Home Server... or Media Center?

[Lachlan2104]

Hey guys,

 

I admit i dont know a whole lot about home servers so thats why i am here.

 

I am looking to have a home server that i can access my movies off from my tv and other possibly other devices on the home network. I currently have a couple terrabyte harddrives full of DVD rips....

That will be transformed onto the system once it is constructed. So for starter what are the generic specs of a home server computer?

Than what operating system should i put on it, i know that many people seem to love free nas but i seem to prefer the look of something like the KODI interface (http://kodi.tv/about/). But i would like to set up automatic torrents on it as well for storing stuff (its obviously free music...) So does free nas have an interfacing option like the kodi system? Or is their a better solution for me?

And what harddrives do i need? I have heard so maybe different opinions about BLACK drives and BLUE drives as well as different views about an operating system on a ssd... So any opinions will be appreciated. Many thanks lachlan

[braneopbru]

Literally four posts down, there is an active thread on home servers and NAS. Another three posts down from that, there is an active thread on streaming media from a NAS.

You didn't even have to use the search; it is right there on the front page.

There is no need to be filling the forum with junk threads when the answers are right there for the taking.

[Captain_WD]

~snip~

 

Hey there Lachlan2104,

 

For streaming and storing media I would recommend using a NAS as they are simple to set up and manage as well as optimized just for this purpose (as well as general data sharing over the network between multiple devices). Regarding the drives it is recommended to use NAS/RAID-class drives as they have some additional features that ensure safer and more stable performance in such conditions with lower chances of data corruption and drive dropouts. Such drives are WD Red: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=t01flZ

 

For the NAS I can recommend that you check out WD My Cloud EX2 and WD My Cloud EX4 (depending on how many drive slots you'd like to have). Both offer great streaming options, torrent downloading and other useful features that you can make a good use of:

WD My Cloud EX2: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=fWfvx6

WD My Cloud EX4: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=isGEsa

 

Feel free to ask if you happen to have questions

 

Captain_WD. 

[Lachlan2104]

Thanks Mate that was really helpful!

 

I think i am going to build a pc for the NAS mainly for the experience. 

 

http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/87VCxr

 

That was the list of parts i was planning on... Any opinions on the build, any different parts i should use instead?

[Captain_WD]

~snip~

 

The parts list looks rather good. Having a single drive is good for starters but I would consider some level of redundancy. This particular motherboard doesn't support RAID so I would look for one that does (unless you want to have a software one). otherwise it looks pretty good and should work perfectly fine.

 

Captain_WD.

[michrech]

Unless space is at a premium, I would suggest a case with more drive bays / more room to route cables.  It looks like the case you chose *can* have three 3.5" HDD's which, depending on how much media you plan to store, might be just fine.

 

As for the software -- it doesn't look like you're invested in anything specific yet, just going by what you've posted in your very first post in this thread.  I happen to *really* like Plex Media Server for home theater use, especially since you mentioned using it with other devices on your network.  Plex has Android, Android TV, and iOS apps that will let you play media from the server.  FreeNAS, should you go that route, does have a Plex Media Server plugin, so it'd be easy to set up / use.

 

Additionally, if I'm reading your original post correctly, it sounds like you might be wanting to use the system you're building as the HTPC itself.  I don't believe this'll work with something like FreeNAS, since it'll just output the linux console via the PC video card.  If this is the case, you'll probably want to run Windows as your host OS.  You can use the Windows 8 / 10 storage spaces to pool your storage drives, Windows' built in RAID functionality, or a software like DrivePool.  Going this route, if you go with Plex, you can install the Plex Media Server and Plex Home Theater software, then configure the system to auto-start Plex Home Theater on startup.  Being Windows, you can also install whatever your favorite bittorrent software happens to be quite easily.  

 

With Plex Media Server, it can actually push your media to phones / computers / tablets both within and outside your home.  If the devices you're using can't play the original media natively, Plex Media Server will transcode for the device.  This does require some CPU power, though.  I'm not familiar with the particular CPU you've chosen, so I can't tell you how well it'll handle this service.  I can tell you I had no issues with at least two devices needing transcoding on my i5-2300 (the system I was using for all this before I moved it into a VM in my ESXi server).  

 

What I do in my own home:

 

My 'storage server' is a Windows system (in my case, WHS2011, since I picked it up a couple years ago for $50, but it could be any version of Windows).  I have StableBit's DrivePool installed, and my storage pool currently consists of 6 1TB 3.5" HDD's (I'm currently in the process of upgrading to 4 2.5" 2TB HDD's, and have the first one being delivered today!  YAY!).  I have Plex Media Server, sabnzbd, Sonarr, and Couch Potato installed on it.  Sonarr / Couch Potato are configured to tell sabnzbd to grab whatever it is I'm wanting, unpack it, automatically move it to the TV / Movies folders, then notify Plex Media Server to rescan the library.  This way, whenever things are downloaded / available, I can just plop down on my couch and get to watching.  

 

The nice thing with StableBit's DrivePool is that I can add drives (of different interfaces and sizes!) to the pool, and they're all presented to the OS as one big drive (mine is currently just under 6TB).  When space starts to get tight, I can tell DrivePool to 'remove' the smallest drive from the pool (DrivePool automagically moves the data onto the remaining drives in the pool, so you will need to make sure the pool has at least as much free space as the size of the drive you're removing).  I can then remove the drive, then replace it with a larger one, add it to the pool, and keep on keepin' on..  If I'm worried about losing data, I can tell DrivePool to duplicate directories to two (or more) drives in the pool.  This way, if one (or more) drives die, it's unlikely that I'll lose whatever I wanted to keep safe.  You can't do any of this with (hard/soft)ware RAID.  

 

To access my media -- since I don't want a bunch of fans whirring / carrying on in my living room, and don't want (more) big boxes sitting on my TV stand, I use a Nexus Player on both my living room and bed room TV's.  Both have the Plex app installed (which is apparently now free for Android TV - just got an email about this yesterday), and since they came with a nice BT remote, so I don't have to do extra work to make a remote work on an HTPC.  I use 3M mounting strips to attach the Nexus Player to the back of each TV, and then route the cables through the wall cavity.  this keeps everything as nice / neat as possible.  

My 'storage server' lives in a closet in my spare bedroom, which keeps all the noise in there.    

 

There is a lot to this post -- if you have specific questions, please feel free to ask.  

 

 

Thanks Mate that was really helpful!

 

I think i am going to build a pc for the NAS mainly for the experience. 

 

http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/87VCxr

 

That was the list of parts i was planning on... Any opinions on the build, any different parts i should use instead?