[Homelab] - Is this a good deal?

[Whistler]

Hello everyone. Thought I'd post this here, and going to do a post on reddit.com/r/homelab also.

 

I'm looking at Servers on eBay and have found this one Dell PowerEdge T630 - Xeon E5-2603V3 1.6 GHz - 4GB RAM, 1TB | eBay

 

Is this a good deal at this price? I may want to upgrade the processor but that's it?

 

Don't know the value of current gen Dell Servers, but is it something I want to bid on?

 

Thanks.

 

Whistler.

[snagrat]

Depends what you want to do with it.

 

Something like this would be good enough. Brand new, more RAM just a lower spec CPU http://www.ebuyer.com/647161-fujitsu-primergy-tx1310-xeon-e3-1226-v3-8gb-tower-server-vfy-t1311sx070gb

[Steve21]

What is it you want from it? If you're talking VMs etc you're gonna be very limited with RAM. I mean most pcs are better spec than that.

 

Guessing no OS included either if you're doing it "properly"

 

Steve

[flyinghaggis]

I would say unless you have a specific business need for it that's too expensive for a home lab server? If it's just for your own training/practice purposes I'd suggest buying something cheaper/older and out of warranty. Edited August 27, 2017 by flyinghaggis

[Whistler]

Usage case, well.... I will upgrade the RAM on it in hindsight! Want to run a few VM's and compelled to buy something that's current gen.

 

I just thought that even a base T630 is worth the price? It's still got warranty which is a plus for me.

[computer_expert]

If you are looking to upgrade the processor, an E5 2620 V3 will set you back about £200 (from ebay sold listings). An 8GB DDR4 stick will cost around £50 (ebay again) so you are looking at £250 or so on top of the auction price to upgrade it. Just as a comparison there was a T620 that went for £610 with 64GB ram, 2 E5-2640s, 3 1TB drives and redundant PSUs recently.

[Whistler]

Hi, thanks for the info. I found the T620 you were looking at. Is the listing price out priced compared to other listings (i.e considering it's current gen?). The listing says they can upgrade the RAM, so if I can get somewhat of an upgrade for free, would that be worth it?

 

Thanks.

 

Whistler

[computer_expert]

It's hard to say really (as not many 13th gen dell tower servers have been listed). I've only got one example of a 13th gen Dell (the R630, rack version of the T630 you linked to above) as they are so new. The R630 finished at £479 with the following specs: 16GB ram, 3 1.2TB SAS HDDs + 2 300GB SAS HDDs and a single hex core xeon.

 

Tower servers generally cost a little more as there aren't as many around compared to rack mount stuff.

 

If you are looking for current gen stuff have a look at the dell outlet too as you may find something there.

[Whistler]

It's hard to say really (as not many 13th gen dell tower servers have been listed). I've only got one example of a 13th gen Dell (the R630, rack version of the T630 you linked to above) as they are so new. The R630 finished at £479 with the following specs: 16GB ram, 3 1.2TB SAS HDDs + 2 300GB SAS HDDs and a single hex core xeon.

 

Tower servers generally cost a little more as there aren't as many around compared to rack mount stuff.

 

If you are looking for current gen stuff have a look at the dell outlet too as you may find something there.

 

 

Hi,

 

After doing the maths it doesn't seem to be a bad deal. With roughly £600 worth of upgrades, it's cheaper than buying the server new from Dell with the base specs. Looking at also buying a RAID card with it as well. May place a bid, depending on what it goes for. That R630 was a good deal! I may try to see if I can get any sort of "free" RAM Upgrades for it as looking, it seems as if it's been listed/sold before.

 

Thanks.

 

Whistler.

[mjk]

Have you thought about renting something from Amazon or Google ?

It might save you a few quid as you can pay for what you use.. It's also pretty good 'real world' experience -I don't think I've installed an operating system on something other than a hypervisor for years!

Like others have said - to get a good answer to your question you really need to explain what you need the server to do.

[NB9457]

Honestly, if it's a home lab, the biggest thing is RAM.

 

I run VMs on my i5 2500k Gaming PC for testing and what not under Hyper-V and it handles it fine. As long as you aren't doing anything heavy, you could even get asocket 771 based system and fill it with RAM and it'd be fine. Or build a decent home rig and have the best of both worlds