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 ❤
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You’re not going to get anything like that for $150.
~$200 will get you a nice mini PC with 16GB RAM
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
Have you tried picking yourself up by your bootstraps?
“67 hemi cuda!”
Used HP ProLiant. It’s nearly 10 years old, but has 16 cores 64GB of RAM, and is just under $150 with free shipping
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.
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.Look at the edit I will maybe take that
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.
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%.
I’ve edit the post with what I found, seems good and be more power efficient
At that price, the hardware will be ancient and you will spend more on electricity in a year than you spent on the server.
there’s no solution? maybe mini pc’s?
Not with 64gb ram and 16+ cores on that budget
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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What are you going to host/ use the server for?
At least 10vms and one NAS system
10 VMs? For what? Have you heard of docker?
Not every project can run in docker/linux.
Bear in mind, a system that is built to be a dedicated server will be meant to crunch data. That means 2 things:
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loud fans
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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.
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.
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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Unless you have use case for that much horsepower I would suggest, like others here, buy a mini PC as a start and if you need more down the line buy a second one. They are cheap, fairly quiet and don’t use much power.
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?
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).
Damn, what do you need that much RAM for?
Virtualization
If it becomes an AI homelab, that’s not so crazy.
I know there are valid use cases for that much, I just always like to check that they didn’t just see an LTT video and think they need way more than they do.
My man!!! I forget about this site!
Are you just starting out? I got started with home labbing with a Raspberry Pi 2B (1GB RAM!) and an external HDD I had lying around. I host Yarr, Navidrome, backups and a dashboard app Ive written on there and I am quite satisfied. I would really recommend starting small with hardware you already have and then buy new hardware as you go along. I am also using Tailscale. With this you can get your initial setup up and running in a day and save money if it turns out home labbing isnt for you or you dont really need the hardware.
thx
Any old Dell desktop/workstation/server should reach those specs. Poweredge rX30 and up, precision XX20/30 and up or optiplex (don’t know or understand that product line). Most of them are being rescued from the landfill. Might have to spend a crap ton over your budget, like 5-10x over, but you will get those specs.
Look at an r430 barebones, no cpu/ram and build from there using spec sheets from Dell on what it takes. I was able to get one for $400 3 years back, even came with 16gb of ram and a single 10 core Xeon e5-v3.
Also, what are you doing that need these kinds of specs? Running more than 10 VMs at once? Cloud gaming? Form follows function.
I want to run at least 10vms and one NAS system
What are the VMs for? Could you use containers instead?
Honestly, when it comes to your specified amount of Cores & RAM you’ll have tough luck. Got myself a MiniPC with 5700U and 32GB of RAM, two 1TB SSDs (mirrored) and 3 NIC but that was still 500€ after waiting for a decent deal.
Even buying a used PC off eBay will most likely cost far more if you insist on your specs.
I’ve edit the post with what I found
https://www.newegg.com/intel-nuc10i5fnhn-frost-canyon/p/2SW-000B-005P1
Intel NUC 10 Mini PC,Frost Canyon NUC10i5FNHN,Win10 Pro Intel Core i5-10210U,Up to 4.2GHz Turbo,4 Cores,25W Intel UHD Graphics,WiFi6,Thunderbolt 3(64GB RAM+1TB SSD)
$570 USD
This is basically what I run my home server apps with, all 10 or so in Docker. It’s way more $$$ than you’re hoping for but it kicks ass.
Good luck,
THX but your solution is way too expensive
That’s about the minimum price for what you’re asking.
You can bring the price down some by reducing the ram (since I think 16gb is plenty for this purpose) and the storage (like if you already have a NAS).
If your budget is $150, then you need to look for used options on eBay. Look for Dell Optiplex or Lenovo ThinkCentre towers. You will not find specs that good in your price range. But maybe you can get a decent CPU and save money to upgrade your RAM later.
MAYBE you’ll get lucky and find an old Dell server on eBay. Sometimes IT guys will sell their company’s old server for a profit. But I personally wouldn’t buy one of those, the monthly electricity costs are stupid.
I guess some perspective on some other comments here. I have a dell r720xd dual xenon’s 16 total cores 128gb ram it uses roughly 200watts per hour with the 11000w power supplies. it can get fairly loud when using lots processing power. I bought a 12u rack to mount it nicely in my office. It is also my guest bedroom, while everyone we have had doesn’t mind the noise not all guests would appreciate the white noise even with many of the cpu intensive stuff turned off and it as quiet as it goes. Fans full tilt would be obnoxious and hard to concentrate.
