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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: November 19th, 2023

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  • Physical space is actually a huge issue

    Ah then I’d recommend keep the existing machine as the server (it sounds like it’s serving you well hardware wise), and get a SFF machine for regular desktop use, be that a new build or a used office machine. The trick will be in migrating the server to Linux, and without endangering your data in the process.


  • In short, I’d recommend option B/C, where you buy used enterprise grade equipment, learn to run Linux, and build out that way. I can’t overstate just how good a deal can be had on eBay, even from reputable sellers. This goes for everything, from the computer itself, to disk shelves, to HDDs and SSDs. Plus you’re reducing on e-waste! Used HDDs are a great deal if you buy enough to run redundancy (RAID 6 or equivalent), because the seller will often include a warranty (up to 5 years!). I’ve only had a handful of drive failures and 0 issues with warranty refund/exchanges.


    You’re running roughly the same services as I do (though a bit more storage), so if it means anything, I’ve ended up using the following (all purchased used)

    spoiler
    • HP Z440 Workstation (upgraded over time)
      • CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2698 V4 (20 core)
      • RAM: 128GB DDR4 2133MT/s
      • GPU: Intel Arc A380
      • Storage: Boot SSD + HBA card for bulk storage
    • 2 x Dell EMC KTN-STL3 JBOD
      • 15 x 3.5" bays
      • Mix of HDDs spread across the two JBODs
        • 7 x 12TB
        • 6 x 14TB
        • 6 x 10TB
        • 2 x 16TB
        • 1 x 8TB
    • 1 x HP QR490A JBOD
      • 24 x 2.5" bays
      • Mix of SSDs
        • 6 x 3.84TB
        • 5 x 1TB


    Broadly, I find the following with my setup:

    • Pros
      • Easily expandable storage using a HBA
      • High reliability (ECC memory, server grade equipment)
      • Used equipment is cheap
    • Cons
      • Running mostly older-gen hardware, not cutting edge performance
      • Bulky, noisy cooling, less power efficient

  • A few things that might help narrow options down:

    • What’s your budget?
    • Do you expect to host more stuff in the future? Do you need more RAM/CPU performance?
    • How much physical space do you have? Do you have a place where could store equipment if it were noisier?
    • How expensive is your electricity? Is efficiency important?
    • How much of your 100TB is full?




  • I currently have 6x10TB of these drives running in a gluster array. I’ve had to return 2 so far, with a 3rd waiting to send in for warranty also (click of death for all three). That’s a higher failure rate than I’d like, but the process has been painless outside of the inconvenience of sending it in. All my media is replaceable, but I have redundancy and haven’t lost data (yet).

    Supporting hardware costs and power costs depending, you may find larger drive sizes to be a better investment in the long term. Namely, if you plan on seeing the drives through to their 5 year warranty, 18TB drives are pretty good value.

    For my hardware and power costs, this is the breakdown for cumulative $/TB (y axis) over years of service (x axis):