HTPC / PfSense / NAS + Cloud Storage / ?? Build

[LyricX]

I'm planning on building another computer to do all of the following below:

 

HTPC - Samsung 55" 4k UDH TV in the Front Room / Guest Room Roku TV (using Plex or XBMC to handle all of my locally stored mkv files. (Bluetooth keyboard / mouse for ease of use from the couch for movie nights)

pfSense - Will be running pfblockerng, snort, squid, ntopng, possibly openvpn, and maybe be able to boot up tor in a vm as well for scouring the depths of the web.

NAS - Backing up / storing family photos, pictures, videos, and of course movies as well here that will be used by plex / XBMC

Cloud - Make my own cloud service that allows those files on the NAS to be accessed remotely from phone, etc? Not sure how I'd implement this yet, or if its even worth it??? Still in question.

Other Various VMs to Launch - KaliOS / ParrotOS to experiment with penetration testing and setting up my own testing environments and other things?

 

What would be the best hardware requirements for this to run efficiently with no hiccups?

 

I'm thinking atleast 32GB of RAM, and at minimum a R5 2600x or maybe R7 1800x for the CPU. What would you guys recommend for the GPU? It won't be used for gaming at all, so I'm not sure if I really need a super powerful GPU. Maybe a RX 580? I don't want to spend a ton of money unnecessarily, but I also don't want performance hiccups or lag, issues, etc. Hence why I prefer AMD as well (budget friendly, although I'm not opposed to intel if its as cheap or cheaper.) Probably no overclocking at all on this system, need maximum stability.

 

I also know it's not common practice to run your router in a VM, or as a Router on a stick of which I've done both and have done tech writeups on, so I'm not really concerned about that issue at all. It's a simple home network, and it would be left on 24/7 and the family can just deal with updates once a month or I'll do them when everyone is asleep.

 

 

Thanks in advance...hope to get a good discussion going here on suggestions, etc.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Id personally keep router seprate, makes it easier to work with if something goes wrong. Id personally just get a edge router here, but a vm will also work

 

You probably want gpu passthrough for the htpc, so get something like a gt 710 for the host, and a rx 560 for the guest.

 

32gb of ram is a good starting point, id go 64 if you can.

 

Look at proxmox as a host os, should do all you want. And you get zfs for storage.

 

Nextcloud is good for that cloudlike interface

 

 

For cpu, id personally get a used dual 2011 system as the ram is much cheaper and you can get much more, but for ryzen id get a 1700 as there cheap and low power. You really won't need much cpu power though. You probalby want a good board with lots of sata ports, and lots of pcie slots. Your probalby gonna want a deticated intel gbe nic for the router as the onboard nics are often not great on consumer boards.