Last time around, we covered 6 servers, what they do, and some ideas for how to configure them to best suit your needs. What we didn’t tell you, though, is that there's a part 2! Back by popular demand, here are even more server applications and recommended configurations!

Note: If you’re still in the stage of selecting a server, you may also want to consider network infrastructure and network speed. Depending on your existing network infrastructure, if any, you may want to upgrade to a minimum 10gbps network speed for a smoother user-experience. 

Media Servers

Purpose: A media server is a specialized server that is designed to store and deliver multimedia content such as videos, music, and photos to other devices on a network. Media servers often have large amounts of storage capacity and are optimized for streaming media to multiple devices simultaneously. If you have a lot of movies, photos, or music downloaded from various sources and want to consolidate them all in one place to make them available to your home network, a media server is the way to go. It’s also what you’d want to use if you have a business with a bunch of training videos to distribute amongst your company staff, etc.

Media servers need…

• A whole lot of storage. Media servers need a significant amount of storage capacity to store all of the media files they manage, including videos, music, and photos. This is particularly important for users with large media collections, as high-quality video files can quickly consume terabytes of storage space.
• GPU for video compression and processing. Having a dedicated GPU allows the server to perform tasks like video transcoding and video streaming much more efficiently, resulting in smoother playback and faster performance.
• A fast network connection for streaming to clients. Media servers that support streaming over a wired Ethernet connection will generally provide better performance than those that rely on Wi-Fi, although some newer Wi-Fi standards (such as Wi-Fi 6) can provide fast enough speeds for high-quality streaming.

Routers/Security Gateways

Purpose: A router or security gateway is a network device that connects multiple networks together and helps to manage and control the flow of data between them. Routers can be used to provide security by enforcing policies that limit access to certain parts of the network, or by filtering out malicious traffic. Security gateways have pretty low processing & memory demands. That makes them great to learn on in a homelab setting before full-scale implementation. Otherwise, setting up a router at home might be a little over the top, but you’ll certainly get a *really* secure home network.

Routers/security gateways need…

• Multiple network ports and fiber/copper connection. Security gateways often need to connect multiple devices and networks together. The number and type of ports required will depend on the specific needs of your network. For example, a security gateway might need one or more fiber connections for high-speed internet connectivity, as well as multiple copper connections for connecting to devices such as switches, servers, and wireless access points.
• A robust software package. A package like PFSENSE can help to control firewall access rules and general network traffic. This can prevent unauthorized access to your network and allow you to monitor and manage network traffic more effectively. Some even come with advanced features like intrusion detection and prevention, antivirus and antimalware scanning, and content filtering.

Gaming Servers

Purpose: For fun and games! A gaming server is a server that is dedicated to hosting online games. Gaming servers typically have high processing power and low latency to ensure a smooth gaming experience for however many players are simultaneously involved in the game.

Gaming servers need…

• An appropriate amount of CPU cores and RAM for the number of users you plan on connecting. Each CPU core is 2 virtual cores or threads. Some games have different needs for the number of cores per user. (CSGO will actually use 4 cores if they’re available!)
• Research. Different games require different specs, but you’re not alone! There are plenty of forums and guides out there detailing what you need to make your PC game run perfectly smoothly. For example, if you’re looking to build a 100-player Minecraft server, here’s a guide we wrote on how to do just that.
• Strong and speedy network connection
• Possibly a GPU accelerator to handle 3D graphic and general video processing

Administrative Servers

Purpose: Administrative servers, also known as management servers, are servers that are used to manage other servers and network devices. They typically run software that allows administrators to monitor and configure various aspects of the network, such as user accounts, security policies, and device settings.

Administrative servers need…

• Once again, a robust software package. Administrative servers require powerful software packages that can monitor and manage the entire network effectively. Ex. Ubiquiti UniFi Network, Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager, and Zabbix.
• High-speed networking. Administrative servers require a high-speed network connection for the sake of efficiently configuring and managing the network and its components.
• Remote access! It is important to be able to access administrative servers remotely, especially when there is an issue that needs to be resolved immediately. Administrative servers need to have a reliable and secure remote access mechanism, such as Virtual Private Network (VPN) or Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).

General purpose virtualization hosts/hypervisors 

Purpose: A virtualization host, also known as a hypervisor, is a server that is optimized for running virtual machines. Virtualization hosts provide hardware resources, such as CPU, RAM, and storage, to multiple virtual machines, allowing them to share the same physical hardware while maintaining isolation from one another. These servers are used in virtualization environments to run multiple operating systems and applications on a single physical server.

What's the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 hypervisors?

Physical servers acting as virtualization hosts need…

• Physical servers hosting virtual machines will generally require higher specifications to meet the needs of all of the virtual machines they’re supporting
• High core count for allowing multiple VM’s to share resources
• An appropriate amount of RAM and storage to allocate to each virtual machine based on its specific role. Ex. to provide fast access to its users, a medical research database would require more of a host machine’s RAM and CPU than would a server supporting a personal blog.

Have questions about these use cases or a server you're trying to configure that we didn't cover? Drop us a line in the comments or at info@techmikeny.com!