Building server/general use

[cabigler]

Greetings all,

I am new to this forum but think it looks pretty good from the bits that I read so far. Anyways I am planning on building my first computer from scratch and want some insight on what hardware I should use. The following is what I am looking for in a build.

Functionality:
I want to build a desktop computer that I can use for backups, media storage (with remote access), maybe host a small website and run 2 -3 VM's on it. So I was thinking it would be a hybird normal use computer/server. Is this even possible? If so what hardware would I need to do this?

Price:
Price is not a major concern, I mean i dont want to take out a loan for this thing but I also dont want it to not be useful to me down the road.

Space/cooling:
Where should I keep this bad boy? Should I build A custom case? House some stuff separate?

Any help or advice is greatly appreciated in advance!

Thanks,
CB

 

[USAFRet]

Pretty much any PC will do what you are seeking.
A Pentium G3258 or higher, 8 or 16GB RAM, and sufficient drive space would work.

However, another thing you might consider is a small NAS box, instead of rolling your own.
I had a PC that did pretty much exactly what you are talking about. It was getting old and in need of replacement.

All that functionality is now replaced with a Qnap NAS box.
Backups, media server, web server if desired, on the fly 4k video transcoding...all that literally built in.
Qnap, Synology, WD...all have similar offerings.
This is the one I have: https://www.qnap.com/en-us/product/model.php?II=212

NAS boxes used to be just a bare box with drives, and a simple commandline interface.
No more...It's a whole little PC with a variety of functions.

Now..if you want to build one just to build it, that's a different story...

 

[cabigler]

Thanks USAFRet
Ill check out that box
but yes I was just going to build it just because haha.
I want some experience in building a PC and figured I might as well make one that me and the rest of my household could use.

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks USAFRet
Ill check out that box
but yes I was just going to build it just because haha.
I want some experience in building a PC and figured I might as well make one that me and the rest of my household could use.

I was a long time proponent of using a small PC for that function.
But the newer NAS boxes have blown that away.

But, for your potential build...
Start here: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/353572-31-build-upgrade-advice

Parts...
Intel Pentium G4400 or i3-7100
8 or 16GB RAM. Amount depends on the level of VM used.
Motherboard to suit
Case to suit
450 watt Tier 1 or 2 power supply. (Seasonic or XFX) http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html
Hard drive to fit how much you need