Computer questions

[Exhaustgases]

I'm lost nowadays with all the latest in computers, 20 some and more years ago I was into it.
Started in DOS, then Linux, mostly command line, even OS/2 etc. then of course windows stuff even NT, now its just an old Win 8 unit.
Yeah the old VESA, Micro Channel, PCI days, is it still PCI?
I really need to up grade.

I'd like to know why many here have servers? Is it for hosting websites or for your job? How come a few large hard drives in the one PC is not good enough? Is it for redundancy and back up? I thought I read something about NAS hard drives and what and why? How is that different from SATA?

What would be a good system to have and affordable, with lots of memory and more than 1 tera byte hard drive? Would like to do Proxmox and multiple op systems. Parts and brands that would be good?
Thanks

 

[ripcord]

Actually way fewer people these days run personal servers. Online hosting platforms have gotten cheaper and much more convenient to use. With Microsoft OneDrive and Apple iCloud type services, there is less need for your own personal storage devices as well, though many people prefer to have their own data sitting on their own network.

NAS drives are simply a grade of SATA drives which are optimized to be left running 24/7 and to live comfortably in a machine with many other drives' along with the extra vibrations from that.

With how fast machines are today, you don't really need a top of the line computer unless you're playing the latest games. If it was me, I would go buy a mid level laptop at Costco, Sams, Walmart, etc. and be amazed at how fast it runs compared to your 13 year old machine.

https://www.costco.com/dell-inspiro...200---windows-11-home.product.4000358293.html

Edit: I skimmed over your wish to run ProxMox which is a Linux virtualization platform. You probably want a desktop form factor for that.

 

[terry274]

I recently bought a Dell Optiplex 7060 from an auctions site and installed Proxmox. I am setting up Windows 11 on it as I type this. I already have OPNSense firewall installed on it. Used office machines can be a great platform to start learning Proxmox.

 

[Pew]

I'd like to know why many here have servers? Is it for hosting websites or for your job? How come a few large hard drives in the one PC is not good enough? Is it for redundancy and back up? I thought I read something about NAS hard drives and what and why? How is that different from SATA?

What would be a good system to have and affordable, with lots of memory and more than 1 tera byte hard drive? Would like to do Proxmox and multiple op systems. Parts and brands that would be good?
Thanks

I manage the servers for a SMB, so mainly Windows server on top of vmware esxi.

The multiple drives in a PC comes from the 3-2-1 thought of 3 backups in 2 locations, 1 of them being off-site. Personally, I don't run multiple drives in my computer. Anything critical I will keep multiple copies of it somewhere else so if I have to reimage the computer, I can do so at-will whenever I want. I dislike having to rummage through multiple drives to find what I want.

NAS drives are just disks that are usually optimized for NAS-based operations. They can be as 'basic' as a normal consumer HDD focused more on low heat/low power (like a WD Red) or they can have huge caches with specialized firmware designed to work better with RAID setups (Seagate Exos). Some drives like the Seagate Ironwolf Pros work well in conjunction with NAS boxes like synology for additional health and drive information.

For proxmox, you should be able to use just about anything slightly modern. I have a 3-node test cluster at work for testing Proxmox from 6+ year old desktops, hoping to replace vmware with it this year. If you're looking to start with fresh machines for your cluster, I'd definitely look into the miniPCs to lower heat and power consumption.

 

[John105]

I'm out of it too, but it's mind blowing how when in the corporate world we get a new machine, and so many things don't work, and it's hours with the desktop group.

Anyway, during the pandemic when we returned to the office, I know people were trying to get servers to "mine" Bitcoin, whatever that means. I still use my Dell Dimension 8200 to rip cds. lol When I bought that machine, the Twin Towers were still standing, to give you an idea.

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

I'm lost nowadays with all the latest in computers, 20 some and more years ago I was into it.
Started in DOS, then Linux, mostly command line, even OS/2 etc. then of course windows stuff even NT, now its just an old Win 8 unit.
Yeah the old VESA, Micro Channel, PCI days, is it still PCI?
I really need to up grade.

I'd like to know why many here have servers? Is it for hosting websites or for your job? How come a few large hard drives in the one PC is not good enough? Is it for redundancy and back up? I thought I read something about NAS hard drives and what and why? How is that different from SATA?

What would be a good system to have and affordable, with lots of memory and more than 1 tera byte hard drive? Would like to do Proxmox and multiple op systems. Parts and brands that would be good?
Thanks

PCI Express (PCIe) is the new standard. Computers don't come loaded with expansion slots like they used to.

People generally run personal servers for homelabbing and tinkering since software like Proxmox and any number of NAS operating systems are so robust now. Proxmox will run on pretty much anything.

 

[Skippy722]

My next computer is going to be another MacBook Pro or a Framework laptop. I’ll build a desktop because I refuse to have a desktop using proprietary parts (DELL!!!!) and can’t be bothered researching individual models to find out if they do or don’t.

If I were to today, I’d probably use an Asus motherboard, Ryzen 5 or 7 CPU, 32gb RAM, 256gb NVMe boot drive for my primary system and a 1Tb NVMe for all others. SATA SSD’s for larger storage… or maybe one of the pcie expansion cards filled with NVMe slots.

 

[97prizm]

I'm lost nowadays with all the latest in computers, 20 some and more years ago I was into it.
Started in DOS, then Linux, mostly command line, even OS/2 etc. then of course windows stuff even NT, now its just an old Win 8 unit.
Yeah the old VESA, Micro Channel, PCI days, is it still PCI?
I really need to up grade.

I'd like to know why many here have servers? Is it for hosting websites or for your job? How come a few large hard drives in the one PC is not good enough? Is it for redundancy and back up? I thought I read something about NAS hard drives and what and why? How is that different from SATA?

What would be a good system to have and affordable, with lots of memory and more than 1 tera byte hard drive? Would like to do Proxmox and multiple op systems. Parts and brands that would be good?
Thanks

If you've got Linux experience go with that. Linux runs most of the worlds servers.

 

[goingplacesanddoingstuff]

I'm lost nowadays with all the latest in computers, 20 some and more years ago I was into it.
Started in DOS, then Linux, mostly command line, even OS/2 etc. then of course windows stuff even NT, now its just an old Win 8 unit.
Yeah the old VESA, Micro Channel, PCI days, is it still PCI?
I really need to up grade.

I'd like to know why many here have servers? Is it for hosting websites or for your job? How come a few large hard drives in the one PC is not good enough? Is it for redundancy and back up? I thought I read something about NAS hard drives and what and why? How is that different from SATA?

What would be a good system to have and affordable, with lots of memory and more than 1 tera byte hard drive? Would like to do Proxmox and multiple op systems. Parts and brands that would be good?
Thanks

For a Proxmox build, go with an AMD socket AM5 platform and a Ryzen 5 7600 or 7600X processor paired with a B650 motherboard from MSI or Gigabyte. You should target at least 32GB of DDR5-5600+ memory to start, though 64GB would give you more headroom for multiple VMs. Caveat, AM5 motherboards rarely support 4 sticks of ram very well.

For storage, use a 500GB NVMe M.2 drive as a Proxmox boot drive, then add a 2TB NVMe M.2 for VM storage; both will slot directly into the motherboard with no cables needed. For bulk storage, add two 4TB NAS-rated drives like WD Red or Seagate IronWolf in a mirrored RAID.

This will cost around $1200-1400 and give a solid upgradable system. AM5 is AMD’s current generation with DDR5 support and PCIe 5.0, meaning you can upgrade the CPU later without replacing the whole system. The jump in performance from NVMe drives compared to old mechanical drives will be the biggest improvement, VMs that used to take minutes to boot will start in seconds.

 

[Rand]

For a Proxmox build, go with an AMD socket AM5 platform and a Ryzen 5 7600 or 7600X processor paired with a B650 motherboard from MSI or Gigabyte. You should target at least 32GB of DDR5-5600+ memory to start, though 64GB would give you more headroom for multiple VMs. Caveat, AM5 motherboards rarely support 4 sticks of ram very well.

For storage, use a 500GB NVMe M.2 drive as a Proxmox boot drive, then add a 2TB NVMe M.2 for VM storage; both will slot directly into the motherboard with no cables needed. For bulk storage, add two 4TB NAS-rated drives like WD Red or Seagate IronWolf in a mirrored RAID.

This will cost around $1200-1400 and give a solid upgradable system. AM5 is AMD’s current generation with DDR5 support and PCIe 5.0, meaning you can upgrade the CPU later without replacing the whole system. The jump in performance from NVMe drives compared to old mechanical drives will be the biggest improvement, VMs that used to take minutes to boot will start in seconds.

seems a good base. But I'd probably spend the small amount extra and not use 4tb drives.. maybe 8's or 12's and I'd question if a mirrored raid is necessary or an external hdd or nas for backups might be better.

 

[Exhaustgases]

500GB drive ? Gosh this old antique with windows 8 has 905GB. I'd rather start a new system with maybe 8 T or so. Anything smaller than a few T bytes to me would be a waste of $.

 

[Pew]

500GB drive ? Gosh this old antique with windows 8 has 905GB. I'd rather start a new system with maybe 8 T or so. Anything smaller than a few T bytes to me would be a waste of $.

That's a good idea. 8-10TB are the sweet spot now for HDD TB vs $$$.