Home Media Server - Help with Software Config

[BGross]

Note on this Build: I am looking to create this build sometime between now and next Christmas. I am in no rush, but I did want to do my research and ask for help on the implementation of the storage specifically (see questions below). Help, suggestions or links to references are all much appreciated. 

 

Budget (including currency): ~$1500 CAD

Country: Canada

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Emulating Wii, GameCube, etc., Media storage and consumption, home server, considering using also as a Plex server. 

Other details: 

So main question is how to do setup a mass storage drive that has drive parity (something like RAID 5) where I can get a performance benefit from pooling 3+ drives together with the added resilience of being able to loose 1 drive while being completely in Windows 10 pro (not server) so I can use Backblaze for backup.

 

Secondary question: once I do that, can I possibly add a single large storage SSD or a NVMe SSD as like a L2 cache or tiered storage to that mass drive so that when I write big files to it, it writes to the SSD and the trickles into the HDD array and copies frequently used files into the SSD for use (such as copies a season of a show I am watching into the SSD when I add it all to play in VLC). 

 

I have looked at windows storage spaces but I wasn't sure if there are other options out there. I do prefer to go software as apposed to hardware based configuration as this is a system I will be upgrading over time and would like to keep the same or a similar configuration just with newer parts and I don't want to lock into AMD or Intel only. 

 

Parts: 

Cpu: Ryzen 5 or i5 latest gen (basically a six core)

Mobo: Asus TUF wifi (or something similar)

Ram: 16 GB 3200MHz ram (likely corsair vengeance, but might like ECC if going AMD)

BOOT SSD: Crucial 128 GB SATA SSD (already own)

Additional SSD: Intel m.2 1 TB 665p

HDD: 4 X Seagate Barracuda 8TB (I know, probably should go iron wolf or exos, but I am not hitting these berry hard and I already have two and will run with 1 drive parity and live Backblaze backups so it will be fine till they are all old enough to upgrade later when I am more flush with cash)

GPU: Would like something like a 2070 super or 3060. Will check used market vs new when it comes time to buy in a few months. 

Case: building a custom case so my wife approves of the asthetic. Price of case not included in budget. 

PSU: EVGA 750W G3 Super Nova (already own)

Cooler and fans: water cooled so will be looking into cpu water blocks (recommendations would be helpful here). I do like the promo chill fittings in white and the Alpha cool radiators that you can connect in to the top and out of the bottom. Will likely use noctua 120mm black fans. 

 

Again, any help and suggestions would be much appreciated. 

[Electronics Wizardy]

5 minutes ago, BGross said:

So main question is how to do setup a mass storage drive that has drive parity (something like RAID 5) where I can get a performance benefit from pooling 3+ drives together with the added resilience of being able to loose 1 drive while being completely in Windows 10 pro (not server) so I can use Backblaze for backup.

 

Storage spaces or drivepool + snapraid is your best option here.

 

5 minutes ago, BGross said:

have looked at windows storage spaces but I wasn't sure if there are other options out there. I do prefer to go software as apposed to hardware based configuration as this is a system I will be upgrading over time and would like to keep the same or a similar configuration just with newer parts and I don't want to lock into AMD or Intel only. 

Ive used storage spaces a good amount and it works pretty well. A few config gotchas but other than thats its stable and pretty fast.

 

6 minutes ago, BGross said:

4 X Seagate Barracuda 8TB (I know, probably should go iron wolf or exos, but I am not hitting these berry hard and I already have two and will run with 1 drive parity and live Backblaze backups so it will be fine till they are all old enough to upgrade later when I am more flush with cash)

Are these smr, they might get really slow if there smr.

 

 

[BGross]

4 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Storage spaces or drivepool + snapraid is your best option here.

 

Ive used storage spaces a good amount and it works pretty well. A few config gotchas but other than thats its stable and pretty fast.

 

Are these smr, they might get really slow if there smr.

 

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I will look into snapraid. 

 

I don't know for sure. Any idea how I could double check?

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, BGross said:

Thanks for the suggestions. I will look into snapraid. 

 

I don't know for sure. Any idea how I could double check?

What model are the drives?

 

Try running the trim command, if it runs, its smr.

[BGross]

12 hours ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

What model are the drives?

 

Try running the trim command, if it runs, its smr.

So I just looked up the part and found a link to Seagate's website where they layout which drives are which. Turns out all barracuda drives are SMR (which explains some performance loss I have been having lately when moving the majority of my library around). I may reconsider then and go to a exos or iron wolf platform if I can sell off these drives and afford the extra cost. I will see. 

 

https://www.seagate.com/ca/en/internal-hard-drives/cmr-smr-list/