Desktop for a virtualized home server -- first time build!
Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 12:18 pm
Hello, SPCR. I've been lurking for a while, so I'm glad to finally say hi. I am thinking of building a desktop for home use along the following lines, and would love any advice.
I want to run Ubuntu and Windows 7 simultaneously (with a VM). The Ubuntu side is for playing music (with MPD), backing up other computers in the house over rsync, and general internet and household use. The windows side is for playing DVDs, streaming Netflix, serving the printer, and anything else that is a hassle in Linux. (I like wrestling with Linux for my own education, but my wife has limited patience for things not just working all of the time.) I'm not a gamer, but it would be good to satisfy an occasional interest in a game without worrying too much about performance. I also do occasional image, video, or sound editing, but nothing too heavy.
I'm thinking of installing Ubuntu and running VirtualBox VMs of both Ubuntu and Windows 7. It may be excessive, but I really like the idea of having all of the setup effort to get the server working done in VMs so that I can swap out the hardware as needed, save snapshots, etc. Also, I just get a kick out of virtualization.
I'm not a dedicated computer guy, but I want to learn whatever is necessary to get it done right.
I want to spend around $800US or maybe a little more over time. I have an existing desktop (slow and noisy) that I am planning to replace piece by piece, starting with the motherboard and CPU and then extending into the rest in order of noisiness. The existing machine is an ATX tower with a 380W PSU and a few hard drives that I bought with noise in mind.
As long as I'm spending some money on this thing, I want it to feel zippy, even though my use may not require much. I'm also thinking that using RAID1 for a pair of backup drives would give me some peace of mind. Other than that, I'm not sure what I'm looking for.
I'm thinking of starting with an Intel Core i5 2500K CPU on a Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 motherboard, with maybe 16 GB of RAM. The next stop might be a quieter PSU and an SSD drive for the OSes. After that...a new case?
Am I crazy? Is the i5 overpowered for what I need? Will these components allow me to gradually move towards a quiet system? Is this whole double-virtualization idea nuts?
Thanks in advance for any advice or comments!
I want to run Ubuntu and Windows 7 simultaneously (with a VM). The Ubuntu side is for playing music (with MPD), backing up other computers in the house over rsync, and general internet and household use. The windows side is for playing DVDs, streaming Netflix, serving the printer, and anything else that is a hassle in Linux. (I like wrestling with Linux for my own education, but my wife has limited patience for things not just working all of the time.) I'm not a gamer, but it would be good to satisfy an occasional interest in a game without worrying too much about performance. I also do occasional image, video, or sound editing, but nothing too heavy.
I'm thinking of installing Ubuntu and running VirtualBox VMs of both Ubuntu and Windows 7. It may be excessive, but I really like the idea of having all of the setup effort to get the server working done in VMs so that I can swap out the hardware as needed, save snapshots, etc. Also, I just get a kick out of virtualization.
I'm not a dedicated computer guy, but I want to learn whatever is necessary to get it done right.
I want to spend around $800US or maybe a little more over time. I have an existing desktop (slow and noisy) that I am planning to replace piece by piece, starting with the motherboard and CPU and then extending into the rest in order of noisiness. The existing machine is an ATX tower with a 380W PSU and a few hard drives that I bought with noise in mind.
As long as I'm spending some money on this thing, I want it to feel zippy, even though my use may not require much. I'm also thinking that using RAID1 for a pair of backup drives would give me some peace of mind. Other than that, I'm not sure what I'm looking for.
I'm thinking of starting with an Intel Core i5 2500K CPU on a Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 motherboard, with maybe 16 GB of RAM. The next stop might be a quieter PSU and an SSD drive for the OSes. After that...a new case?
Am I crazy? Is the i5 overpowered for what I need? Will these components allow me to gradually move towards a quiet system? Is this whole double-virtualization idea nuts?
Thanks in advance for any advice or comments!