Upgrading an existing NAS

[Snake3y3s]

Hey all

I have an older HP Microserver (specs and usage below)

 

Old school HP ProLiant Microserver (N36L) Gen 7
• AMD Athlon(tm) II Neo N36L Dual-Core Processor
• 8025mb of RAM
• OS version - FreeNAS-11.0-U4 (54848d13b)
• On-board ethernet is dead so have a intel I210 NIC installed in one of the PCI slots
• 5x 3TB WD red SATA
• 1x 64gb Kingston SSD as main OS drive

System Use - light raid storage (for 3D animation work and training, and series and movies) and (secondary) Plex server on the network (mainly use that through the PS4 to watch on the TV in the lounge)

I find that trying to transcode or run larger format video through plex is super laggy so I was wondering...

Is there a possibility I can upgrade the chip and mobo while retaining the casing and hard drives?

I know that I could buy a replacement HP Proliant Motherboard and chip from a newer Gen (like a N54L board) and it will fit in the casing, but I was wondering if its possible to get a different mobo from a manufacturer like ASUS or something and then add a faster chip and have that fit in the case?

I am unsure of the form factor in the actual case (might be proprietary) and the board should have an onboard USB header otherwise I can use a SATA port, and IDEALLY needs to have a miniSAS port (currently how the 4 drives inside the case are plugged into the mobo) otherwise I might need to switch over to going direct SATA or a expansion PCI-E card that has a miniSAS on it.
I dont care about the rear IO, I am willing to cut more space in there if it means a newer, more up to date motherboard.
 

[SupaKomputa]

That thing is not designed for transcoding, a simple file serving will do but doesn't have enough power to transcode.

If you wanna transcode you need a better cpu and perhaps with a gpu to offload the transcode.

As for upgrade, you may upgrade the motherboard with a MINI ITX but you will need to loose the HDD Cage since you can't get a cooler short enough for it.

[Snake3y3s]

6 minutes ago, SupaKomputa said:

That thing is not designed for transcoding, a simple file serving will do but doesn't have enough power to transcode.

If you wanna transcode you need a better cpu and perhaps with a gpu to offload the transcode.

yes... this is the reason for the post, to figure out if I can upgrade the motherboard.

Is there a way to just play the larger format videos without transcoding from the microserver? I mean if I use universal Media Server on my PC and play a video to my PS4...it plays (have run a 4k video like this with no issues) so I know it is not my network, or the playstation 4, so I am assuming it is either plex somehow restricting bandwidth (on the NAS side or the PS4 side) or the fact that the CPU in the NAS is not strong enough to play a higher format video directly without transcoding.
 

 

10 minutes ago, SupaKomputa said:

As for upgrade, you may upgrade the motherboard with a MINI ITX but you will need to loose the HDD Cage since you can't get a cooler short enough for it.

Cool, and not cool... this is what I need to know. the fact that a miniITX will fit is good news, but removing the cage is bad news. I LOVE the form factor of the case as it currently stands, so want to keep that intact as much as possible.
how about using a AIO to cool? like a Corsair H80i? (single fan/rad)

Otherwise... would need to somehow create a new case with the same dimensions.

 

[SupaKomputa]

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/908/Lmjt2j.jpg

 

Bad news, you can't fit a custom motherboard in there, you will need to cut out the back to the port can be accessed.

The good news is there are 2 slots for expansion, you can add a low profile GPU (GTX 1030/1050) in this thing.

Bad news again, i don't know if gpu transcoding can work with freenas, maybe you can change the OS.

Good news again, yeah probably can use a small AIO, mount it OUTSIDE of the case in place of the current fan.

[Snake3y3s]

Yeah... I dont mind hacking the back apart to make the MOBO and the IO of it fit in the case.
and thats the idea of the AIO, external mount. can still have the internal fan, just make sure its setup in a push/pull configuration... should work

 

I think before I make any drastic dessions, first figure out if the reason the video is so slow is because of CPU or some other factor.
I did read somewhere that it might be network related... need to go check again where i found that

[Aragorn-]

I would be looking to add a GPU to assist with transcoding. If freenas cant do it, use a decent OS that can. ZFS on Linux will happily mount up your FreeNAS arrays.

Even fairly grunty CPU's will struggle trying to transcode without hardware accell. My Jellyfin server (like Plex) will happily munch up all four cores of the Threadripper CPU thats assigned to its VM, transcoding one stream.

 

Dont bother trying to hack up that machine. Just build a new server if you want to go that route.

[Snake3y3s]

The server as it currently stands, does its job

I think i mainly need to figure out if its from the server side or the playstation side that I get choppy playback on larger format videos.

for the moment, I cannot test as the server is off. one drive has failed and I cant afford a new 3TB RED at this moment

[Snake3y3s]

On 2/11/2021 at 5:24 PM, Aragorn- said:

I would be looking to add a GPU to assist with transcoding. If freenas cant do it, use a decent OS that can. ZFS on Linux will happily mount up your FreeNAS arrays.

Even fairly grunty CPU's will struggle trying to transcode without hardware accell. My Jellyfin server (like Plex) will happily munch up all four cores of the Threadripper CPU thats assigned to its VM, transcoding one stream.

 

Dont bother trying to hack up that machine. Just build a new server if you want to go that route.

 

The idea of the post is mainly that I REALLY like the form factor that the HP Microserver case currently has.
It has a motherboard, with chip, with 5 Drives, and a SSD in a extremely compact form factor

IF and WHEN I am to upgrade, I would like to keep the form factor as close as possible (maybe have a deeper case) so thats why I'm looking into if there is a way to get a different motherboard and chip (other than a HP microserver proprietary motherboard) into the case that i have.

Then secondary I was mentioning that playing through to the PS4 lags on larger format video (could maybe be the codec too), I need to figure out if its because the hardware is lacking (hence why thinking/looking at upgrading) or if it is a setting from Plex, or if its maybe on the PS4 side... I dont know.
If I play a video to the PS4 using Universal Media Server from my PC, i can play BlueRay video no issue. (I know that could be because my PC is higher spec...) But it does prove to me that it is not the network (although could still be a network setting on FreeNas/plex VS windows/UMS)

Thanks for the input guys

[Aragorn-]

The slightly newer Gen8 microserver can run a range of quad core Xeons, and is a decent step up power wise

Alternatively there are a few ITX chassis that fit the bill, eg the Chenbro SR301, Inwin MS04, and a few models from U-NAS

As for the streaming, depending on the exact combination of source media and playback device, will depend on wether the streaming server has to transcode the material or not. I think some clients have a menu option that shows you wether its running in "direct play" mode, or if its trying to transcode on the fly.