Any reason not to buy used Dell rack servers for a home office?

Question

Maybe a dumb question but.....

I have never purchased rackmount computers before, I do a lot of software development from my home office, sometimes I have as many as 6-8 servers setup with various platforms for testing and debugging.

More often than not I would just pass down my latest desktop machine and make it into a 'server'.

I need to get about 4 or 5 new(new to me) servers to replace all of my now outdated servers, and was thinking about getting used 1U rackmout servers (like a dell poweredge) off of ebay.

Perhaps a dump question, but is there anything special about a rack mount computer? I don't actually have a "rack". Can I just pile 5 one on top of another and use them like regular machines? They still are just regular old computers right? You can hookup keyboards, monitor, mice etc? They don't require anything special do they?

Is the noise and/or power consumption much different on a rackmount than a typical desktop?

PS: I know virtualization is an option - I am also considering that instead, but even so the question about rackmount machines is still applicable to me.

Answer 1

The noise is a lot more and there is a special power cord for them which suggests a lot more power consumption.

But mainly they are very expensive.

Answer 2

They are pretty much the same, but 5 stacked up will sound like a jet engine when you get close :)

Answer 3

Rack mounts will typically be a lot more noiser and will potentially consume more electricity than a desktop.

They're also usually very heavy.

Also consider that hardware replacements/upgrades/swaps may be harder and you may have a hard time passing them down to your neighbour (or favorite charity) when you're done with them.

Answer 4

Noise is definitely a consideration. I have used the Dell PowerEdge servers in the past and their fans are loud. Sitting in the server room for a few hours made my ears ring! Dell has some lower end servers that are not rack mounted - I forget the brand but they are configured as towers. Might ask around about those.

Answer 5

The noise is enormous!
They are build to live in rooms made especially for computers a.k.a. data centres.

They typically have some very good fans pumping around a lot of air to keep the beast as cool as possible with lot's of other computers around competing for cool air.

The noise in a data centre is overwhelming the first time you enter. Not something I would like in my room for sure.
If you could place them in a separate room somewhere than it might be an option. But keep in mind that they produce quite some heat and need a good supply of cool, dry air to operate.
so you can't just stuff them in a closet with some pillows to keep the noise down :)

Answer 6

You can hookup keyboards, monitor, mice etc?

Yes, but they're generally designed to be run headless. The ports are there for initial setup, etc, but in general you'll want to use some sort of remote login/desktop software to access them.

Doing this can also help with the noise consideration -- keep them in a closet and access them with VNC or Remote Desktop (or SSH if your server OS swings that way--mine does), and you won't have to worry about the noise at all.

Answer 7

Is the noise and/or power consumption much different on a rackmount than a typical desktop?

Short answer: Yes

Long answer: Take a blow drier, set it to maximum speed and you have a good impression of the noise (and the power consumption ;) ).

Answer 8

Yes, I would use remote desktop to access them once they are running, just need the ports for installs etc...thats what I do now. Given they take up a small amount of space I could probably work around the noise problem by putting them in a closet or another enclosure..

Need to give some thought to the electric usage and make some comparisons.

Thanks for all the timely responses...

Answer 9

One practical reason not to stack them on top of each other: what if you need to open up the one on the bottom? For that reason, you might think about the Dell Blade Server configuration.

Also if you listen to the StackOverflow podcast for the last few weeks, there was some discussion about buying rackmount hardware. One tip repeated several times: you can save significant money by talking to a salesperson, don't just buy the server off the website.

You will also need to get air conditioning to keep this number of servers cool. I found on Slashdot this tip for sizing AC based on wattage of the data center:

• Conversion factor: 1 KWH = 3412 BTU

  Multiplying the average (not peak) wattage by 3.4 will get the BTU's per hour of cooling capacity.

So five PowerEdge rackmount servers with e.g. a 400W power supply each, would consume 2,000W. So you need to cool 6,824 BTU. Costco has a range of models starting at $260.

If it were me, I'd get a single tower server with tons of memory, and run a virtualization solution on it. The reduction of power consumption, heat generation, and noise would be my preferred choice for a SOHO.

Answer 10

Unless you really need enterprise grade reliability - by which I mean you can't afford a half-day outage - I would suggest that virtualisation on cheap machines (by which I mean a desktop) is the way to go.

It's going to be cheaper, and you can stack it with commodity hardware. Just make sure it's built to accept plenty of RAM. You can shut it down when you're not using it.

Server hardware usually makes a big deal out of POST - it's not designed for light use.

If you really need a system to be on 24/7 doing light server duties, dedicate a low power, quiet headless PC to the job. Don't use that as your programming testbed.

Answer 11

I know most larger servers us 220v in the US, so I would check that out. You don't want to buy a server then find out you can't plug it in.

Answer 12

To me it sounds like you should be able to replace your servers with one and run virtual machines on it.

I wouldn't buy rack mounted machines to a home office, for reasons mentioned in lots of the answers. I would certainly not buy anything DELL. I have exceptionally bad experiences with DELL machines. Everything from servers down to laptops have always been just crap. I must have misbehaved something awful in my previous lives because in almost every company I have worked for it has been company policy to buy that DELL crap.

Answer 13

I have a home office with some servers in it, and found the servers (particularly disk arrays) to be somewhat noisy. There are a couple of options:

i. Use a two-socket workstation system like a HP XW9400 instead. You can fit several disks inside it, and it's much quieter than a 1U or 2U server. I'm currently using several of its predecessor, the XW9300, for this.

ii. Buy a soundproof rack. These are quite pricey, but allow you to put a rack with the noisy items such as servers and disk arrays in the office. Buying one of these is much cheaper than a dedicated server room. I haven't bought one of these, but have seriously considered it on a number of occasions. Currently I only have two servers running, but I would seriously re-consider if I had more.

Vendors of soundproof racks:

• Acoustirack - an outfit that makes soundproof racks

• Comms Express These people have some cheap ones and more expensive ones with a wood-grain finish to blend in with office furniture.

• Silentium: These people make racks with active noise cancellation systems.

• Keyzone: Located in the U.K. This is an outfit that manufactures soundproof racks.

• Isobox: Mainly aimed at studio equipment, but they would be OK for servers.

Answer 14

I have a dell "desktop" and a similiar dell "server". Up front, the server cost more. The desktop's hard disks are easily replaced with a spring loaded catch. While the server's disks use special (expensive) trays that are hard to remove. The desktop's memory upgrade was half the cost of the server's, because the server required "buffered ECC" memory. The desktop has 6 usb ports, the server only 2. And then there's the noise difference. But everone has already said that. ;-) I now wish I had just got 2 desktops. The "server" hardware just doesn't seem any better really.

Answer 15

Hello,

Recently i have registered startup home office. My intension is to have virtual server for LAMP website development(virtual).

a. but not sure where to shop or what to shop.
b Should I go for my own Server or i have to share some server. c. If i have to go My Server, should I go with rack or tower model. d. If I have to go with shared(cloud), not sure which is the best place

It will be great help, if any one help on this.

Initially thinking, 2-3 people will be logging in virtually. Thanks in advance. Sri