Hardware Setup for a High-Performance Home Server

Hardware Components

• Processors: 2x Intel Xeon E5-2650 v2
• Coolers: 2x Deepcool Gammaxx 400
• Storage Controller: Dell H310i / LSI SAS9211-8i
• Hard Drives:
  • 3x WD WhiteLabel 12 TB
  • 3x WD WhiteLabel 18 TB
  • 1x WD WhiteLabel 16 TB
• SSDs:
  • 2x KIOXIA-EXCERIA SSD 500 GB
  • 1x Crucial MX500 2 TB
  • 2x Crucial MX500 500 GB
• Chassis: Fractal Design 7 XL

Software Configuration

Proxmox VE Virtualization Environment

• TrueNAS Scale (with HBA passthrough for Dell H310i)
• Mail-in-a-Box (mailinabox.email)
• Docker VM for containerized applications
• MariaDB for SQL database hosting

TrueNAS Configuration

The TrueNAS virtual machine is set up with:

• Passthrough Devices: Dell H310i HBA card and two NVMe drives.
• Storage Pool Configuration:
  Each pool has dedicated VDEVs for metadata (mirrored) and cache (striped) using NVMe drives.

Storage Pools Overview:

Application Stack

This server hosts a comprehensive range of applications, including:

bazarr
ESPHome
ferdium-server
freshrss
gitea
grafana
hass
immich
influx
jenkins
lidarr
meshcentral
mongodb
mqtt
netbootxyz
overseerr
paperless-ngx
photoprism
pihole
piholeinflux
piper
prometheus
prowlarr
radarr
readarr
sonarr
syncthing
tautulli
traccar
unifi-db
unifi-network-application
unifi-poller
unpackerr
uptime-kuma
varken
whisper
wordpress
zigbee2mqtt
zigbee2mqttAssistant

Notes and Insights

1. NVMe Boot Compatibility

   • The motherboard does not support booting from NVMe drives.

2. Cooling Challenges on LGA2011 Narrow ILM

   • Narrow ILM-compatible coolers are rare. Adapter brackets for AM4 mounting were used, specifically lever-based designs to ensure compatibility. Example bracket:
     
   • These adapters reduce clearance near one of the RAM banks:
     
   • Deepcool Gammaxx 400 coolers were selected for their lever-based mounting mechanism.

3. Fan Selection

   • Arctic P12 PWM and P14 PWM fans were chosen for their performance, offering Noctua-level efficiency at a fraction of the cost.

4. SATA Power Safety

   • Standard SATA adapters and splitters pose a fire risk. Refer to these resources for more details:
     • Crucial Guide
     • Risks of SATA Cables
     • Reddit Discussion
   • To mitigate risks, safer connectors were installed:
     

Conclusion

This setup demonstrates how to configure a robust home server with Proxmox VE. From advanced cooling solutions to optimized storage and comprehensive application hosting, this server is tailored for high-performance workloads.

Keywords

• Proxmox Home Server
• TrueNAS Storage Configuration
• High-Performance Server Build
• LGA2011 Cooling Solutions

Tags

• Proxmox
• TrueNAS
• Home Server
• Linux Administration
• Hardware Optimization