How do you decide what platform to go for?

[Puntoboy]

I'm really stuck for which motherboard and CPU to go for.

 

I need Micro-ATX for two controller cards but otherwise my requirements are pretty flexible. The chassis is a 2U SuperMicro server with a SAS Expander backplane.

 

I'll have 50TB+ of storage (currently 5 x 14TB drives plus SSD Cache). I'd like IPMI, so that kinda sways me towards a server board. I'll be running Plex (no transcoding - Direct Play), a VM for Home Asssitant, and Docker containers for Sonarr, Radarr x2, NZBGet, a possibly a few other lightweight Docker containers.

 

Not sure whether to go for Intel or Ryzen (or EPYC?). I was kinda swaying towards an E-2104G but not confirmed. So my options are kinda open.

 

Anything I should consider? Obviously low idle power should be good. Is LGA 1151 a good choice?

[Puntoboy]

How did I not know about this https://pikvm.org/

 

That might take away the need for IPMI/remote management.

[Puntoboy]

I've been looking around and I'm swaying towards the following:

 

ASUS P11C-I Motherboard - https://www.asus.com/uk/Commercial-Servers-Workstations/P11C-I/

It has an onboard Mini-SAS HD connector that I can use to conenct to my SAS Expander

 

Intel Xeon E-2146G CPU

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/134866/intel-xeon-e2146g-processor-12m-cache-up-to-4-50-ghz.html

 

Any reason why this combo wouldn't work?

Edited February 4, 2022 by Puntoboy

[Vr2Io]

9 hours ago, Puntoboy said:

ASUS P11C-I Motherboard - https://www.asus.com/uk/Commercial-Servers-Workstations/P11C-I/

It has an onboard Mini-SAS HD connector that I can use to conenct to my SAS Expander

 

1. You found have stock ?

2. The Mini-SAS HD was SATA only come from C242 Chipset.

 

16 hours ago, Puntoboy said:

Is LGA 1151 a good choice?

I don't think so due to already phase-out

[Puntoboy]

6 hours ago, Vr2Io said:

 

1. You found have stock ?

2. The Mini-SAS HD was SATA only come from C242 Chipset.

 

I don't think so due to already phase-out

Do you have to go latest and greatest? 1151 isn’t that old and there are lots of well priced options out there. 

[Vr2Io]

5 hours ago, Puntoboy said:

Do you have to go latest and greatest? 1151 isn’t that old and there are lots of well priced options out there. 

My latest also 1151/2066.

[Puntoboy]

So I have finally narrowed down my search to this motherboard and CPU.

 

Intel Xeon E-2246G https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/191043/intel-xeon-e2246g-processor-12m-cache-3-60-ghz.html

ASUS P11C-M/10G-2T https://www.asus.com/uk/Commercial-Servers-Workstations/P11C-M-10G-2T/

 

Case will be a 1U short depth chassis, which only has a single PCI-E card you can install, hence the need for either a SAS controller or 10GBe onboard (I went for 10GBe as I couldn't find one with SAS controller).