Freenas Build using refurbished server from ebay

[Jerry11097]

I am really tempted to buy a server from ebay that like $300 to run my personal cloud.
These are the specs:

Should I or should I not?

 

[Wooly Mammoth]

It depends who refurbished it? if done by the manufacturer fine, not sure if done by others.
Overall specs look good. not sure about the nic's but being dell i'm sure they are fine.
Only thing is the Cpu's dont seem to support AES-ni, so no encryption.

 

[tvsjr]

Keep in mind, "real" servers are designed to be in a data center. They are constructed to prioritize cooling and not care about noise. Unless you have a very high tolerance for noise, I wouldn't want a system like that in a place you spend lots of time, like an office, etc.

 

[Jerry11097]

It depends who refurbished it? if done by the manufacturer fine, not sure if done by others.
Overall specs look good. not sure about the nic's but being dell i'm sure they are fine.
Only thing is the Cpu's dont seem to support AES-ni, so no encryption.

Dang so I have to look for a cpu that does then.

 

[Jerry11097]

Keep in mind, "real" servers are designed to be in a data center. They are constructed to prioritize cooling and not care about noise. Unless you have a very high tolerance for noise, I wouldn't want a system like that in a place you spend lots of time, like an office, etc.

Thats so true, I didn't think about that. What about the servers that are able to fit in a computer case instead?

 

[tvsjr]

Thats so true, I didn't think about that. What about the servers that are able to fit in a computer case instead?

You're going about this the wrong way. You're trying to build a solution, then identify the problem. Go the other way. How much data do you want to store? What type of data? How many users? Any NFS/iSCSI activity (for VM storage)? Etc.

Figure out what you're trying to do, then build a solution.

 

[bigphil]

I agree with the others about the noise. Rack servers like the R710 could be loud. Not all rack servers are loud though. For instance, the HP DL series got a lot quieter when the G7's came out. You'd be better off getting a tower server like an HP ML350 G6 or higher. They are quiet and can be found for cheap. Slap a Xeon L5640 in it and you'd be gold! If you go that route and find a suitable G6, just be aware that they came with two different system boards...one of them only supporting the 5500 series procs and one that supports 5500/5600. You'd want system board 606019-001 for a G6. Anything G6 or newer would be good.

 

[tvsjr]

Based on the limited info he's provided, it's likely that one of the cheap micro-servers with a handful of drives might work just fine as well. Until the OP provides some more info, we're just guessing.