Help me build home Server / NAS / Security / PLEX / VMs / etc - The Lot

[MoboMikey]

Hey all, so I need help with a project my wife's parents are looking at doing.

In short, they are building a new home and want the following:

• IP cameras inside and out (wired) - at least 10
• Remote door-unlock after viewing camera
• At least 2x wired ethernet ports in each room (lets say 10 rooms)
• Ability to view cameras from tablet + wall-mount touch-screen
• NAS to store everything they have, including movies and TV shows (at least 40TB usable space)
• PLEX server to watch their stuff, anywhere in the house + while on the move
• NVR to store / manage IP camera feeds
• Ability to have home-automation in the future (I don't know about this stuff)

I'm meeting with them next week to get their actual requirements, but so far I'm thinking I'll need the following (and help with:

• PoE managed switch for IP cameras (24 port cat6) - but which one?
• IP cameras - but which ones? I don't want to pay any monthly fees / use their online solution
• NVR software - maybe ZoneMinder?
• NAS - but which one?
• Managed switch for home network (24 port cat6a) - but which one?
• Router - but which one?
• Patch panels - one for cat6 and one for cat6a - Ideally feed-through as opposed to punch-down
• 18RU wall-mount rack - but which one?
• 1RU rack-mount server (maybe an old DL360 G8?) - no idea about server grade hardware / software though
• Hypervisor - proxmox?
• Ability to have RAID 6 on 1RU server, or something so I can hot-swap in HDDs when they fail
• Touch-screen tablet thingy for use in kitchen to view stuff
• Other things i've not yet thought of

The overarching aspects are:

• No paying monthly fees to anyone
• All OpenSource if possible
• Easy to maintain - i'll do the install and config and then hopefully annual maintenance only :)
• Cheap, but good quality stuff is more important

 

I'm hoping people here can help me shape what I need to do.

Thank you if you're able to assist :)

[Jarsky]

I would consider going rackmount here, and Ubiquiti gear for the networking. 

Ubiquiti have a line called Unifi, which has integrated easy management of all your network devices. 

 

In particular i'd go for:

Router - Unifi Security Gateway Pro 4

Switch - Unifi Switch US-48-500W (PoE + 2 x SFP+ 10Gbit ports)

Access Points - Unifi NanoHD AP's (these come in packs for savings)

Cameras - Unifi G3 Pro & G3 Flex Cameras

NAS - Synology RS2418+ Rackmount

Patch panels - plenty from the likes of TrendNet & Cable Matters

Servers - I'd do a custom build into a smaller chassis like something from Rosewill. Most servers like the Dell's & HP's are quite long and wont fit in a wall mount rack. 

 

The Ubiquiti Unifi gear is easy to configure, all managed so you can configure VLAN's (e.g seperating IoT devices, Guest Wifi, Home Wifi & Network devices, etc...)

Unless you have a need to have 2 switches (1 on each side of the house) then just 1 single large switch is fine.

The one i listed is PoE and can support a couple of dozen PoE devices. 

It can also be cloud managed via https://unifi.ubnt.com . You can run your own controller from a VM locally on the NAS or the Server - no licensing. 

For the camera's you can use Synology NVR, or Ubiquiti NVR software solutions and use the NAS storage for recordings. Both come with an app that you can use remotely

For the server, if its going to be focused on VM's then i'd go Proxmox over FreeNAS. It has better VM support running KVM, and container support with OpenVZ.

 

The big thing to consider with the build phase, is getting all the cabling in. 

This includes ethernet, HDMI, coax, banana terminals, etc...Also consider if they may be using any DVB-S (Satellite) or DVB-T (Terrestrial) services, what will be needed, as you may need splitters etc..

[MoboMikey]

Thank you for the response @Jarsky I'll check out the networking equipment shortly.

I don't need 2 switches, only thought it might be cheaper that way, as I don't need cat6a for the IP cameras, but I do for the rest of the house.

 

The NAS looks good as well, however I've had a look at 'Surveillance Station NVR, and it will cost $1,000 in licenses, just to use the features....I'd rather use something like ZoneMinder on a server (if possible, haven't looked into it yet). I'll look into Ubiquiti for their NVR solution now.

 

You don't happen to be affiliated with them by any chance? haha :)

 

I'll be recommending an electrician to run the cables ahead of the config, as I've no interest in that side of the job :)

But of course, will have to spec it properly beforehand.

 

Is there a 'rack server PCpartPicker' site where I can configure a rack mount server? Never built one before...also not sure what specs to go with either.

 

Thank you for your help :)

 

For anyone watching this thread, i'll update as I go in case the decisions are useful to anyone else :)

[Donut417]

12 hours ago, MoboMikey said:

PLEX

Not an expert but I do use Plex. You really need to have in mind the number of concurrent streams, the resolution of those streams and the file formats of the files. This is due to the fact you may have to do some transcoding on those video files. Not all devices support the same formats. So Plex will do on the fly transcoding. This may or may not require a great deal of processing power. 

 

It might be worth building a dedicated Plex box if you were thinking of running it in a VM. 

[MoboMikey]

9 hours ago, Donut417 said:

It might be worth building a dedicated Plex box if you were thinking of running it in a VM

I'll have to build a server which is powerful enough to support a NVR, Plex, automation software, and anything else my in-laws dream up

 

I'll need to be able to transcode 4k content to at least 1x TV concurrently, ideally 2x TVs concurrently, from PLEX

 

I'm thinking of using Ryzen 3700 with 64GB RAM.....don't think i'd need a video card though, still early days in the research though.

 

I'm also currently thinking building a consumer grade mini-tower to do it, as the bare-metal chassis for rack-mount servers seem to be about $800-$1,000 in Australia

[Jarsky]

16 hours ago, MoboMikey said:

Thank you for the response @Jarsky I'll check out the networking equipment shortly.

I don't need 2 switches, only thought it might be cheaper that way, as I don't need cat6a for the IP cameras, but I do for the rest of the house.

Not really cheaper, and you use a couple of ports once you factor in uplinks. The cat rating of the cable makes no difference to the switch. Just run some cat5e for any cameras and ap's and cat6a for the wallports if you really want to consider supporting 10gbit in future. 

 

16 hours ago, MoboMikey said:

The NAS looks good as well, however I've had a look at 'Surveillance Station NVR, and it will cost $1,000 in licenses, just to use the features....I'd rather use something like ZoneMinder on a server (if possible, haven't looked into it yet). I'll look into Ubiquiti for their NVR solution now.

Oh ouch, ok yeah take a look at Ubiquiti's Surveillance, its license free. 

 

16 hours ago, MoboMikey said:

You don't happen to be affiliated with them by any chance? haha

Not at all. I used to work doing network, and have worked with a lot of gear over the years. Cisco is complex to setup, their cloud gear Maraki has licensing costs, you get great solutions from the likes of Netgear & Microtik but i've just found for many people that Unifi is a really easy and robust solution for home with a lot of features. They invest extremely heavily on firmware & software, but you only pay for the hardware. I've just last week helped a friend setup a 3 VLAN (Subnet) network with 50 IoT devices and VPN access using Ubiquiti. Hes been using Meraki, Netgear & Rukus up until now, and hes extremely happy with the move. 

 

16 hours ago, MoboMikey said:

I'll be recommending an electrician to run the cables ahead of the config, as I've no interest in that side of the job

But of course, will have to spec it properly beforehand.

Sounds like a good idea. If you make up a good spec of everything you need to support, and a rough outline of what you're after a good cable guy should be able to get you sorted, and a good one will normally pick out things you may have missed like signal duplexers and splitters etc...I used to work in construction and used to do low power cabling in some new build and renovation jobs, so I generally just do my own. 

 

16 hours ago, MoboMikey said:

Is there a 'rack server PCpartPicker' site where I can configure a rack mount server? Never built one before...also not sure what specs to go with either.

Not really, its for consumer stuff, but if you check out http://servethehome.com or else many threads in this subforum are to do with server builds. 

 

[Jarsky]

3 hours ago, MoboMikey said:

I'll have to build a server which is powerful enough to support a NVR, Plex, automation software, and anything else my in-laws dream up

 

I'll need to be able to transcode 4k content to at least 1x TV concurrently, ideally 2x TVs concurrently, from PLEX

Easy...build it with a GTX 10 series card like a 1050Ti/1060/1660/1070 and you can support 20 concurrent streams no problem, which will leave CPU cycles free for everything else you could want to run on the server. 

 

Personally on mine (Ryzen 3900x) I run Unifi Video, Unifi Network Controller, Pi-Hole for DNS filtering & sinkholing, Plex Server, Seedbox (rTorrent) and 2 linux web & reverse proxy servers. I also have 2 x Nested VMware ESXi hosts that build an entire test lab of Windows Servers & Desktops. 

 

Mines overkill because of the test lab, I just assign 4 cores to the Plex server, and leverage the GPU for transcoding. It also runs fine @ 32GB for the lot...so you definately don't need 64GB to start with. Check out this sub forum and the storage builds thread for some ideas on how people are leveraging old parts. even an old 3770 or 4790 would be fine for handling everything you listed. 

[Donut417]

9 hours ago, MoboMikey said:

'll need to be able to transcode 4k content to at least 1x TV concurrently, ideally 2x TVs concurrently, from PLEX

 

Directly from Plex:

 

If you want very basic minimum suggestions:

• No transcoding: Intel “Atom” 1.2GHz (NAS devices based on ARM processors should also be capable of at least one stream with no transcoding)
• Single 720p transcode: Intel Core i3 3.0 GHz
• Single 1080p transcode: Intel Core i5 3.0GHz
• Single 4K transcode: Intel Core i7 3.2GHz

If you’ll need to support more than one simultaneous transcode, you’ll need a more powerful processor.

Related Page: NAS Devices

The Guideline

Very roughly speaking, for a single full-transcode of a video, the following PassMark score requirements are a good guideline for the following average source file:

• 4K HDR (50Mbps, 10-bit HEVC) file: 17000 PassMark score (being transcoded to 10Mbps 1080p)
• 4K SDR (40Mbps, 8-bit HEVC) file: 12000 PassMark score (being transcoded to 10Mbps 1080p)
• 1080p (10Mbps, H.264) file: 2000 PassMark score
• 720p (4Mbps, H.264) file: 1500 PassMark score

 

This is not concrete requirements but should be a idea of what you need. BUT your basically need a Jesus CPU for 4K. 

[MoboMikey]

So update so far, and thank you all for your help

 

1. Router: USG-PRO-4 (about $460 AUD)
2. Switch: US-48-500W (about $1,300 AUD)
3. Wireless AP: UAP-nanoHD-3 (3 pack, about $800 AUD)
4. NAS: Synology DS1817, with an additional 4GB RAM (total 8GB) (about $1,300 AUD)
5. NAS HDD: Western Digital WD Red 8TB WD80EFAX (x8 about $355 each AUD)
6. Ubiquiti SFP to connect to NAS with 10Gbps: UF-RJ45-10G (about $105 AUD)
7. Consumer build PC for use as server: (about $1,700 AUD)
   1. Ryzen 7 3700x
   2. Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite
   3. G.Skill Trident Z Neo 32GB
   4. Samsung 970 Pro 512GB M.2
   5. Crucial BX500 120GB
   6. ThermalTake Core G3 case
   7. Corsaid SF 600 PSU

I'm currently thinking that the server will run everything (detail on this to come later), apart from Plex / Emby which I'll put on the NAS for now and see how it goes.

If its no good, then I'll look into a video card for the server, the only reason I'm hesitant currently, is because it looks like there are challenges passing through a VGA to Plex or Emby if you're running a hypervisor......still need to look further. Does LTT have a 'dummy guide' for configuring this stuff?

 

Total so far: $8,500

 

Remaining bits are:

• All the home automation stuff they want (don't yet know what this is yet though)
• The cameras to sort out (will keep looking at the G3 Flex Cameras)
• The amount of cables
• Patch Panels
• Rack Chassis
• ancillary stuff like wall plates and cable management etc.

Are there any key bits I'm missing?

 

Thanks guys

[bobbybdennis]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take so many pictures of this project, this sounds awesome. I'm a newer system engineer and always wanted to plan out a whole project just like this. I will be following this closely to see the performance you end up getting and any hurdles you had to overcome. Good luck in everything you're doing!

[Guest]

Just keep in mind that you'll need a controller for the Unifi stuff. You can install it on the server and only fire it up when you need to make config changes or get a cloud key. If you get the cloud key gen2 plus, then you can use the NVR server that's built into it. Comes w/ a 1TB, but you can buy a 5TB seagate 2.5mm drive for around $150 (shucking the external version nets you the same drive and usually cheaper).

 

The Unifi protect software is some of the best out there. I absolutely cannot live without the quick scrubbing. It's kind of like the Ring software, but self-hosted.

[Donut417]

9 hours ago, MoboMikey said:

apart from Plex / Emby which I'll put on the NAS for now and see how it goes

Just make sure you convert your video files in to a format the devices that are going to be streamed to understand. Your NAS will DIE if you try to do 4K content transcoding on it, or at least the results wont be pretty. 

[Jarsky]

15 hours ago, MoboMikey said:

1. Consumer build PC for use as server: (about $1,700 AUD)
   1. Ryzen 7 3700x
   2. Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite
   3. G.Skill Trident Z Neo 32GB
   4. Samsung 970 Pro 512GB M.2
   5. Crucial BX500 120GB
   6. ThermalTake Core G3 case
   7. Corsaid SF 600 PSU

If this is for the server, then i'd look to rackmount it. 

I'd save money by going an X470 board rather than X570 (doubt they'll need Gen4 SSD....). 

I'd save money by going for some Corsair LPX instead of Trident Z Neo, its perfectly compatible with Ryzen. 

For the case i'd get something rackmount like one of these Rosewill cases

 

15 hours ago, MoboMikey said:

 

I'm currently thinking that the server will run everything (detail on this to come later), apart from Plex / Emby which I'll put on the NAS for now and see how it goes.

If its no good, then I'll look into a video card for the server, the only reason I'm hesitant currently, is because it looks like there are challenges passing through a VGA to Plex or Emby if you're running a hypervisor......still need to look further. Does LTT have a 'dummy guide' for configuring this stuff?

Plenty of OOTB hypervisors support VGA passthrough, such as ESXi, Proxmox or UnRAID. 

I'd personally recommend Proxmox for its rich featureset, VM (KVM) and Container (OpenVZ) support, and storage support. 

I would definately host your Plex/Emby on the server rather than the NAS. Ideally you just want the NAS to do light tasks, and let your server do heavy lifting. 

 

16 hours ago, MoboMikey said:

Are there any key bits I'm missing?

For the rack you'll also want a PDU and a UPS or 2 to allow your server to gracefully shutdown and to keep network/cameras/nas online during power cut. 

And as it comes together just make sure you plan out the network, to understand how everything should be configured. Configuration is going to be key for getting the most out of this kind of setup. 

 

Mine for example, for the network i have a base subnet for all the network devices, then i have seperate subnets for the main LAN, Guest Wifi (Internet only) and IoT devices all on different VLAN's. In my firewall (Unifi USG) I have blocked all traffic between subnets for LAN_LAN traffic other than what I specify such as SMB for Smart TV's in IoT to access media shares for Kodi, or to access the Kodi MySQL Database I have on my NAS.

Then I have a deny all on Ingress traffic for WAN_LAN and make exceptions as needed (Port Forwarding).

I have service accounts configured for some of my automation VM's so they only have specific access to certain folders. Such as my rTorrent setup can only write to an 'incoming' folder. 

I actually block all external DNS as well for security as thats how many attacks work. Each gateway on my router has DNS assigned to my Pi-Hole which has virtual interfaces for each subnet. That does all my filtering, and then reaches out to 1.1.1.1 as the external resolver. 

Security is a big concern when you're designing something of this size where you potentially have guests, kids, etc...coming in and out, but the big thing is really not to add road blocks for people, so making it transparent. 

 

13 hours ago, bobbybdennis said:

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take so many pictures of this project, this sounds awesome. I'm a newer system engineer and always wanted to plan out a whole project just like this. I will be following this closely to see the performance you end up getting and any hurdles you had to overcome. Good luck in everything you're doing!

This; it'll be a good thread for people to refer to who are looking at doing the same thing. I help friends quite often with what to get, and help them through all the configuration and setup but I dont rebuild my entire home network enough to do my own thread dedicated to this  

[MoboMikey]

18 hours ago, bobbybdennis said:

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take so many pictures of this project

Yep, I'll do this - not sure when the project will start though - my parents-in-law are looking for the right house to buy currently, so they will need to find that first. Will be a few months away at the very least. Planning for this is so important though, and I'll keep this thread updated right till then end

 

They are coming this Saturday and I'll be able to hopefully finalise their list of needs

18 hours ago, Den-Fi said:

Just keep in mind that you'll need a controller for the Unifi stuff. You can install it on the server

Yea, I'm planing on keeping it on the server to keep costs down as much as possible.

I also want to put their NVR softawre of the server, and use the NAS to store everything.

I intend for the server to be on 24/7, so am trying to find as much low TDP stuff as I can.....within reason.

 

12 hours ago, Donut417 said:

Just make sure you convert your video files in to a format the devices that are going to be streamed to understand. Your NAS will DIE if you try to do 4K content transcoding on it, or at least the results wont be pretty

Yea that's what I'm worried about, I've made a decision to switch the NAS to the DS1819+, and will probably have to put Plex / Emby on the server.....but I need to figure out the whole 'hardware acceleration aspect with a VGA card.

 

6 hours ago, Jarsky said:

I'd save money by going an X470 board rather than X570 (doubt they'll need Gen4 SSD....). 

I'd save money by going for some Corsair LPX instead of Trident Z Neo, its perfectly compatible with Ryzen. 

For the case i'd get something rackmount like one of these Rosewill cases

Thank you - fair points and I'll adjust accordingly

 

6 hours ago, Jarsky said:

I'd personally recommend Proxmox for its rich featureset, VM (KVM) and Container (OpenVZ) support, and storage support. 

I would definately host your Plex/Emby on the server rather than the NAS. Ideally you just want the NAS to do light tasks, and let your server do heavy lifting. 

Yea, I'm 100% going Promxmox, but I spent a few hours last night looking at the issues people have had getting Plex / Emby to work with hardware acceleration...I'm sure its possible, only that a) I don't have experience with it, and b) don't want to spend all my weekends at the in-laws resolving issues haha.

I'll figure it out though.

 

6 hours ago, Jarsky said:

Security is a big concern when you're designing something of this size where you potentially have guests, kids, etc...coming in and out, but the big thing is really not to add road blocks for people, so making it transparent

Yes, I'm a bit away from the logical configuration, and will need to consider a lot.

I'm not too familiar with best-practices in this area, beyond having things like the cameras on a separate VLAN (non internet accessible) and other basics like that.

I'll need to figure it all out

 

But I'll keep this thread updated with everything as I go, so others can learn as well.

Thanks all

[Donut417]

33 minutes ago, MoboMikey said:

hardware acceleration

If you figure it out let me know. I was kinda wondering how that worked. I seen the setting in Plex, but it says while it makes transcoding faster, it reduces quality of the video. 

[MoboMikey]

Ok, so FIL came over, gave me $15k budget for the whole thing, but I don't think we will need anywhere near that much...maybe I can upgrade my PC somehow....

 

In any case, additional requirements are:

1. 10x IP cameras, possibly 12, depending on the house they buy / build
   1. 8x probably UniFi G3
   2. 2x probably UniFi G4 Pro
   3. 1-2x maybe UniFi G3 Micro
2. Motion detection on front-door cam, to alert his phone / tablet inside someone is at door
3. An AV receiver which can connect to network music location (and Spotify) and then play to various parts of house (inside and outside)
4. Ideally a large touch-screen PC in Kitchen, networked in

 

I've no idea about the AV receiver, and can't seem to find any really good but cheap touch screen PCs - would a tablet be better for this? (I'm thinking yes)

 

I've also started looking more closely at the server software configuration I'll be using, and how I'll do cable management with the rack itself.

As I sort this stuff out I'll post as I go, and then do a final wrap-up for everything at the end.

 

Are there any other hypervisors apart from Proxmox, that I should be looking at? Note, they have to be 100% free to use.

 

thanks all

[Donut417]

3 minutes ago, MoboMikey said:

I've no idea about the AV receiver

I dont have much knowledge myself. But my parents old ass 20 year old one has A/B speaker selector on it. They have a setup in the Living room and some speakers in the dinning room. You use the button to select between the two zones or you can have both zones going at the same time. So Id say a product exists somewhere. BUT it comes down to the cost. 

[Salacious B Crum]

I'll just add that a 1u server is much louder that a 2u or bigger as the fans in a 1u sound like fricken jet engines due to their size my R710 is manageable but the R410 is incredibly loud, also I didn't see you mention a ups that is a prerequisite for something you plan on building mainly on the server side of the equipment but other parts of your plan would benefit as well

[Donut417]

On 8/13/2019 at 7:28 AM, MoboMikey said:

ve no idea about the AV receiver, and can't seem to find any really good but cheap touch screen PCs - would a tablet be better for this

From what I have seen touch screens on PCs are expensive. Android tablets would be cheaper. Or maybe a raspberry pi with a touch screen, though that’s more DYI on your part. 

[mwLucky]

This might be of interest to you, it fits in with your use case in two ways.

https://www.synology.com/en-global/surveillance/feature/mobile?utm_source=eNews&utm_medium=email

[MoboMikey]

On 8/14/2019 at 8:22 PM, mrbilky said:

I'll just add that a 1u server is much louder that a 2u or bigger as the fans in a 1u sound like fricken jet engines due to their size my R710 is manageable but the R410 is incredibly loud, also I didn't see you mention a ups that is a prerequisite for something you plan on building mainly on the server side of the equipment but other parts of your plan would benefit as well

I'm thinking i'll get a 4RU chassis and build a server inside that, I can get alot more 'bang for buck' doing this, and I don't have space constraints to worry about so can afford to be a bit more inefficient. In addiion, the fans will be 140ml and thus quieter.

Good points on the noise though, last thing my parents in law will want is that!

 

In terms of the UPS, i'm trying to get my PIL to install a power wall or something like that instead, but failing that i'll recommend something to them.....its just that they are so damn expensive!

8 hours ago, Donut417 said:

From what I have seen touch screens on PCs are expensive. Android tablets would be cheaper. Or maybe a raspberry pi with a touch screen, though that’s more DYI on your part

Yea, I'm thinking a tablet with a nice docking station might be the go here....limited availability of 'cool' stuff here in Australia though

 

1 hour ago, mwLucky said:

This might be of interest to you, it fits in with your use case in two ways.

https://www.synology.com/en-global/surveillance/feature/mobile?utm_source=eNews&utm_medium=email

I've had a look at the Surveillance station product, but the licensing fees alone make it prohibitive.

Given the price of what you pay for Synology gear, all of this should be free.

 

 

[MoboMikey]

[TAG - how to]

 

Ok, so I've been playing with Proxmox, using VirtualBox to emulate hardware to run it on, and (for me) it was a small challenge to get things working (particularly with 2nd NIC) so I'll provide what I've done here, in case anyone else wants to do the same:

 

How to use Proxmox in Oracle VirtualBox to test a hypervisor for your homelab setup, including internal and internet connectivity.

1. Download VirtualBox here: https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads
2. Install it using these instructions: https://www.wikihow.com/Install-VirtualBox I used Windows 10 as my OS to install upon
3. Download Proxmox here: https://www.proxmox.com/en/downloads/category/iso-images-pve
4. Create VM inside Virtualbox, using these instructions: https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Proxmox_VE_inside_VirtualBox
   1. The configuration I used was:
   2. 
   3. 
   4. 
   5. 
5. Now, I ran into an issue whereby I didn't install a 2nd adapter to allow for an internet connection.
   1. Ideal configuration:
      1. 
   2. If you have to add it later:
      • Add it in VirtualBox, as per the image above (5.1.1)
      • Go into Proxmox, and check to see what the name of the new interface is (new interface is enp0s8 in image below)
      1. 
      • and then open the '>_ Shell' and type in:
      • nano /etc/network/interfaces
      • then edit / add / overwrite all text referring to enp0s8 (or the name of your adapter) to be:
        • Line1: auto enp0s8
        • Line 2: iface enp0s8 inet dhcp
      • Then press ctrl+s, then ctrl+z
      • Then go back into Proxmox, and restart the node.
      • You should have internet access now.
6. Install Proxmox, by:
   1. adding Proxmox iso to your 'VM Storage' section
   2. 
   3. Running VM, and following installation instructions here: https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Installation
7. After the installation has concluded, connect to Proxmox using the IP you configured in the installation using your fav browser
8. Now you can play around and see what you think.

 

I've also tried XCP-NG, but since you need to use a client installed on another system (as opposed to browser) I don't think its the right fit for a simple home setup like my In-laws are looking for.

 

Proxmox isn't perfect, but its good enough

 

 

[MoboMikey]

Ok, update on what hardware I'm going to buy (more for my own tracking then anything else)

 

1. Router: USG-PRO-4 (about $460 AUD)
2. Switch: US-48-500W (about $1,300 AUD)
3. Wireless AP: UAP-nanoHD-3 (3 pack, about $800 AUD)
4. NAS: DiskStation DS1819+, with an additional 4GB RAM (total 8GB) and 10Gbps card (E10G18-T1) (about $1,650 AUD)
5. NAS HDD: Western Digital WD Red 8TB WD80EFAX (x8 about $355 each AUD)
6. Ubiquiti SFP to connect to NAS with 10Gbps: UF-RJ45-10G (about $105 AUD)
7. Consumer build PC for use as server: (price TBA AUD)
   1. 1x Ryzen 7 3700x
   2. 1x Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite (this may change, but can't find a X470 board in AU)
   3. 1x Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (2x 16GB) DDR4 3200MHz
   4. 1x Intel 760p Series M.2 NVMe SSD 128GB M.2
   5. 2x Samsung 860 PRO 2.5in SATA SSD 512GB
   6. 1x TGC Rack Mountable Server Chassis TGC-416B (link)
   7. 1x Seasonic Prime Platinum 850W PSU 
8. 10x IP cameras, possibly 12, depending on the house they buy / build
   1. 8x probably UniFi G3
   2. 2x probably UniFi G4 Pro
   3. 1-2x maybe UniFi G3 Micro

[Timpeterson]

Where abouts in Aus are you located mate? Might be able to help with the wiring aspect .

[bobbybdennis]

Any update on this? Curious if you ended up going forward with this project