SPCR

I'm building a server for the startup I work for, and we plan to initially host it in our office (right next to my desk), and later move it to a data center. In the data center, a small-ish form factor (1U or 2U) is important for keeping costs down, but I'd like it to be reasonably quiet in the office. 2U isn't an absolute requirement, but I'd need a pretty good reason to justify the added hosting costs of a 3U or 4U case.

The server is going to be responding to queries from another server, and running CPU/memory-intensive algorithms to formulate a response, but has minimal storage needs.

Current planned specs (nothing's been purchased yet):

• Asus Z9PA-U8 ATX Server Motherboard LGA 2011
• Xeon E5-1650v2 CPU 130W TDP (just one)
• A single SSD for storage
• 4x16 GB ECC RAM (expandable later)
• CPU cooler (unknown)
• 2U rackmount case (unknown)
• PSU (either below or something new)
• whatever other case fans are needed

I have an Antec EarthWatts Green EA-430D Green 430W PSU that's been sitting in a cabinet for about 2 years, but I could also buy a new PSU.

I've built plenty of computers, but never in a server case before. The president of the company also builds computers, and fully appreciates the importance of cooling. I'd appreciate any advice you could offer.

IMHO you should just think to two different enclosures, one for the office and another one for the rack, as any rackspace/telco cage is not a suitable environment for a quiet computing setup, reliability-wise.

keep costs down. skip a server rack till you have enough equipment to warrant it. simple industrial shelving with servers in generic cases will save you on build costs and help keep thing quiet.

Some more background:

We already have two servers in desktop cases in the office. The new server is a replacement for one of them, (the old one will continue to run as a backup/load sharer), and we're looking at moving it to a data center within 1-3 months.

Also, when it is time to move, it'll be important to minimize downtime, and I'd really rather not be transferring the components from one case to another at such a critical time.