Low power home server suggestions?

agrikk

agrikk

Gawd
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Apr 16, 2002
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I'm looking to build a new server for my home network that will replace my dual CPU dual core rig.

My requirements are basically that it will have really low power requirements (it will be on 24/7), run cool and quiet (it'll be in a work area - unobtrusive, please!) and handle the simple needs of a Windows 2003 home network including DHCP, DNS, AD, File/Print, etc.

Can anyone suggest a setup with at least two cores (CPU, Memory, Motherboard & Power supply) that will meet the aove requirements while retaining some decent performance?
 
I built a *nix router about 3 months ago ... and overkill for what I use it for ... might be a good base for you.

* NORCO RPC-250 Black 2U Rackmount Server Case
* Intel BOXDG31GL LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
* Intel Celeron 430 Conroe-L 1.8GHz LGA 775 35W Single-Core Processor Model
* Kingston 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300)
* Western Digital 640GB AAKS SATA Hard Drive
* Intel PWLA8391GT 10/ 100/ 1000Mbps PCI PRO/1000 GT Desktop Adapter
* Intel PWLA8391GT 10/ 100/ 1000Mbps PCI PRO/1000 GT Desktop Adapter

Original Thread: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1375204

You *could* change the CPU to a dual core one .. Intel Celeron E1200 1.6GHz 65W Dual-Core
(I got my CPU on Ebay for $12 with shipping included and it is very lower power draw)

Any Corsair Power Supply would be fine --> depending on the number of drives you use.

The motherboard I got openbox on Newegg for $21 + $4.99 shipping.
Ram was $15.99

So it was a very cheap system to put together ....

Just scale it to your needs ...
 
I understand DHCP/DNS, etc, by why AD? That CAN be pretty resource intensive. And I would definitely get more than 1 GB of RAM.
 
AD for centralized resource management and access to the myriad machines I sometimes have to turn on. Also, because my home network also serves as one third of my lab environment (where I mess with AD optimization over WAN links, domain trusts, and other AD feats of strength).
 
EvilAlchemist said:
I built a *nix router about 3 months ago ... and overkill for what I use it for ... might be a good base for you.

* NORCO RPC-250 Black 2U Rackmount Server Case
* Intel BOXDG31GL LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
* Intel Celeron 430 Conroe-L 1.8GHz LGA 775 35W Single-Core Processor Model
* Kingston 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300)
* Western Digital 640GB AAKS SATA Hard Drive
* Intel PWLA8391GT 10/ 100/ 1000Mbps PCI PRO/1000 GT Desktop Adapter
* Intel PWLA8391GT 10/ 100/ 1000Mbps PCI PRO/1000 GT Desktop Adapter

Original Thread: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1375204

You *could* change the CPU to a dual core one .. Intel Celeron E1200 1.6GHz 65W Dual-Core
(I got my CPU on Ebay for $12 with shipping included and it is very lower power draw)

Any Corsair Power Supply would be fine --> depending on the number of drives you use.

The motherboard I got openbox on Newegg for $21 + $4.99 shipping.
Ram was $15.99

So it was a very cheap system to put together ....

Just scale it to your needs ...
Click to expand...

how much would that cost total?
 
I picked the cheapest 45W AMD X2 part I could find for my home fileserving build; so far its been more than enough grunt power for software RAID.
 
I hear they have the same performance as an old school Celeron 1.7 or so.

My CEO picked one up for personal use and had me connect it to our network and man, was it a POS. It ran Vista like a dog. :(
 
I would get a motherboard that has *some* room for upgrade down the road.

The board I used will support the Celeron 430 Conroe up to the higher C2D cpus.

That way, as your needs chance, you have some options to upgrade to more cpu power ....
 
Look for a 3800X2 AM2, some can be as low as 35w (nearly the same as the celeron)
 
G31 + e5200. Best low cost, low power, decent performance solution IMO. 65nm dual cores can't compete with the Wolfdale power efficiency. With a decent 80+ PSU and one drive, the power measured at the wall will be under 40w. I have a Foxconn G31 + e5200 in an old Dell 4600 case at work and am quite content with it.

At home I have 4 low power servers but they all came at larger premiums.

Intel DQ45EK w/ e8400 for WHS / VMWare Sever. 26w idle without drives.
Dell Mini 9 domain server. 5w idle like my routers and switches...
ALIX.2D3 embedded PFSense router. 5w typical, no wifi card yet.
Supermicro C2SBA+II G33. Uses a couple more watts than the G31 board, but is full ATX. 65w~ with 8 WD10EADS and a 150gb Velociraptor cache/app drive. 50w~ with the green drives spun down, what a great unRAID media server.
 
Romir said:
G31 + e5200. Best low cost, low power, decent performance solution IMO. 65nm dual cores can't compete with the Wolfdale power efficiency. With a decent 80+ PSU and one drive, the power measured at the wall will be under 40w. I have a Foxconn G31 + e5200 in an old Dell 4600 case at work and am quite content with it.

At home I have 4 low power servers but they all came at larger premiums.

Intel DQ45EK w/ e8400 for WHS / VMWare Sever. 26w idle without drives.
Dell Mini 9 domain server. 5w idle like my routers and switches...
ALIX.2D3 embedded PFSense router. 5w typical, no wifi card yet.
Supermicro C2SBA+II G33. Uses a couple more watts than the G31 board, but is full ATX. 65w~ with 8 WD10EADS and a 150gb Velociraptor cache/app drive. 50w~ with the green drives spun down, what a great unRAID media server.
Click to expand...

Those numbers are nice...will have to reexamine my 45W X2 system to see what parts are sucking down power (~80W from wall).

Though, I thought thanks to the mating of the Atom with the 945 chipset, you were guaranteed at least 20W of power draw?
 
Ok - 4850e @ 1.0v, 2GHz, 8 1.5TB Seagates, Asus M4A78 mobo (integrated GFX), Supermicro SAS controller, I get 140W idle.

Can I do much better than that? It doesn't sound too bad seeing as its got 9 drives (forgot the OS drive, 1 74gb Raptor), but again, your numbers intrigue me. PSU is a Corsair HX620.

e: 4850e is a stock 45W part @ 2.5GHz.
 
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