Repurposing Old Gaming computer in to Plex Server

[Donut417]

A little while ago I bought and HD Homerun and Plex pass. I installed Plex on my gaming laptop and begun using it as the server. I fell in love with Plex, its very capable and my dad likes it too. Only one issue, I have a 1TB SSHD in the laptop and its filling up. I have maybe 300 DVD's that Id like to eventually get digitized to my server. BUT I have a gaming computer I built in 2013 that I was thinking of using as my Plex server, I dont do PC gaming as much and my gaming laptop, while not as powerful will be able to play many of the games I would play. Some time in the future Ill either build me a new gaming computer, buy a gaming laptop or invest in a console besides the Switch I own. 

 

Current Desktop config

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-3570K 3.4 GHz Quad-Core Processor 
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-D14 64.95 CFM CPU Cooler  ($79.44 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: MSI - Z77A-GD65 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($52.98 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($52.98 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($63.58 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($63.58 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Gigabyte - Radeon HD 7950 3 GB Video Card 
Case: Fractal Design - Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case 
Power Supply: Corsair - CX 600 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($182.30 @ Amazon) 
Monitor: Acer - H236HLbid 23.0" 1920x1080 60 Hz Monitor 
Monitor: Acer - H236HLbid 23.0" 1920x1080 60 Hz Monitor 
Keyboard: Razer - BlackWidow 2013 Wired Gaming Keyboard 
Headphones: Sennheiser - HD 4.40BT  Headset 
Speakers: Logitech - Z323 30 W 2.1ch Speakers  ($47.78 @ Amazon) 
Other: APC 1350VA Back-UPS Pro Sinewave UPS Battery Backup & Surge Protector (BR1350MS)  ($159.99 @ B&H) 
Total: $702.63
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-21 17:32 EDT-0400

 

My thoughts were to buy a 6TB WD Red Drive,  I see B&H has them for like $189 USD. Unless someone has any suggestions. The 2x 1TB drives will remain and will likely become network storage, for other shit I have. The SSD will go in my laptop so I dont have to gouge out my eyes every time I use it. The SSHD from the laptop will most likely go in the desktop, maybe an OS drive or just more storage. I also have a 1TB hard drive from my moms old desktop as well as I think 2 laptop hard drives from my sisters old laptops just hanging about as well. 

 

Questions:

1) What OS? Others have stated just stick  with Windows 10. BUT it runs buggy on my hardware and MSI no longer supports the board and I have had issues with Ethernet drivers not working after going to sleep. While I did download the newest Intel driver and that seemed to make it happen less, it still happen. Also, there are graphical glitches that happen as well. I have upgraded the graphics card driver and nothing helps. Also this has been the case over at least 4 installations of Windows 10 on this hardware. Was thinking Ubuntu might be worth a look? OR Free NAS? 

2) Are there any Blu Ray drives that on not shit? Also, If I decide on the Ubuntu route, could I digitize disks on the same machine running Plex? Most likely using Make MKV, which I read somewhere has a Beta Linux version. 

3) Can I use multiple drives as the same time to digitize disks? I have a portable DVD drive that came with my laptop, also my current desktop has an  HP DVD drive that I stole out of my moms old desktop. 

4) Should I consider a power supply upgrade, or just new? My thoughts were newer power supplies are more energy efficient. 

5) If I go ubutnu, should I consider formating all my disks to EXT4? Also, I need to have network shares with Windows machines and maybe a Mac in the future. What is the best way to make this work? 

[Electronics Wizardy]

2 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

My thoughts were to buy a 6TB WD Red Drive,  I see B&H has them for like $189 USD. Unless someone has any suggestions.

Get these. https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Desktop-Hard-Drive-WDBWLG0080HBK-NESN/dp/B07D5V2ZXD/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_147_tr_t_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=BGCRTCAPH785AXE921D0

 

Bigger, cheap, adn about the same drive, just take the drive out of the case.

 

1. Use linux if you want, ubuntu will work fine here.

 

3. Yea you can have multiple optical drives.

 

4. Id keep the older psu, it should be fine, and your not saving much power.

 

5. samba for network share, id personally use btrfs or zfs, but ext4 will work fine, works better than ntfs

[Donut417]

4 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Bigger, cheap, adn about the same drive, just take the drive out of the case.

Wont that kill the warranty? I have had WD drives fail on me in the past, so I might consider using the warranty if that happens? 

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, Donut417 said:

Wont that kill the warranty? I have had WD drives fail on me in the past, so I might consider using the warranty if that happens? 

won't hurt warranty in the U.S.

 

And the savings are way more than the likely hood of failure anyways.

[Swastik496]

Buy one of the 8TB Easystore drives from Best Buy when they go on sale for $130 and shuck them(reddit.com/r/buildapcsales will tell you when they are on sale).