Recommend Server off Ebay to run Blue Iris and Plex media server in seperate VM's?

Fibbly

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Currently I have an old Xeon L5520 server running Blue Iris and a equally old server running Plex and various other things under Linux. Was thinking of building a new box, with something like a Ryzen 2700x and 16 GB of ram, to consolidate using VM's under Hyper-V for Blue Iris and the Linux server. This build will run somewhere in the ~$500 range.

Question: Can any one recommend an older Intel i5/i7/Xeon gen 3 or so server off ebay that would come close to the performance of the Ryzen 2700x while saving some money compared to the new build?

Thanks.
 

SouthernYankee

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Read the cliff notes and other information in the wiki. The wiki is in the blue bar at the top of the page.

An i5 or I7 is recommended for BI.

Bi should be run on a standalone processor. It should not be run on a VM.
 
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While not recommended, there are a few people that run BI as a VM, myself included. Currently I run it on a C2100 (L5630) with 4 cameras. CPU generally runs in the 45% range. I'm planning on adding a few more cameras in the future so I will likely be switching to a dedicated PC or upgrading my server.
 

aaronwt

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Just keep the PLEX and BI server separate. It certainly makes thing simpler.

I'm in the process of upgrading my old Gen 3 Core i5 PCs to 8th Gen Core i5 PCs. I am keeping my BI machine by itself with the 8th Gen Core i5. And am setting up a dedicated Plex server with another 8th Gen Core i5. Currently I run Plex and TiVo/kmttg on the same machine. But I mainly want a machine that can also transcode my UHD BD MKV rips.
 

aaronwt

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I just configured my core i5 8400 with Blue Iris. Wow!! this is much, much better than my gen 3 core i5. The CPU usage percentage is around half of the old one. And it's using around 15 watts less right now. 40 watts vs. 55 watts.
I
 
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Go with a higher end Ryzen or a Threadripper. Look in to setting up unRaid and then run Plex as a docker and utilize a VM for you BI server. You can lock different cores to each docker/VM, and therefore maintain great performance. Absolutely no need to keep things separate, IF you are slightly tech savvy OR are fine with learning the ropes. unRaid forums are a great place to get setup assistance.
 

fenderman

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Go with a higher end Ryzen or a Threadripper. Look in to setting up unRaid and then run Plex as a docker and utilize a VM for you BI server. You can lock different cores to each docker/VM, and therefore maintain great performance. Absolutely no need to keep things separate, IF you are slightly tech savvy OR are fine with learning the ropes. unRaid forums are a great place to get setup assistance.
AMD is a poor choice for BI. A VMS should be run on bare metal on a dedicated machine.
 
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Currently I have an old Xeon L5520 server running Blue Iris and a equally old server running Plex and various other things under Linux. Was thinking of building a new box, with something like a Ryzen 2700x and 16 GB of ram, to consolidate using VM's under Hyper-V for Blue Iris and the Linux server. This build will run somewhere in the ~$500 range.

Question: Can any one recommend an older Intel i5/i7/Xeon gen 3 or so server off ebay that would come close to the performance of the Ryzen 2700x while saving some money compared to the new build?

Thanks.
I doubt you save too much money over a new Ryzen build but you can check out some of the e5's on eBay. I scored 2 of them and a dual socket Mobo for 200 bucks. e5-2670's. Long term though you'll lose out on power cost, however I've got mine running a shit load of VMs including Blue Iris and it runs like a dream.

The saving Grace to the older processors using ddr3 RAM is that you can snag it used for insanely cheap. I grabbed 128 GB for 150 bucks last year.
 

fenderman

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I doubt you save too much money over a new Ryzen build but you can check out some of the e5's on eBay. I scored 2 of them and a dual socket Mobo for 200 bucks. e5-2670's. Long term though you'll lose out on power cost, however I've got mine running a shit load of VMs including Blue Iris and it runs like a dream.

The saving Grace to the older processors using ddr3 RAM is that you can snag it used for insanely cheap. I grabbed 128 GB for 150 bucks last year.
another poor choice...no intel hardware acceleration...
 

fenderman

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Simple fix, pass a video card. :)
It's already been shown that Nvidia decoding that has just been added performs poorly... Now in addition to the Excess power that your unit wastes you are adding an expensive power guzzling video... Extremely silly...
 
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It's already been shown that Nvidia decoding that has just been added performs poorly... Now in addition to the Excess power that your unit wastes you are adding an expensive power guzzling video... Extremely silly...
Silly for your use case maybe, but consolidated systems can be incredibly efficient when used properly! Not to mention the Intel hardware acceleration works well for certain use-cases, and is actually more inefficient in others! OP asked for some advise on such a box and OP got some advice on such a box.
 

fenderman

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Silly for your use case maybe, but consolidated systems can be incredibly efficient when used properly! Not to mention the Intel hardware acceleration works well for certain use-cases, and is actually more inefficient in others! OP asked for some advise on such a box and OP got some advice on such a box.
Lots of misinformation there you don't know what you're talkin about... Pray tell your efficient system with your video card.... You posted nonsense and I'm just pointing that out so others don't take your advice and make mistakes like you have...
 
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