[Solved] X86 Server Build

No, that is an excellent point @JonP point because what is lacking in this area is a common vendor of any type. Asrock putting out combos but just mobo and without m.2 support, gigabyte putting out the brix with no 2nd eth port, asus providing excellent itx mobo but none for n & j series and just really not putting anything on the market that's really useful when they're the leading mobo manufacturer.. Msi isn't even jumping in so we're left with small scale production which is basically you break it you fix it I feel like and the devices look extremely easy to break or atleast degrade especially with the ODRIOD H2. And then the middle ground is like build your own itx/n&j series for high price. Then its server class cisco/netgate/supermicro for an arm and a leg. It is clearly an easy decision to make here even though it takes a while to dig and find just what is capable of performing to what degree.

First off, the low class is really where this product family really shines because we just want to shape up to ~800 mb links and we can do it for cheap. So we have the atoms rangely and denverton but I would assume N&J celerons fit best here with the TDP and cost. 2 cores, 4 gb ram should handle anything you throw at it. We can say just pick the highest core speed, but basically what is here is the j1900 for 5 years and now the 4105 seems like the likely replacement. We have Qotom/Protectli leading here with their N&J series products.

While the n&j series celerons will handle anything you throw at it up to ~800mb links I personally would not sqm a gigabit link using 2 cores and would instead go itx+intel server NIC. Further I would not expect a 2 core n&j series to hold a 800 mb link with sqm on it however if I was looking for a low cost, low tdp device this would at the very least run between 100-300 mbs which is completely fine by my standards.

The middle class is suited for 1 gig shaping with no packet inspection OR packet inspection, not both on one box as @jeff expertly pointed out. For the fortunate ones who have 1 gig links or who understand packet inspection and why it is used I feel like <4 cores @ highest core speed and would say an i3 6100/7100 here paired with an intel server NIC. As I stated above this middle class is higher TDP higher price so there is really no point in building these unless you require the NIC which makes it kind of a class where it is like well I have this weird NAS/HTPC type of thing that networks. This is where our common mobo vendors are chiming in, with the Zotac CI328 apparently leading the way because there just isn't anything else.

Used workstation i5's are the best here. 2500>4570>6400

Still the consensus for server class is consumer cpu/xeon @ <4 cores but apparently suricata is better suited @ <4 cores, <4.0ghz. This class I feel like and just as @jeff pointed out there is not reason to have a smaller box here because it is mainly server built and they require low power draw mostly in a 1U box. I don't have a problem with the prices in no way will I ever spend $500 Netgate XG-7100, Netgate SG-5100, Supermicro A1SRi because you can just build a better system at that price point and continuing with that though it is possible to build your own xeon platform(or ryzen if you feel so inclined) as @jeff has been pointing out making us aware of the regular professional vendors at this level with Lanner, HP, Dell, and Lenovo.

The easy part is there are only so many xeon platforms. The difficult part and the reason why I would not build a xeon platform unless I required a low tdp draw is because learning the xeon sockets and finding a combination of cpu+mobo proved to be difficult last night I mean the only one I really seen was the 2011v3 socket type which i still wasn't sure if the used xeon on ebay would even be socketed for that. Now the other benefit of xeon is it works the same way as the N&J celerons, which are basically i5/i7 of servers. A typical xeon cpu will be the standard in the market for what appears to be 4-5 years such as the case with the j1900 and 4105. The issue is I don't know what the older xeon was and what replaced it.

At any rate in this class I would just buy a 9700k+itx board because it just performs better here.

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Note that the N4100 (1.1 to 2.4gHz) and even the N3450 (1.1 to 2.2gHz) are 4 core processors.
And, I'd think that getting a system box from Zotac might be a higher tier in manufacturing quality, due to their former and current history as a regarded GPU card company. Not that I have a good idea who's making Qotom/Protectli, though.

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