Planning first home server

[WolfpactVI]

Hello all,

 

First time post here, longtime LTT fan.  I have a shipload of questions about setting up a home server, and I've been researching a bunch individually, but I was hoping I could consolidate everything into one post.  Here goes.

 

I would like to set up a home server to accomplish a bunch of different tasks.  I have software and hardware questions.

 

First, the tasks I want to accomplish are as follows:

- local file server so I can unload files and photos off of the several desktops (Mac, Windows & Linux) and consolidate them (especially the photo library) into one location

- would be nice, but not necessary, if the above were accessible by local mobile devices and remotely

- Plex server for movies

- storage space for remote file backups (not OS level backups) for my parents computer (Mac)

- possible storage space for remote file backups for certain files at work (Windows Server Essential 2016)

- all told, probably about 8TB at a high end rough estimate, with around half being all of my blu ray rips for Plex (which may or may not get converted to smaller files as I have time)

 

I want something that is easy to migrate to new hardware either for upgrades or to replace failing hardware.  I'm anticipating this having constantly evolving hardware as I can afford to expand and improve it over time.

 

Now, I believe I can accomplish all of the above using either Unraid or Linux (correct me if I'm wrong).  I am interested in your opinions on the suitability and/or ease of each to accomplish the goals, migrate to new hardware, etc.  I'm also assuming both would have some sort of internal redundancy like RAID.  I like a GUI, but don't mind the command line if I have to.

 

For hardware, I was originally planning on re-purposing my current computer (i7-4770k, 32GB ram, Gigabyte Z970-Gaming G1 mobo) and getting a spacious case like a Fractal Define R5 and a few new hard drives for it.  However, I came across several people who have picked up older rack mount Supermicro servers off ebay and used them as home servers.  It's pretty amazing what you can get for pretty cheap if it's a few generations old.  Curious your thoughts on each path in terms of reliability, future upgrades and expansion.

 

Finally, I thinking it would be a good idea to back up my personal files and the photo library off of this server to something like BackBlaze if those things are going to be living solely on the home server without any other local copies.  The other remote backups I'm not concerned about so much since they would be backups of backups by the time they got to my server.

 

As I said, I've been mulling over this for a few years, and have never done a home server before, so I'm happy for any thoughts, suggestions or corrections.  I'm anticipating this being a forever sort of undertaking once I embark on it.

 

[Windows7ge]

For software UnRAID should do most of what you're looking for but if you're on a budget FreeNAS is a great alternative (if you don't need high performance VM's). FreeNAS does have some gotcha's though when it comes to upgrading the storage pool though. You could also look into PROXMOX and just hypervisor out all the serveries you need if VM's are a need.

 

Hardware wise you can use old desktop hardware but a barebones retired supermicro, dell, hpe, or ibm server is going to give you a lot more of the enterprise features that are desirable for a power user. Do be wary though these servers are often loud.

 

Do you have any questions in particular you can list off that you have?

[WolfpactVI]

5 hours ago, Windows7ge said:

For software UnRAID should do most of what you're looking for but if you're on a budget FreeNAS is a great alternative (if you don't need high performance VM's). FreeNAS does have some gotcha's though when it comes to upgrading the storage pool though. You could also look into PROXMOX and just hypervisor out all the serveries you need if VM's are a need.

 

Hardware wise you can use old desktop hardware but a barebones retired supermicro, dell, hpe, or ibm server is going to give you a lot more of the enterprise features that are desirable for a power user. Do be wary though these servers are often loud.

 

Do you have any questions in particular you can list off that you have?

Thanks for the reply.  The main questions are Unraid vs something like Ubuntu Server and whether one or the other would be better for my particular needs.  I don't think the cost of Unraid is unreasonable, but I though it was kind of specialized in that it would do something things really well but was not as well suited for others.  How is Unraid and Ubuntu Server for migrating from one computer to a completely different one?  For instance if I started with a desktop now and went to a used rack server later?  Also, speaking of used servers, is it worth using the desktop now and migrating later or should I just start out with a used server and save myself the trouble of migrating in a year or so?

[Windows7ge]

I have not personally used UnRAID for any extended period of time but based on what I've been told about it the one big selling point it has is how it handles storage. It works like JBOD where you can add disks, as many or few as you like on the fly to extend an existing storage pool and they don't have to be the same speed or capacity. Downside of this is write speeds suffer significantly. UnRAID thought of that though and they enabled a cache device to speed up writes (by assigning an SSD as the cache device). This function isn't unique to UnRAID though. File Systems like BTRFS also support this functionality and is available on Debian distros.

 

For a home user UnRAID, FreeNAS, or even OpenMediaVault would probably serve all your listed needs and then some. For the very productivity savvy people and those who want absolute control over what runs on their server though GNU/Linux distributions such as Ubuntu Server, CentOS, or Fedora Server (all predominantly CLI only distributions) are a way to have that upmost control over everything.

 

I wrote a tutorial on how to create a File Server on Ubuntu Server using nothing but CLI if you're interested:

 

As for transferring an existing OS from one set of hardware to another...I know at times Microsoft Windows can have a hissy fit but from my own experience across Ubuntu Server (Debian), FreeNAS (FreeBSD), PROXMOX (also Debian) GNU/Linux is much more liniment and forgiving. I've not run into any significant issues transplanting existing OS installs from one set of hardware to another. I've had a very plug'n'play experience. Just make sure your drives are connected and any other bits like HBA's, NIC's, or GPU's are present if something in the OS depends on it.

 

As for weather or not you should wait or migrate in ~1Y. I can vouch for FreeNAS & Ubuntu Server. You shouldn't have any trouble. I don't know about UnRAID but I'd be given reason to believe it shouldn't have trouble either.

[raff89]

Hi, I am thinking of a home server too, but I'd like to explore a little bit different approach.

My use-case would be similar to the @WolfpactVI which is NAS + Plex with the difference in that I would like to also connect 4 IP cameras recording 24/7. Aside from that I would like to also have lowest power consumption possible.

I've read good things about Intel J4125 based SBC's. Especially AsRock's implementation. with PCI -> SATA card I could connect more than enough drives for NAS purpose and the rest would rely on built-in gigabit ethernet.

What I am worried about is the performance.

will 4 low power cores be enough to simultaneously run some surveillance software, host 4k movie playback and run  linux os in the background ?
I really have no point of reference, I have some estimates on how much network bandwidth those tasks would take and I can live with them sharing 1000Mb/s connection but will the CPU handle it.

Another option is to go with AMD V2000 chips once they come out, Unfortunately I could not find any consumer offerings with AMD Embedded Ryzen and industrial implementations are like 4x the price of aforementioned Intel system. last option that I am considering is to go with desktop CPU, like for example AMD Ryzen 3 3100, The performance of which will certainly be enough but it might be an overkill and with 6.5X power draw compared to other solutions I'm considering, it might not be the best idea. I was looking online for examples of builds based on Intel J4125 since it is the cheapest option but I could not find use-case similar to mine. Maybe I am expecting too much from this simple chip? Now that I've made a complete mess of a explanation, here is the summary:
1. Can anyone comment on Intel J4125 performance as a home server for usage similar to mine ?

2. If #1 might struggle, is desktop-like route objectively a good idea? I mean both power usage and reliability during 24/7 operation.

[llubbo]

Hello guys

 

I am looking for help in sphere of home server solution. After 6 month of using WD Home duo I decided to try build something better. This WD nas solution is very slow(I mean very very slow) and software is what it is. I have no problem with building server PC but I am looking for the best software solution or better say, how to achieve that 

 

My conditions are:

1) have access not only from home network, but also from everywhere where I will have internet connection

2) have access directly to server from File Explorer (windows10) SCREENSHOOT-1

3) have option at right click on folders in Win10 for "synchronize" with server (after sync with server, every added file from this folder in pc will be automaticly added to server SCREENSHOOT-2

 

Thanks in advance for all your help.

[WolfpactVI]

Hey everyone!  Got my hardware set up finally.  Going to continue this saga over in a new thread: