Home Virtualization Cluster

[Stavros]

I have several things I want to do:

1) Make a video game
2) Learn pen testing
3) Make managing my LAN easier
4) Host a game server (Maybe)

So I'd like to do this without having 4 different boxes and after doing a little research (and getting some experience with virtual servers at work) I realized that a (small) home virtual server is actually do-able now days. Anyways I guess this thread is a hardware suggestion thread. I do have one question: What's the difference between WD Black and WD Red in a server environment? I have yet to figure that out.

Anyway. A list of part's I've put together. Probably went overboard, but whatever.

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http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Digital_Addict/saved/ppM7YJ

• AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor
• ASRock 970M PRO3 Micro ATX AM3+/AM3 Motherboard
• Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory
• (2x) Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
• Fractal Design Arc Mini R2 MicroATX Mini Tower Case
• SeaSonic 450W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
• Intel E1G42ETBLK 10/100/1000 Mbps PCI-Express x4 Network Adapter

Comments and suggestions are welcome.

[bad_brain]

I do have one question: What's the difference between WD Black and WD Red in a server environment?

Reds are made for NAS and RAID environments and provide a better reliability and life span, most likely simply because of the fact that they run at 5400rpm, while Blacks run at 7200rpm and provide a better performance as single drive.

imo no need for Black OR Red, my suggestion would be to get 2 Blue or Green ones for a RAID that acts as storage, and a small SSD for the OS....will give you a huge performance plus for maybe 60 bucks more than you current config.

also no need for 32GB RAM, at least as long as you don't plan to do heavy 3D rendering for example (which MIGHT happen depending on how far your game dev goes), but even if you need 32GB you should stick to the manufacturer list of supported modules:
http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/970M%20Pro3/?cat=Memory" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
better to lose 2 frames/sec on a game than risking the annoyance of a new system not booting because the RAM together with the mobo are bitching.

P.S. I have a spare 90GB SSD from Kingston lying around here.

[Stavros]

I've had a Green drive once and I'll not go back to it. The seek times were horrible and it took forever to load thumbnails. I'll try WD Blues. They're cheaper anyway. Speaking of RAID, is there any benefit to having a dedicated RAID card or can I rely on onboard RAID?

I talked to a friend who highly reccomended having an Intel multi-port NIC in the server. I'm still not sure about it.

As far as memory is concerned PC Part Picker claims it's compatible, but I'm asrock doesn't have it listed. I've had unlisted RAM work and not work, so I guess better safe than sorry. 16GB might be enough, but I don't know how many VMs I'll want to spin up. At least 3 maybe a couple more.

Update:

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http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Digital_Addict/saved/ppM7YJ

[bad_brain]

oh, didn't knew that about the Green ones, my last WD HDD I got was a Raptor (when it was brand new), since then I got stuck with Seagate drives (not for a specific reason) and then of course SSDs which are usually different manufacturers than for mechanical drives.

I haven't checked the availability in the shop interface you are using, but when you can get a Samsung 840 EVO drive instead of the Kingston one...might be a bit more expensive but when it comes to speed AND reliability they are undefeated, especially for the cheap price. I am using 840 EVO drives on 3 systems and never had any issues.
additionally the EVO series supports Samsung's "Rapid Mode", which results in such insane transfer rates:

[CommonStray]

On the topic of drives I'd suggest looking into performance tests done by data warehouses and see what drives they might be preferring or suggesting for reliability. In '14 Backblaze did a decent write up found at https://www.backblaze.com/blog/hard-dri ... mber-2014/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - being a year old already im sure their higher rated drives have also came down in price.

For game dev you'll need to have a graphic card that supports the highest graphic api version you want to support. For example if you're looking to use the latest DX12 or OpenGL 4.5 (i think is latest) you'll want a card that supports them, otherwise you can just find out what the max supported is for you're current card and work off that.

Hosting game servers can be fun, but is time consuming and needs relatively constant attention. In many cases you don't necessarily HAVE to run all this stuff in multiple virtual machines, depending on the amount of resources you give to the VM you can run multiple game hosts on it. However, be wary of network thoroughput - home-built services don't enjoy high grade network hardware like dedicated server hosting can have so users and your network access can suffer, and make sure you question how you're ISP will react when your bandwidth increases every time someone new connects. For something small, and among friends, this is typically okay, but if it's going to be something you open up to the public I'd suggest getting a dedicated server. http://rustytub.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; offers dedicated servers too.

edit: also depending on the game server and how well it runs, CPU is very important, you can have all the memory in the world and it wont make a difference if the CPU cant keep up with the game clock.

[Stavros]

Well, I got one part: AMD FX 8320. Still researching HDDs. This is something I'll have to put off until next month though. This past week and next week is rollout week for the contractors so that means busy weeks ahead. Then week after next I'm going to Denver for some training. At that point I'll wait for next paycheck before I bother.

As far as development goes I mostly want to use it as a code repository (I know I can use Bitbucket and the like, but I'd like a local copy as well as using it as a set up a process for nightly/weekly builds). Actual game dev will be on my desktop.

As for game servers I won't be opening this up to everyone just my brother and select friends. I'll have to see how this works out. It may be a shit CPU for game servers in which case I have other things I'd like to do as well like add another host to a another IRC network I'm on.

[ph0bYx]

I haven't checked the availability in the shop interface you are using, but when you can get a Samsung 840 EVO drive instead of the Kingston one...might be a bit more expensive but when it comes to speed AND reliability they are undefeated, especially for the cheap price. I am using 840 EVO drives on 3 systems and never had any issues.
additionally the EVO series supports Samsung's "Rapid Mode", which results in such insane transfer rates

Samsung 840 EVO SSD owner here, can confirm.

[Stavros]

So it took a few months, but I have a working Proxmox VM server. I did a lot of price shopping and got parts as gifts to bring the cost down.

List of parts:
Prices are at time of purchase

• AMD FD8320FRHKBOX FX-8320 FX-Series 8-Core Black Edition - $139.99
• Kingston HyperX Savage 32GB Kit (4x8GB) 1600MHz DDR3 - $169.99
• Corsair RM Series 450-Watt ATX/EPS 80PLUS Power Supply (Fully Modular) - $100.81
• Gigabyte AM3+ AMD 990FX GA-990FXA-UD3 R5 - $119.50
• Corsair Carbide Series Black 300R Mid-Tower -$68.00
• OCZ Storage Solutions Arc 100 Series 240GB SATA III SSD - $73.79
• 2x Seagate 2TB NAS HDD SATA 6Gb/s 64MB (ST2000VN000) - $136.98
• Intel PRO/1000 PT Dual Port Server Adapter (EXPI9402PTBLK) - $54.99

Grand Total: $864.05

Since I sourced the CPU and RAM as Birthday and Christmas presents respectively I can actually knock off some of that so the actual cost to myself is $554.07. Not, bad but I still need to get a RAID card for the NAS drives.

In retrospect I'm wondering if going with an Intel CPU would be better in regards to both per core speed (counting Hyperthreading) and electricity costs. We'll see what the power bill looks like in February.

Edit: I'm not even sure if I actually need a RAID card as there's no real performance need. If an HDD goes down I'll just get another one. It's not hosting anything important.

[CommonStray]

Thanks for the update!

[bad_brain]

well, RAID is nice to have imo, but it's not like people often think and a RAID means you data is all safe....on a RAID 1 (which is the most used besides RAID 0 in the home computer segment) data can still be corrupted because everything is mirrored...also errors.
so it's still highly recommended to do regular backups anyway....which makes a RAID somewhat obsolete, but ok, it's still better to recover data from a broken array which might contain some corrupted content than to lose all data when a single no-RAID drive crashes, because taking daily backups can be a real pain in the rear depending on the amount of data.

about the CPU: I see no reason why paying more for an Intel one, you will not notice any better performance in your everyday usage...benchmarks are benchmarks, they don't have much to do with reality. the special VM features of some Intel CPUs are limited to server hardware because most of the single CPU desktop mainboards can't even utilize them anyway....and server hardware is not just expensive, it's also quite loud and takes a lot of room.

[Stavros]

I just remembered I forgot a part: AMD R5 250 (or was it 280) either way it cost $40 and was low power enough that it has passive cooling. It's a multimedia center GPU. Motherboard I got didn't have onboard video. That was a downer, but whatever.

As for Intel CPU, it wasn't so much for power as it was for power savings, though I believe core for core the Intel is a stronger CPU. The TDP of the AMD is about 125 Watts where as a low end Intel CPU was 80 Watts. I pay about 11 or 12 cents a Kilowatt (I think) so in non peak seasons it will be ok, but peak season (Summer) I'll pretty much be running the A/C 24/7 so it will make a fairly significant difference there.

I've got proxmox installed, but right now it only shows the SSD. I haven't figured out how to partition things in command line. I'm used to coming from a GUI environment. That and my unfamiliarity with Red Hat based systems. It seems parted is not installed. I'll have to fuck around with this when I have time. Tonight is not one of those nights.