media backup

[alladinsgift]

Budget (including currency): USD $2,000

Country: USA

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: media storage/Plex

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): 

i'm looking at building a server to hold and host around 6,000 movies/music/pictures. i have very little knowledge on the pieces i'm looking for, i just know what i want it to do. the primary use is for movies that can be displayed on a home theater projector. it needs to be able to read dvd, bluray, and hd dvd as well as other types of discs. also, the content needs to be able to be accessed remotely. also, if they should fail, the drives should be "plug and play" without losing content data.

how do i go about looking for the pieces i need to build such a system, and are there any recommendations for for pieces or brands to stay away from?

i did find an old tech recommendation, attached.

thanks!

Invoice - 0003.pdf

[Electronics Wizardy]

How much storage space do you need? In TB?

 

If you want simple, id probably just get a synology here. Low power, quiet, easy to use.

 

15 minutes ago, alladinsgift said:

, if they should fail, the drives should be "plug and play" without losing content data.

This limits you a lot, pretty much limits you to unraid or snapraid + drive pool

 

What media player are you using on the projector? Id get a seperate player, and just use this pc as a server.

[Lairlair]

I've had some good experience with a Synology NAS in the past. If you want to secure your data against disc failure you have to configure it on raid 1 or raid 10.

Plug and play for hard drive is called hotswap. That's about the extent of my knowledge, not sure if that helps...

This can get a little tricky, and it may require you to learn many new skills in networking, protocols, filesystems... Not impossible but getting the right components is only the beginning of a long journey.

[alladinsgift]

i was originally looking at around 20tb. hopefully SSD. 

if plug and play limits it, ok, but the redundancy must be a thing. also, the player won't need to be a physical thing as the system will be hosting and running.

[BondiBlue]

Just now, alladinsgift said:

i was originally looking at around 20tb. hopefully SSD. 

if plug and play limits it, ok, but the redundancy must be a thing. also, the player won't need to be a physical thing as the system will be hosting and running.

Is there any reason such a machine needs to be fully SSD based? A media server isn't that disk intensive...

[alladinsgift]

Just now, BondiBlue said:

Is there any reason such a machine needs to be fully SSD based? A media server isn't that disk intensive...

only for longevity. i'll be spending money on the system so i don't want to have to replace it for 20 years or more. 

[alladinsgift]

7 minutes ago, Lairlair said:

I've had some good experience with a Synology NAS in the past. If you want to secure your data against disc failure you have to configure it on raid 1 or raid 10.

Plug and play for hard drive is called hotswap. That's about the extent of my knowledge, not sure if that helps...

This can get a little tricky, and it may require you to learn many new skills in networking, protocols, filesystems... Not impossible but getting the right components is only the beginning of a long journey.

thank you!! this whole project is a whole new world for me. i'll have to learn as much as i can as i'm totally NOT tech savy. 

[Electronics Wizardy]

7 minutes ago, alladinsgift said:

only for longevity. i'll be spending money on the system so i don't want to have to replace it for 20 years or more. 

HDDS will easily last 5+ years, and with the cost of drives, HDDs will still be much cheaper.

 

You wll still need to do a good amount of upkeep  for a nas, you can't just set it up and forget about it for 20 years. THings like alerts, os updates. Odds are we aren't going to be using many of the same standards 20 years from now.

 

 

[alladinsgift]

Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

HDDS will easily last 5+ years, and with the cost of drives, HDDs will still be much cheaper.

 

You wll still need to do a good amount of upkeep  for a nas, you can't just set it up and forget about it for 20 years. THings like alerts, os updates. Odds are we aren't going to be using many of the same standards 20 years from now.

 

 

absolutely! i was mostly joking about leaving it alone. i just don't want to upgrade of replace within the first 5 years (unless i have to).

[BondiBlue]

14 minutes ago, alladinsgift said:

only for longevity. i'll be spending money on the system so i don't want to have to replace it for 20 years or more. 

Hard drives will last a very long time, and they're a whole lot cheaper than large SSDs. I've got mechanical drives from the early 2000s that are still in daily use - I'm not joking. 

[alladinsgift]

for such a system, would it be built like a normal computer? would i still need a graphics card and all of the other stuff?

 

[alladinsgift]

On 7/9/2021 at 8:01 PM, alladinsgift said:

for such a system, would it be built like a normal computer? would i still need a graphics card and all of the other stuff?

 

bump