Groups | Search | Server Info | Keyboard shortcuts | Login | Register [http] [https] [nntp] [nntps]

Groups > linux.debian.user > #227537

Re: General-Purpose Server for Debian Stable

Show all headers | View raw

On 2020-10-01 14:37, Linux-Fan wrote:
> Hello fellow list users,
> 
> I am constantly needing more computation power, RAM and HDD storage such
> that I have finally decided to buy a server for my next "workstation". The
> reasoning is that my experience with "real" servers is that they are most
> reliable, very helpful in indicating errors (dedicated LEDs next to the 
> PCIe
> slots for instance) and modern servers' noise seems to be acceptable for my
> working envirnoment (?)
> 
> I currently use a Fujitsu RX 1330 M1 (1U server, very silent) and it 
> clearly
> is not "enough" in terms of RAM and HDD capacity. A little more graphics
> processing power than a low-profile GPU would be nice, too :)
> 
> Rack-Mountability is a must, although I am open to putting another tower in
> there, sideways, should that be advantageous.
> 
> In terms of "performance" specifications, I am thinking of the following:
> 
> * 1x16-core CPU (e.g. AMD EPYC 7302)
> 
> * 64 GiB RAM (e.g. 2x32 GiB or 4x16 GiB)
> 
>    I plan to extend this to 128 GiB as soon as the need arises.
>    As I am exceeding the 4T mark, I am increasingly considering the
>    use of ZFS.
> 
>    Currently, I have the maximum of 32 GiB installed in the
>    RX 1330 M1 and while it is often enough, there are times where I
>    am using 40 GiB SSD swap to overcome the limits.
> 
> * 2x2T HDD for slow storage (local Debian Mirror, working data),
>    2x4T SSD for fast storage (VMs, OS)
>    I will do software-RAID1 (ZFS or mdadm is still undecided).
>    I possible, I would like to use the power of the modern NVMe PCIe
>    U.2 (U.3?) SSDs, because they really seem to be much faster and that
>    may speed-up the parallel use of VMs and be more future-proof.
> 
> * 1-2x 10G N-BaseT Ethernet for connecting to other machines to share
>    virtual machine storage (I am doing this already and it works...)
> 
> * a 150W GPU if possible (75W full-sized card would be OK, too).
> 
> Typical workloads:
> data compression (Debian live build, xz),
> virtual machines (software installation, updates)
> 
> Rarely:
> GPGPU (e.g. nVidia CUDA, but some experimentation with OpenCL, too)
> single-core load coupled with very high RAM use (cbmc)
> 
> Some time ago, there was this thread
> https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2020/06/msg01117.html
> It already gave me some ideas...
> 
> I am considering one the following models which are AMD EPYC based (I think
> AMDs provide good performance for my types of use).
> 
> * HPE DL385 G10 Plus
> * Dell PowerEdge R7515
> 
> I have an old HP DL380 G4 in the rack and while it is incredibly loud, 
> it is
> also very reliable. Of course, it is rarely online for its excessive
> loudness and power draw, but I derive that HPE is going be reliable? Before
> the Fujitsu, I used a HP Z400 workstation and before that a HP Compaq d530
> CMT and all of these still "function", despite being too slow for today's
> loads.
> 
> I am also taking into consideration these, although they are Intel-based 
> and
> I find it a lot harder to obtain information on prices, compatibility etc.
> for these manufacturers:
> 
> * Fujitsu PRIMERGY RX2540 M5
> * Oracle X8-2L
>    (seems to be too loud for my taste. especially compared to the others?)
> 
> I have already learned from my local vendor that HPE does not support the
> use of non-HPE HDDs in the server which means I would need to buy all my
> drives directly from HPE (of course this will be very expensive).
> Additionally, none of the server manufacturers list Debian compatibility,
> thus my questions are as follows:
> 
> * Does anybody run Debian stable (10) on any of these servers?
>    Does it work well?
> 
> * Is there any experience with "unsupported" HDD configurations i.e.
>    disks not bought from the server manufacturer?
> 
>    I would think that during the warranty period (3y) I best stay with
>    the manufacturer-provided HDDs but after that, it would be nice to be
>    able to add some more "cheap" storage...
> 
> * Of course, if there are any other comments, I am happy to hear them, too.
> 
>    I am looking into all options although a fully self-built system is
>    probably too much. I once tried to (only) get a decent PC case and 
> failed
>    at it... I can only imagine it being worse for rackmount PC cases and
>    creating a complete system composed of individual parts?
> 
> Thanks in advance
> Linux-Fan


I suggest identifying your workloads, how much CPU, memory, disk I/O, 
etc., each requires, and then dividing them across your several computers.


Understand that a 4 core 5 GHz CPU and a 16 core 2.5 GHz CPU have 
similar prices and power consumption, but the former will run sequential 
tasks twice as fast and the latter will run concurrent tasks twice as fast.


I would think that you should convert one of your existing machines into 
a file server.  Splitting 4 TB across 2 @ 2 TB HDD's and 2 @ 4 TB SSD's 
can work, but 4 @ 4 TB SSD's with a 10 Gbps Ethernet connection should 
be impressive.  If you choose ZFS, it will need memory.  The rule of 
thumb is 5 GB of memory per 1 TB of storage.  So, pick a machine that 
has at least 20 GB of memory.


As for the workstation, it is difficult to find a vendor that supports 
Debian.  But, there are vendors that support Ubuntu; which is based upon 
Debian.  So, you can run Ubuntu and you might be able to run Debian:

https://html.duckduckgo.com/html?q=ubuntu%20workstation


David

Back to linux.debian.user | Previous | Next — Previous in thread | Next in thread | Find similar | Unroll thread

Thread

General-Purpose Server for Debian Stable Linux-Fan <Ma_Sys.ma@web.de> - 2020-10-01 23:40 +0200
  Re: General-Purpose Server for Debian Stable Dan Ritter <dsr@randomstring.org> - 2020-10-02 00:50 +0200
    Re: General-Purpose Server for Debian Stable Linux-Fan <Ma_Sys.ma@web.de> - 2020-10-02 01:30 +0200
      Re: General-Purpose Server for Debian Stable Dan Ritter <dsr@randomstring.org> - 2020-10-02 12:40 +0200
  Re: General-Purpose Server for Debian Stable ghe2001 <ghe2001@protonmail.com> - 2020-10-02 01:00 +0200
  Re: General-Purpose Server for Debian Stable deloptes <deloptes@gmail.com> - 2020-10-02 08:30 +0200
  Re: General-Purpose Server for Debian Stable David Christensen <dpchrist@holgerdanske.com> - 2020-10-02 09:20 +0200
    Re: General-Purpose Server for Debian Stable Linux-Fan <Ma_Sys.ma@web.de> - 2020-10-02 13:20 +0200
      Re: Signing emails, was Re: General-Purpose Server for Debian Stable David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk> - 2020-10-02 17:30 +0200
      Re: General-Purpose Server for Debian Stable David Christensen <dpchrist@holgerdanske.com> - 2020-10-03 00:40 +0200
        Re: General-Purpose Server for Debian Stable Linux-Fan <Ma_Sys.ma@web.de> - 2020-10-03 02:20 +0200
          Re: General-Purpose Server for Debian Stable David Christensen <dpchrist@holgerdanske.com> - 2020-10-03 03:40 +0200
  Re: General-Purpose Server for Debian Stable Charles Curley <charlescurley@charlescurley.com> - 2020-10-02 15:50 +0200
    Re: General-Purpose Server for Debian Stable Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> - 2020-10-02 16:50 +0200
  Re: General-Purpose Server for Debian Stable Linux-Fan <Ma_Sys.ma@web.de> - 2020-10-02 21:20 +0200

csiph-web