Rack mount BI server reccomendations

R

rhosch

n3wb
Oct 12, 2019
18
3
Ridgeland, MS
New to the forum, have been searching and reading. Building a new house, finishing up prewire now and have cat running everywhere I can think of. All wiring for TV/computer data runs, POE camera and echo device locations, security, audio, lutron repeater etc all come to a shared equipment closet. I'd like to use rack mount switches, patch panels, servers etc for BI, file server, home automation etc as much as possible to keep the space organized and space efficient.

I've read and understand the reasoning against using outdated power hungry servers like poweredge r310, r410 etc vs a modern lowish TDP processor. However, when I try to start listing possible components for a rack server using more modern components, the price climbs rapidly. Server mobos alone seem quite pricey. Maybe that's because I'm looking at only 1U?

Anyway, open to suggestions about the most cost effective way to build a rack mounted BI server that has a good balance of performance and power consumption. I was planning on keeping this a BI only box and not doing VMs or sharing resources with automation, file serving/storage etc. Planning on ~8 camera locations initially but wiring several other locations just in case. The starlight 2MP seem like a good starting point and 15 fps would probably be fine for home security needs. I do plan on sharing live video streams with another server running home automation for display if that affects needed resources.
 
I can relate to the desire for a neat equipment area, mine is the opposite! I should rack-mount some stuff too. Ventilation is an issue, I need to figure out a better plan to provide airflow. On the bright side, I heat my apartment with electric heat anyway, so for the heating season, the waste heat isn't actually waste.

For eight 2MP cams I would think about a Core i5. This resource will probably be handy for you, you can sort the results by CPU, megapixels/second and other criteria: Blue Iris Update Helper

Two things I would do if I were starting over:

1. get a 1TB or larger nVME SSD for near-term video recordings to be stored on
2. factor in 50% CPU performance headroom or more, so the system isn't swamped when it's showtime and you need to play back All The Things while recording continues in the background. Plus then you're equipped for expansion.


You probably already saw the BI Wiki that helps with optimization, otherwise here's that: Optimizing Blue Iris's CPU Usage

Thinking outside the box, you could also consider just rackmounting a shelf and setting an old OptiPlex on it. At work, I tested idle power consumption on some standard OptiPlex 7050 SFFs and was surprised at how little power they need at idle, like 15 watts.
 
Hmm... never thought of using a rack mount server cabinet. A Rosewill 2U is $89 on Amazon for 4 storage bays. Lemme get this straight before I get too excited. Can I move my motherboard, power supply, fans, and hard drives from my Dell Optiplex PC case into one of these server cabinets? If so, this would be great as certainly would organize things. Right now, my PC is sitting besides my wall mounted cabinet. The OptiPlex PC case does take up real estate as a midi-tower, even if laid on it's side.
 
Thanks. After looking around it does seem that my initial searching for 1U components was the bottleneck in price.

I think my best bet probably is finding a used optiplex or other adequately equipped i5 class box, add ssd or whatever seems necessary, and then if desired for organization transplant into an inexpensive rack mount case. Side benefit I guess is a 4U case would be way quieter than a 1U case full of high revving 10mm fans!
 
OptiPlex motherboards are almost certain to be proprietary and only fit their intended Dell Chassis, so you'd be going all-or-nothing if you went with an OptiPlex. Internal expansion is not great with Optiplexes but they're a popular one-shot solution due to how cheaply they can be obtained. What I'm suggesting is to rack-mount a shelf and just plunk an OptiPlex on it as-is.
 
  • Like
Reactions: giomania
I have a spare shelf. I guess I'll do just that, put it on shelf and lay sideways. I know future BI computer will be totally custom made (done with with my gaming computers for years). Can I just pluck out the i7 cpu and slap into my own motherboard? Or is the CPU also hard coded to only work on Dell mobo's?
 
It's a reasonable bet the i7 will not transplant due to the constant march of revisions and new versions. For example, my OpenALPR box uses a second-generation CPU while my BI system has a 9th-gen model. If you get a typical used OptiPlex with a 4th-gen to 6th-gen CPU and motherboard, it wouldn't be compatible with new motherboards that are compatible with 9th-gen or 10th-gen Core processors.

Other than that, the CPU would transplant fine to a non-Dell motherboard as long as it's the compatible socket/chipset and the firmware supports the CPU model.
 
ah ok. good to know. so i'll have to find a 4th gen mobo
 
Intel Core iX chips are usually grouped in generations, but they're usually pretty easy to find by just searching for "Generation XX intel motherboard."
 
bleh... maybe i'll just stick it in my cabinet for now, laying on it's side. gots another 2TB harddrive coming in. should hold me over for awhile. But I do like this idea for a future project.
 
There is NO reason for any SSD to be bigger than 240gb in a BI box.
The only thing that should go on the SSD is OS, BI, and BI DB.
New goes to the spinner. No need to be moving files to stored unless you have a NAS or such.
My SFF Optiplex I7-7700, 16gb ram, runs at 4-5%load with the console closed. 9 2mp cams.
Edit: Using an average of 5 cents per day in power.
Can't hear it running unless you put your ear up to it.
Put a SFF Optiplex on a shelf and call it good.
 
  • Like
Reactions: PaulK
There also are some single-socket Xeon processors that have the desirable Quick Sync video encoding, here is Intel's list: Intel product specifications Note that you have to be ultra-selective about the precise model, including "V2" or so forth. The relevance here is that you might track down a hot buy on a used Dell Precision workstation with a Quick Sync-enabled Xeon and more drive bays.

Scrounging Ebay at the moment, here's an example of the right general idea. Two drive bays down low and you could add a third 3.5" hard drive in the spare optical-drive bay with a $2 adapter. If you want an nVME SSD, slap it on a $12 adapter card and plug it into the spare PCI-Express slot. Bonus, it's got a power-frugal Quadro P400 in there which would support H265 on a few modest cameras.

1570992664864.png

There is NO reason for any SSD to be bigger than 240gb in a BI box.
Click to expand...

I have 23 cams, several of them hitting 30-40Mbit/sec bitrates (high-end Bosch), and simultaneous playback and recording with mechanical drives is an issue if I want to accelerate playback of a large set of cams, and/or play in reverse. My plan is to slap in a nVME SSD for near-term recordings, which BI can offload to the spinners periodically.
 
Last edited:
Ah, forgot about the proprietary dell formats. Haven't had an optiplex since an old P4 work hog. I wouldn't be opposed to drilling and tapping standoffs at appropriate locations in a roomy case but don't remember if rear IO is nonstandard as well. Not that that would be a big deal though I guess.

Still an option. The other is a new budget build with something like. Ryzen 3 but even budget new is significantly more than refurb dell.
 
looney2ns said:
Put a SFF Optiplex on a shelf and call it good.
Click to expand...

I wish it was a SFF :) Mine is a Mini-Tower. Nearly 7" wide. But I think I can fit it in my cabinet, laying sideways.
 
I have 24TB or so of capacity currently in an unRaid server and can easily expand that. Any known issues using unRaid for long term storage? I see talks of other NAS solutions here so I hope not. Wasn't planning on trying to accommodate local HDD for video storage. I guess I could if needed.
 
Don't do 1U, you are restricted on power supplies, CPU cooler etc. I have mine in a Rosewill 2U rackmount case (RSV-2600), which takes any normal power supply and mini-ITX or micro-ATX motherboard. The included fans are garbage molex powered ones which run 100% all the time. I replaced the 3 of them with Noctua NF-A8 PWM fans which runn off the motherboard, the case is really silent with them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom