems weird
  • 2U Athena power
    • 14" depth
    • has PSU AND 2 x 5.25" front drive bays; could usewith icy dock

• mobo

  • epyc 3000 series? SoC , lots of PCI “lanes”, fuckton of RAM, and low power. Doesn’t typically include 10Gbe
  • Intel Xeon D series SoC, typically includes 10Gbe
    • Gigabyte Xeon D-1500
  • most seem to use OCUlink or sas breakout cables to connect SATA drives
  • high end SoC: AsRock Rack D2143D4I2-2T Mini-ITX Xeon D-2100
  • overkill option: ASRock Rome Epyc 7000 series
    • would require a 7000 series CPU; uses too much power
  • AsRock Rack X570D4U-2L2T
    • ryzen zen 3
    • has dual 10Gbe & 8 SATA ports

Premade systems

• 1U Supermicro SYS-5018D-FN4T
  • dual 10Gbe
  • 6 SATA ports
  • M Key 2242/2280
  • might be able to just put SSDs in the empty space inside the chassis, or into an Icy Dock cage
• 1U ASRock ryzen in a supermicro chassis
  • kinda strange, but has dual 10Gbe & 8 SATA ports.