Cheap $400 server? I could use some help/advice in Off Topic

ID:278523
 
Dec 16 2011, 10:30 pm (Edited on Dec 16 2011, 10:37 pm)
I was looking into building a "server" that is extremely light on the power bill (adding no more than like $5 a month), where my beast adds around $20 a month if I leave it on 24/7. I just plan on using it to host a game or two on BYOND, and maybe something else like a Minecraft server, and most likely a bunch of other data.

I want to put Linux on it, of course, except I will need some help getting that done from the ground up, as well as getting BYOND set up on it.

It needs to be very-low-energy-cost and energy-efficient

As for the setup, I figured I would hardwire it to my router at home so I could access any data on it through my desktop and laptop wirelessly. Is there a way to run commands on it using my desktop/laptop so I can tell it to shut down a game, bring a game up, etc?

And as for the actual hardware, I compiled a list of the parts I would order. I already have a case I can put them in, along with a keyboard, mouse, and monitor.
CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/ Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116399
Motherboard - http://www.newegg.com/Product/ Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138332
RAM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/ Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226095
HDD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/ Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145299 (x2 for RAID-1)
Video Card - http://www.newegg.com/Product/ Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127591 (to free up CPU usage)
PSU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/ Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182066 (low wattage, high efficiency)
It all comes to $407.93 (not including shipping). Any suggestions for better/cheaper parts? Anyone else notice how Hard Drive prices are completely ridiculous right now? I originally was just gonna buy a couple cheap 80GB HDDs for, I was hoping, around $30 or less, but even those are ~$80! Holy crap!

I'm new to Linux and the whole server thing, and I probably shouldn't be doing this without someone who does know what they are doing, but I figured I'd give it a try if it all looks promising.

If you have any questions to help you to help me, please ask. Obviously it would probably be cheaper to buy an old used server from somewhere like TigerDirect, Craig's List, or even EBay, but I'd like to build it from scratch myself. I want the whole experience. I'm using this build as sort of an "entry level" step I guess. Hey, I might even offer to host other peoples' games for them here on BYOND :D
#1 Dec 17 2011, 12:22 am
Well since BYOND is single-threaded, you should look into getting 3 GHz or faster CPU (partially applies to Minecraft too).
As an alternative you could get old Dual Core like E6400 or similar. According to overclocking statistics these old things can go up to 6 GHz with liquid cooling. Though if you choose this, better make research which CPU exactly reached that speed, what's required, etc.

8GB RAM might be overkill for BYOND, but for Minecraft it's good.

My laptop has quad core 2.9 GHz (TBed), but that's not enough to run Minecraft lag free. If you really want Minecraft then look into 4-8 core CPUs with as high clock as possible.

Also according to my laptop's fan, Linux uses more resources than Windows 7 when idle (Win7 works faster too).
#2 Dec 17 2011, 10:37 am
Spunky_Girl wrote:
I was looking into building a "server" that is extremely light on the power bill (adding no more than like $5 a month), where my beast adds around $20 a month if I leave it on 24/7.

That's probably not going to be easy to find.

Assuming you had a constant draw of 200 watts over the course of a month (730 hours) and you're paying ten cents per kilowatt-hour, that's $15 a month. Even down to eight cents per kilowatt-hour it's nearly $12 per month. Considering CPUs these days are 65-120w footprint, that 200w estimate might even be low (obviously it's going to fluctuate).

You'd probably be better off just paying for a server online rather than investing in hardware if you're so concerned about the cost of power.
#3 Dec 17 2011, 11:32 am
In response to Zaoshi (#1)
I don't understand how Windows 7 could possibly use less resources than Linux. o.O Windows 7 uses about half a gig of RAM to about 1.5GB of RAM when idle (constant) depending on how many background processes are running. For me, I think, was about 1GB when I first installed Windows 7 on my bare drive.
#4 Dec 17 2011, 11:35 am
In response to Airjoe (#2)
Maybe... I could definitely use that $15+ a month to get a decent online server... or go through with this and host other people's stuff for a miniscule fee to help pay the power bill :o
#5 Dec 17 2011, 12:09 pm
In response to Spunky_Girl (#3)
Well according to fan and battery indicator, Windows 7 requires no cooling and it reports between 3 and 7 hours. While on Linux fan runs nearly full speed with 1 hour death timer.
#6 Dec 17 2011, 12:25 pm
In response to Zaoshi (#5)
Does Linux even have some kind of fan control drivers to regulate cooling?
#7 Dec 17 2011, 2:59 pm
In response to Spunky_Girl (#6)
Yep. http://www.mjmwired.net/kernel/Documentation/thermal/ sysfs-api.txt

Basically Linux power consumption and fan control is managed by a mixture of sysfs for fans and thermal sites, and then power governors for CPU clocking, yada yada. The question of how these are installed and used is up to distribution release engineers really.

Being a Gentoo user, the release engineer for my particular system is me. My desktop is usually a hardcore server with a UI slapped on top, with no regard for power consumption and total regard for good disk through-put, so, I am user of the performance governor.
#8 Dec 17 2011, 3:02 pm
In response to Spunky_Girl (#6)
I think it's automatic, as fan controls itself even before OS loads up.
#9 Dec 17 2011, 5:26 pm
In response to Zaoshi (#8)
Fans do not control themselves unless the BIOS comes pre-installed with such a feature. If not, the fans will run at a constant speed and never change depending on core temperatures unless there are any such features installed with the OS (or even third party drivers).

So there needs to be some kind of software to control the fans. Otherwise, there is just on (while the computer is on) and off (while the computer is off).
#10 Dec 17 2011, 8:06 pm
In response to Spunky_Girl (#4)
Spunky_Girl wrote:
Maybe... I could definitely use that $15+ a month to get a decent online server... or go through with this and host other people's stuff for a miniscule fee to help pay the power bill :o

I don't know if you have seen http://BYONDpanel.com, but even A.T.H.K hardly gets money through his hosting site. Not much attention being drawn to them really. So I'm not even sure if it's worth to invest in? Unless you can actually find dedicated buyers? That's just my general POV on this subject.
#11 Dec 17 2011, 9:37 pm
In response to EclipseCovertAgent (#10)
It is true the market is really bad for byond games... I have lowered my prices substantially i do admit my marketing isn't crash hot as i have been working on other things.

But it is not worth the money believe me... I have figured it is useless as the client can just use their own connection now days...
#12 Dec 17 2011, 10:11 pm (Edited on Dec 18 2011, 8:52 am)
In response to EclipseCovertAgent (#10)
Now on the other hand; you could develop a game, and feature a subscription service or p2p system to support your bills. Although a p2p will highly be frowned upon in this community as majority of this site is a programming tool, and majority of games are f2p with subscription service benefits balanced in. None the less do what you see fits in your own perspective.

Good Luck,
ECA
#13 Dec 18 2011, 12:03 am
In response to Stephen001 (#7)
Stephen001 wrote:
My desktop is usually a hardcore server with a UI slapped on top, with no regard for power consumption and total regard for good disk through-put, so, I am user of the performance governor.

#14 Dec 18 2011, 12:41 am
In response to Spunky_Girl (#9)
Fan turns on when I turn on laptop, and turns off second later, if I wait in boot screen (Linux & Win7 dual boot) fan starts working. Doing something more intensive than idle in Linux makes fan work faster too.

In short, when I run Linux my fan is running at almost full speed and blows hot air, while with Win7 it doesn't even think about turning on and laptop isn't even warm.