SRCDS Steam group


Building a Dedicated Server Box
#1
Hey Guys!

I used to rent a dedicated box for a while, and really just loved having it. It was just a luxury I really enjoyed, but was just a bit costly at almost 300$ a month.

I would like to build a home box to run srcds on, a FTP server, etc. No this is not for public servers or anything. I do a lot of coding for TF2 and it makes my life a lot easier having a server thats always up 24/7 on another location. So anyways...

I definitely want to go with the Q6600, this is by far my favorite processor I have used for a server, and cannot wait to run another one. I also would like to run with 4GB of ram or so.

Now, what I need help with is deciding on some of the other stuff. I want to pick up a good motherboard (Needs to be LGA775 for Q6600) but really do not know a lot about them. This is going to be built in a regular ATX desktop case as its not going to any datacenters, so if you can suggest a good motherboard for 1-200$ that would help me much.

What else will I need? Network card/Hard Drive/Power Suppy? I cannot really think of anything else that I will be in dire need of aside from the essentials, so if I am forgetting something please let me know.

I have a Thermaltake 500W PSU brand new sitting behind me in the box, so that should take care of that as well. Big Grin
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#2
if the servers not for public use, why not just run one from your home?
Ryan White
Owner & CEO
GigabiteServers.com
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#3
I think that's what he's going to do...

All the servers I have standing here at my house have Asus P5B motherboards with CPU's ranging from E6600 to Q9450.
The P5B however is quite old already, but it's very cheap.

It also depends on what HDD's you are putting in, the P5B has 4 sata connectors, I have however 6HDD's in one using controllers.

P5B is cheap too, but I think you should be looking for something more new. Frankly there won't be much difference in performance unless you go overclocking between motherboards, just look for things that you need like for example 8 sata connectors or double NIC's.
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http://forums.srcds.com/viewtopic/5114
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#4
I think dualcore meant why bother buying a whole other server. Asus motherboards are amazing, I would agree with Drocona on that but I only have experience with AMD motherboards. As a side note, if you are interested in trying AMD processors Newegg as a sweet deal for a Phenom 2.6 ghz Black Edition for $170 but then again it only saves you about $20
realchamp Wrote:
Hazz Wrote:Has someone helped you on these forums? If so, help someone else
Mooga Wrote:OrangeBox is a WHORE.
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#5
Awesome! I had someone else suggest the Phenom as well for price purposes but I am an Intel guy and love the Q6600. My main questions now are for Mobo/hard drives/RAM. Basically what am I looking for in a motherboard? I have seen some Intel normal ATX serverboards for about 180$ or so, but I am assuming they are designed just for servers, with no sound, just video, and lots of HDD connectors, RAM slots, LAN connectors, etc.

Also, what do I want in a Hard Drive. I found a Western Digital 640GB 7200RPM for 75$ on Newegg. Is it better just to get smaller Hard Drives, or would one large one be the same? And lastly I found 4GB of RAM for 44$ on Newegg as well, but im sure thats not great ram, so I am curious what exactly I want to look for in RAM as well.
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#6
Hard Drive side doesn't matter nor does Hard drive speed really. Could you give me a link to the RAM and I'll check it out. Also a quick look on newegg listed a few Asus mobo's that looked decent for the low $100 range.
realchamp Wrote:
Hazz Wrote:Has someone helped you on these forums? If so, help someone else
Mooga Wrote:OrangeBox is a WHORE.
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#7
For RAM, I would go with Corsair. Smile

Seem to work well in servers.
Clan of Doom: www.clanofdoom.co.uk






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#8
Awesome! Sounds good. So here is basically what I have so far as far as parts go. This is the RAM i was talking about I listed here SpartanFrog. Also, this mobo seems a bit expensive, but it was the cheapest Asus server board I could find.

Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131257

Processor:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017

Hard Drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218

RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231207

Case: (Already have a brand new one left over)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144151

Power Supply:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153028

So does all of that look fine for a home dedicated box, or is there anything I should change? I will probably just throw an old cheapo graphics card in there that I have laying around. Also, I have access to a free copy of Windows 2003 Standard or 2008 Standard as a student, which one is better for servers? (I have only used 2003 Web Edition in the past).
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#9
what is the difference bewteen desktop and server memory?
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#10
CrimsonGT Wrote:Hey Guys!

I used to rent a dedicated box for a while, and really just loved having it. It was just a luxury I really enjoyed, but was just a bit costly at almost 300$ a month.

I would like to build a home box to run srcds on, a FTP server, etc. No this is not for public servers or anything. I do a lot of coding for TF2 and it makes my life a lot easier having a server thats always up 24/7 on another location. So anyways...

I definitely want to go with the Q6600, this is by far my favorite processor I have used for a server, and cannot wait to run another one. I also would like to run with 4GB of ram or so.

Now, what I need help with is deciding on some of the other stuff. I want to pick up a good motherboard (Needs to be LGA775 for Q6600) but really do not know a lot about them. This is going to be built in a regular ATX desktop case as its not going to any datacenters, so if you can suggest a good motherboard for 1-200$ that would help me much.

What else will I need? Network card/Hard Drive/Power Suppy? I cannot really think of anything else that I will be in dire need of aside from the essentials, so if I am forgetting something please let me know.

I have a Thermaltake 500W PSU brand new sitting behind me in the box, so that should take care of that as well. Big Grin

I am wondering why you wasting all this money to build a server and then coloing it on a terrible network.
Derek Denholm, CEO, XFactorServers, INC.
XFactorServers: Game Server Hosting Solutions
Follow Us http://www.Twitter.com/XFactorServers
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#11
CrimsonGT Wrote:I would like to build a home box to run srcds on, a FTP server, etc. No this is not for public servers or anything. I do a lot of coding for TF2 and it makes my life a lot easier having a server thats always up 24/7 on another location. me in the box, so that should take care of that as well. Big Grin

if this is purely for testing, the hardware you are suggesting is a waste of money, you just need something able to give you headroom to run however many slots you want to test.
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#12
For the price of colocating in the US, I would get it colocated, as thats one nice server. Just find a ATX pizza box case + psu Big Grin
Clan of Doom: www.clanofdoom.co.uk






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#13
Everytime I have looked into colocation, it actually wouldnt really have saved me much money if any. Bandwidth prices always seem insane, so in the past when I had to choose between the two, I went with just renting a dedicated box.

Also, the reason I am building such a nice dedicated box is because eventually when FIOS is available in my area, (It is available in every city around me except mine, which is odd considering I live in one of the larger cities in florida) I plan on picking up the Business line with 20/20 and would easily be able to host a fair amount of stuff on that.
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#14
let me guess crimson you live in orlando and tampa is the city that has fios
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#15
Nope, Gainesville. So I am surrounded by Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Tallahassee, etc. all within 1-3 hours of me, and I am pretty sure all of them have it. Gainesville isn't huge but we have a fairly large population from the colleges.
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