Server Build

[Robin]

Hey lads,

I got some old hardware which I will be using to build myself a new server machine...
Although I got pretty far already, I need a bit of help with some of the details.

---

Specs (so far)
Motherboard: MSI MS-7399 LGA775
Processor Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 @ 2330 Hz
RAM 4 GB DDR2 @ 800Mhz (2x2 GB, Nanya NT2GT64U8HD0BY-AD)
Graphics Card Nvidia Geforce 7100 Graphics (Integrated)
Storage Unknown, read below
Operating System Windows Server 2016

As you can see, it's nothing too impressive but it'll be able to do what I want it to do.

---

Operating System
No, I can't and won't install any Linux OS on it. I need a Windows based OS to run certain services/software.

I can get free licenses (through school) for Windows Server 2016 and Windows Server 2012 R2, which one can bring me the most performance?
Outside of that, there are quite some versions (Datacenter, Essentials, basic, etc), anyone got any experience on that?

After getting advice somewhere else, I'm going with Windows Server 2016.

---

Storage (need help)
Okay, now here comes the tricky part...
I got 4 SATA connectors, meaning I can throw 4 disks into it.
I am planning to use my server for storing whatever I want to store on it, from movies to holiday pictures, meaning there might and will be some 'critical' data on it.
I MUST have a 1-disk fail safe system!

Looking up online, I quickly got to RAID setups, with RAID 1 and RAID 5 being the best options for me.
The thing is, I'm trying to maintain low costs while I want maximum storage AND no performance loss on CPU.
Since I don't have a dedicated RAID controller (as far as I know), the CPU will do the job (aka Software RAID), will RAID 5 be a CPU-killer for will it have a notable impart on performance?

As for the HDDs itself, I got my eyes on the Seagate Ironwolf series (24/7 usage compatible), the exact one (and TBs) depends on the RAID setup and costs. I'm aiming to get somewhere between 4 TB and maybe 16 TB of storage.

---

Purpose
Quick list of what I am certainly going to use it for:

• Backups
• Game servers - KSP, SAMP, etc.
• Discord Bot hosting - I currently host the official HaN bot along with a bunch of others
• Media Server - Idk about this one yet, I yet have to look into it
• SQL Server - Databases
• VPN Server (SoftEther VPN)
• FTP Server - Server file access
• Web Server (WAMP) - for my websites

Outside of this, I'm going to just do whatever I feel like with it, maybe I'll setup a home security system with cameras, that kind of stuff.

[Faraon78910]

nice but you're on wrong forum

[Dimitrije.]

nice but you're on wrong forum

so true ^

go toms hardware or LTT forum

[Robin]

Reddit was more helpful for some parts and one of my teachers helped me with the rest, well, what did I expect lol.

Topic can be locked.

[Mastro]

Locked.