AI query/4K streaming server

[Moxareck]

I’m trying to build a PC to run two separate environments on. One will be for running AI queries and the occasional AAA video game on via Ubuntu. The other environment (I plan to run this on Ubuntu via virtualization) would be for running a Plex or Jelly fin server via HexOS(I’d also be using this to backup data in general). 
 

I have absolutely no experience building anything like this or running anything like this. The only thing I have familiarity with, out of all of this, is I have built 3 gaming desktops before and have used Ubuntu. So this is going to be an adventure for me.

 

Planning to flip my current build to pay for this new build. My budget is about 3.5k USD but my main concern with the hardware is power consumption(especially worried about transient loads). I would be running this off of a 120v 15amp power outlet that I am also running my networking, an 80 inch television, surround sound system, and my roomba off of. Running my current build like this hasn’t caused any problems except when my roomba docks and the power cuts out for a second lol. (see my current build here: https://pcpartpicker.com/b/Z9xcCJ).  I’d really like to avoid calling an electrician to install a dedicated line.

 

I would’ve gone with an arc B580 for the GPU for the 4K streaming server but allegedly a 4060 consumes less power according to PC part picker. The 5070 is the one I want to run AI models off of and game on. I picked it because it’s roughly in line with what I’m used to for graphics.

 

i’m sure that there are probably ways I could optimize this a bit better but again I have never done anything like this before. Any and all feedback is welcome. Just remember i’m basically a novice with this so I’m trying to keep things as simple and as familiar as I can. See link pc part picker link here for what I’m thinking for this new build: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/WFHJKq

[Enem_tech6]

Hi, 

Unfortunately, and this has also been a problem for me, you cannot run hexOS in another os. This is because it is based on TrueNAS, which doesn't allow it. Furthermore, you cannot install it in that machine at all, because hexOS will format your existing drives upon setup. This also means you cant run it in a virtual machine. The arc B580 is a better value than the 4060, and the wattage difference isn't that much. I run a 80in tv, ps5, ps4, surround sound setup, receiver, and more on a single outlet. I think you will be fine, just for safety, make sure the power bar you are using is rated for that and has proper protections. Also, I would be willing to help you if you need any help setting it up/

[Moxareck]

10 minutes ago, Enem_tech6 said:

Hi, 

Unfortunately, and this has also been a problem for me, you cannot run hexOS in another os. This is because it is based on TrueNAS, which doesn't allow it. Furthermore, you cannot install it in that machine at all, because hexOS will format your existing drives upon setup. This also means you cant run it in a virtual machine. The arc B580 is a better value than the 4060, and the wattage difference isn't that much. I run a 80in tv, ps5, ps4, surround sound setup, receiver, and more on a single outlet. I think you will be fine, just for safety, make sure the power bar you are using is rated for that and has proper protections. Also, I would be willing to help you if you need any help setting it up/

Thank you for your quick reply! If HexOS can’t be virtualized, could I maybe do the other way around? What do you suggest if I still want to run AI queries, stream, backup annd game off of the same machine? Are there other operating systems that might fit the bill better? I’m really open to whatever is easiest but checks all the boxes and allows me to do what ever I want with it. Ideally I wouldn’t need virtualization at all and I can ditch one of the graphics cards.

[AbydosOne]

4 minutes ago, Enem_tech6 said:

Unfortunately, and this has also been a problem for me, you cannot run hexOS in another os. This is because it is based on TrueNAS, which doesn't allow it.

I don't know about HexOS, but I'm currently (stable-ly) running TrueNAS Scale in a Proxmox VM with PCIe passthrough for drive connections, so it's definitely possible. I see no reason that it shouldn't be possible, really.

 

4 minutes ago, Enem_tech6 said:

This also means you cant run it in a virtual machine.

Why? You can hand it a virtual disc to install on, y'know.

 

33 minutes ago, Moxareck said:

I would’ve gone with an arc B580 for the GPU for the 4K streaming server but allegedly a 4060 consumes less power according to PC part picker.

Unless you're handing out multiple 4K HDR streams to users external to your network, you'll probably never exceed the transcode abilities of your CPU, if you need transcoding at all (I play almost all my shows at native quality from my Plex server because I watch them almost exclusively at home).

 

34 minutes ago, Moxareck said:

I have absolutely no experience building anything like this or running anything like this.

If you're willing to learn this stuff, read about setting up Proxmox and configuring PCIe passthrough (ensure your platform of choice supports the requisite CPU features for hardware virtualization). The technologies for virtualization have become a lot more accessible in the last decade, to the point that you can kinda just do it on most new hardware.

 

If you're not, I'd really recommend building two systems. Virtualization and whatnot can be finicky and not for the casual enthusiast.

[Moxareck]

4 minutes ago, AbydosOne said:

I don't know about HexOS, but I'm currently (stable-ly) running TrueNAS Scale in a Proxmox VM with PCIe passthrough for drive connections, so it's definitely possible. I see no reason that it shouldn't be possible, really.

 

Why? You can hand it a virtual disc to install on, y'know.

 

Unless you're handing out multiple 4K HDR streams to users external to your network, you'll probably never exceed the transcode abilities of your CPU, if you need transcoding at all (I play almost all my shows at native quality from my Plex server because I watch them almost exclusively at home).

 

If you're willing to learn this stuff, read about setting up Proxmox and configuring PCIe passthrough (ensure your platform of choice supports the requisite CPU features for hardware virtualization). The technologies for virtualization have become a lot more accessible in the last decade, to the point that you can kinda just do it on most new hardware.

 

If you're not, I'd really recommend building two systems. Virtualization and whatnot can be finicky and not for the casual enthusiast.

So virtualization is possible? To your other point though; I appreciate your warning about virtualization. I’m expecting a real challenge here. Currently, I’m a senior frontend software engineer and with the AI threat looming, I am looking to level up in the backend, dev ops and AI. So if virtualization is the way to go. I’m not going to shy away from it because learning it could save my career in the near future 

[Moxareck]

17 minutes ago, Moxareck said:

So virtualization is possible? To your other point though; I appreciate your warning about virtualization. I’m expecting a real challenge here. Currently, I’m a senior frontend software engineer and with the AI threat looming, I am looking to level up in the backend, dev ops and AI. So if virtualization is the way to go. I’m not going to shy away from it because learning it could save my career in the near future 

Also I do plan on having the ability to do at least two 4K streams out side my local network at once but probably not likely much more then that. It’s really just for me and my wife when we travel

[igormp]

1 hour ago, Moxareck said:

Planning to flip my current build to pay for this new build.

Why? You current build seems nice, and it also seems like you're carrying over stuff from it, so why change at all?

1 hour ago, Moxareck said:

I would’ve gone with an arc B580 for the GPU for the 4K streaming server but allegedly a 4060 consumes less power according to PC part picker.

Why even go for a GPU for that use case? CPU alone should be enough for that. And if you just do direct play, then there's no resource usage whatsoever.

1 hour ago, Moxareck said:

Plex or Jelly fin server via HexOS(I’d also be using this to backup data in general). 

Instead of using HexOS, why not just leave those services running as containers in your ubuntu host?

 

1 hour ago, Enem_tech6 said:

Unfortunately, and this has also been a problem for me, you cannot run hexOS in another os. This is because it is based on TrueNAS, which doesn't allow it.

You can totally virtualize it, there's nothing stopping it from happening. It's also based on TrueNAS Scale, which in turn is Debian-based.

 

1 hour ago, Moxareck said:

Ideally I wouldn’t need virtualization at all and I can ditch one of the graphics cards.

I'd say that you don't, just run everything in your Ubuntu host with your current 4080 and you're good to go.

1 hour ago, Moxareck said:

I am looking to level up in the backend, dev ops and AI.

I recommend you to sort things out with what you currently have before trying to spend money doing more complex things. Your current setup is more than enough for all of that.

[Ha-Satan]

I agree with @AbydosOne; just use two PCs for this (unless space is a huge issue in your home).

 

It's not that I think you'll have a skill issue trying to make it work on a single machine, it's just that having your media/file server separate from your daily driver machine is super helpful from a workflow perspective. If you need to reboot or fiddle with your main PC, your server is still there, and vice versa.

 

You can still set up the NAS using Proxmox if you want to learn about virtualization.

[Enem_tech6]

TrueNAS, which hexOS is based on, is very very unstable in a vm, and will most likely crash at some point.

[igormp]

3 minutes ago, Enem_tech6 said:

TrueNAS, which hexOS is based on, is very very unstable in a vm, and will most likely crash at some point.

Again, it's based on TrueNAS Scale (Debian based), not the regular TrueNAS (FreeBSD-based).

And there's no such thing, there are tons of deployments of both version in VMs out there without any issues.

[AbydosOne]

7 minutes ago, Enem_tech6 said:

TrueNAS, which hexOS is based on, is very very unstable in a vm, and will most likely crash at some point.

My TrueNAS VM had like 6 months of uptime once... the only reason it doesn't have more is because I keep fiddling with hardware of the host system. The whole "don't virtualize TrueNAS" is a very old line of thinking from prior to a lot of the advancement of virtualization tech. Even the folks at TrueNAS/iXsystems acknowledge it.

[Moxareck]

1 hour ago, igormp said:

Why? You current build seems nice, and it also seems like you're carrying over stuff from it, so why change at all?

Why even go for a GPU for that use case? CPU alone should be enough for that. And if you just do direct play, then there's no resource usage whatsoever.

Instead of using HexOS, why not just leave those services running as containers in your ubuntu host?

 

You can totally virtualize it, there's nothing stopping it from happening. It's also based on TrueNAS Scale, which in turn is Debian-based.

 

I'd say that you don't, just run everything in your Ubuntu host with your current 4080 and you're good to go.

I recommend you to sort things out with what you currently have before trying to spend money doing more complex things. Your current setup is more than enough for all of that.

Well, I still want more storage. In the long term I’m going to buddy back up with two other machines from different geographical locations that are owned by other people I know. So I want HexOS I think for its easy of use for setting something like that up and I need ample storage to support that.

 

I agree that my current build performance wise is basically already capable but the case cannot support the drives and the drives and a new case would cost money I don’t have right now and then there’s the graphics cards of course.

 

It turns out that flipping the computer and buying this new one would actually let me break even more or less and I don’t have to make any messy compromises to do that. In truth I’m really proud of my current build and it is hard to let it go, but it just doesn’t make sense if I can just flip it and get what I really need with out pulling out my wallet. 
 

That said what you were saying about the integrated graphics being enough is interesting to me. Would my integrated graphics really be enough in my new system to do two simultaneous 4K streams outside of my local network??? Because if I can get away with only one graphic card, that would be really nice.

 

also, I would not be keeping any components when I flipped the machine. I know that the two builds may have similar parts. I just happen to really like those parts for my use cases but this is just a coincidence. 

[Moxareck]

2 hours ago, Ha-Satan said:

I agree with @AbydosOne; just use two PCs for this (unless space is a huge issue in your home).

 

It's not that I think you'll have a skill issue trying to make it work on a single machine, it's just that having your media/file server separate from your daily driver machine is super helpful from a workflow perspective. If you need to reboot or fiddle with your main PC, your server is still there, and vice versa.

 

You can still set up the NAS using Proxmox if you want to learn about virtualization.

Yeah, to be honest, I agree that having two separate machines might be ideal in this situation but a) I don’t mind the challenge and b) i’m kind of doing this as a cost saving measure c) I do not plan on having it as my daily driver for very long in the long-term. I plan on buying a framework 16 and using that as my daily driver leaving this new build as purely a remote, AI query, back up and streaming server that I configure and forget for the most part. The gaming part is very temporary. It’s just gonna take me a while to save up for it.

 

otherwise, yes, I completely agree using it as my daily driver is going to be a pain in the ass while I am doing that. I have no delusions that it won’t be in the interim