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Software for server

B-dubya
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I'm looking to get my server up and running... I picked up a HP Z600, it is running dual Xeon E5640's @ 2.67GHz, 16gig of ram, currently booting off of an 8GB flash drive (I'll be getting a bigger one soon, its just the only blank I had laying around..)

 

What I want my server to do for me...

  • Store stuff - Naturally. But I like things as simple as it can be. I want a folder to show up in File Explorer. I want to be able to just open it up, paste a file there, and be happy about my awesome server saving my stuff. It will mainly just be photos, videos, possible documents for my kids school. Alternatively, have it auto back up a folder from my pc.. but that is a bit more advance than I am even looking to set up at this time, maybe once my skill set is better equiped.
  • Plex Media Server - Name says it all, it is about 75% of the reason I want a server. I want to rip all of my DVD and BluRays and keep them safe in a box away from my kids. (so side note - if you have any recommendations for software to do so.. that would be handy!)
  • Minecraft Server - Looking to have an in house server for my kids and their friends. This way I can control what, and who, is on it. I do plan on leaving it up 100% of the time.

 

I have freeNAS up and running on it right now, but am having a heck of a time getting plex to play nice. It is as if it can't connect to the internet, and as a result making it seem very sluggish.

 

If anyone has tips or maybe other suggestions I am all ears. I've done a linux server before to make a Minecraft server for the kids... But I really like the idea of a web based gui I can just pull up and change things as I see fit.

 

Thank you for your time!

 

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Id personally use centos or debian.

 

For a file server, you just make a samba share and you can mount it in windows. Here's a guide https://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/SetUpSamba

 

For plex, just follow their guide. It will work on any os. You can rip with handbrake.

 

For minecraft you can run it like any other java app. There are many guides.

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I use Plex but not on FreeNAS so can't help you with that. For the file storage create 1 or more SMB shares and map them to a drive letter on your desktop, then you can use the server storage like any other disk in your desktop.

 

Similar story with the Minecraft server, I don't play it, but what I am not sure about is if FreeNAS can do that or not. FreeNAS is a dedicated storage OS and isn't really for running other services/servers on top of it. What I do is install a hypervisor (ESXi) on my servers and create a storage VM and pass through the disk controller + disks to that VM. This allows you to run multiple operating systems on the same hardware.

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I am using unRaid (Samba shares, Plex and some more apps in Docker and other stuff in VMs), though it is not a free option.

HAL9000: AMD Ryzen 9 3900x | Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black | 32 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 MHz | Asus X570 Prime Pro | ASUS TUF 3080 Ti | 1 TB Samsung 970 Evo Plus + 1 TB Crucial MX500 + 6 TB WD RED | Corsair HX1000 | be quiet Pure Base 500DX | LG 34UM95 34" 3440x1440

Hydrogen server: Intel i3-10100 | Cryorig M9i | 64 GB Crucial Ballistix 3200MHz DDR4 | Gigabyte B560M-DS3H | 33 TB of storage | Fractal Design Define R5 | unRAID 6.9.2

Carbon server: Fujitsu PRIMERGY RX100 S7p | Xeon E3-1230 v2 | 16 GB DDR3 ECC | 60 GB Corsair SSD & 250 GB Samsung 850 Pro | Intel i340-T4 | ESXi 6.5.1

Big Mac cluster: 2x Raspberry Pi 2 Model B | 1x Raspberry Pi 3 Model B | 2x Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+

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With the troubles I've been having with plex running on FreeNas I've thought about going to something like Debian.. I used ubuntu with my first server attempt. Just ssh in and run a minecraft server for the kid.. my biggest issue with finding a way to get everything to automatically start in a shell after boot. (In case power outage, or an easy way for my son to reset it...)

 

Is there some sort of web based gui I could use with FreeBSD, centios or some other linux enviroment? Maybe some day I'll be at the point to go unRaid.. But until I feel good about what I'm doing and not just toying around.. I would like to stick with free options for now..

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Linux will be you best option, it works and it's free

me, personally i use windows server 2012 R2, but work as a IT Administrator so it's kinda understandable

but windows and plex will love those extra cores.....

****SORRY FOR MY ENGLISH IT'S REALLY TERRIBLE*****

Been married to my wife for 3 years now! Yay!

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7 hours ago, B-dubya said:

With the troubles I've been having with plex running on FreeNas I've thought about going to something like Debian.. I used ubuntu with my first server attempt. Just ssh in and run a minecraft server for the kid.. my biggest issue with finding a way to get everything to automatically start in a shell after boot. (In case power outage, or an easy way for my son to reset it...)

 

Is there some sort of web based gui I could use with FreeBSD, centios or some other linux enviroment? Maybe some day I'll be at the point to go unRaid.. But until I feel good about what I'm doing and not just toying around.. I would like to stick with free options for now..

Have a look in to Webmin, http://www.webmin.com/. It's a web administration tool for Linux and last time I used it it could do everything you want.

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9 hours ago, leadeater said:

Have a look in to Webmin, http://www.webmin.com/. It's a web administration tool for Linux and last time I used it it could do everything you want.

 

I saw Webmin last night.. saved to to check out later today...sounds promising though!

 

7 hours ago, Eniqmatic said:

FreeNAS is designed to be super easy, especially Plex which is the most used plugin on FreeNAS.

 

What kind of issues are you having specifically?

 

My issues with PMS on FreeNAS... I can get it to load, I can get it to do pretty much anything plex should do.. but connect to the internet to download information about the titles / movie posters etc. 

 

I have tried plex as a plugin, and installing plex into a jail myself.


I'll SSH into the jail, and have the ability to ping websites.. but it still fails to download meta data...

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On 8/28/2016 at 2:45 AM, B-dubya said:

I'm looking to get my server up and running... I picked up a HP Z600, it is running dual Xeon E5640's @ 2.67GHz, 16gig of ram, currently booting off of an 8GB flash drive (I'll be getting a bigger one soon, its just the only blank I had laying around..)

 

What I want my server to do for me...

  • Store stuff - Naturally. But I like things as simple as it can be. I want a folder to show up in File Explorer. I want to be able to just open it up, paste a file there, and be happy about my awesome server saving my stuff. It will mainly just be photos, videos, possible documents for my kids school. Alternatively, have it auto back up a folder from my pc.. but that is a bit more advance than I am even looking to set up at this time, maybe once my skill set is better equiped.
  • Plex Media Server - Name says it all, it is about 75% of the reason I want a server. I want to rip all of my DVD and BluRays and keep them safe in a box away from my kids. (so side note - if you have any recommendations for software to do so.. that would be handy!)
  • Minecraft Server - Looking to have an in house server for my kids and their friends. This way I can control what, and who, is on it. I do plan on leaving it up 100% of the time.

 

I have freeNAS up and running on it right now, but am having a heck of a time getting plex to play nice. It is as if it can't connect to the internet, and as a result making it seem very sluggish.

 

If anyone has tips or maybe other suggestions I am all ears. I've done a linux server before to make a Minecraft server for the kids... But I really like the idea of a web based gui I can just pull up and change things as I see fit.

 

Thank you for your time!

 

go to linux if freenas is not working right . when you mean slugish when you reboot does it do funny things refuse to boot the jails ect on  a restart/cold boot . nvm i see what your talking about thats a firewall or port issue somewhere did you open the ports in your router /switch for plex  .  i did for something else just to  open them all for a few mins both tcp and udp to see if plex can pull the info then just find the port/ leave a range open .

 

for plex i use makemkv to rip and handbrake to encode everything in HD preset unless its really old sd stuff then i custom settings to fix the blacks deinterlace i think it is . i do it all over the network from my pc with the start (files large)  and end files (much smaller ) all on the nas . minecraft stick docker on linux and be easy control and maintenance  . i went with centos 7 . for the minecraft you can set up a script that if the pc reboots it auto runs the server back up . i know in centos its not hard at all .

 

 

also not all MB support this but if the UEFI/bios has if pc has power have it boot . it will boot into the os then which makes brownouts simple to have your server boot back . or if it doesnt nothing a ups doesnt fix which i guess you got one if not buy one dont want the server gear to go boom from a issue . [sent from samsung s5]

main rig

Spoiler

 corsair 750d | evga 1000w g2 | Gigabyte x99 soc champ | 5820k 4.0GHz | 1tb wd blue | 250gb samsung 840 evo  | Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 16GB 8x2 DDR4-2400 | MSI GTX 970 x2 | monitor Acer B286HK 28" 4K | razor chroma blackwidow  | razor death adder chroma

CENTOS 7 SERVER (PLEX&docker stuff)

Spoiler

NZXT s220 | evga 500w 80+ | AMD FX 8320e | ASUS M5A78L-M/USB3 | 2x8gb non ecc ddr3 | WD red 2TBx2 | seagate 160gb | microcenter 8gb flashdrive OS

 

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2 hours ago, B-dubya said:

 

 

I saw Webmin last night.. saved to to check out later today...sounds promising though!

 

 

My issues with PMS on FreeNAS... I can get it to load, I can get it to do pretty much anything plex should do.. but connect to the internet to download information about the titles / movie posters etc. 

 

I have tried plex as a plugin, and installing plex into a jail myself.


I'll SSH into the jail, and have the ability to ping websites.. but it still fails to download meta data...

The plugin is by far the better way to get it to work. It will work right out the box, unless perhaps you have a network config issue. How did you setup the networking for the jail/plugin?

System/Server Administrator - Networking - Storage - Virtualization - Scripting - Applications

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Initially I didn't mess with the network, I just let the plugin do the work, I eventually went ahead and manually entered my default gateway just in case that did the trick.. which it didn't.

 

So tonight I went ahead and did a fresh installation of FreeNas.. still same issues. Has to be some sort of step I am missing... I'm just about to give up on the FreeNAS.. I MIGHT try FreeBSD, but I'm just considering installing win7pro on it and remote desktop into manage everything at this point...

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1 hour ago, B-dubya said:

Initially I didn't mess with the network, I just let the plugin do the work, I eventually went ahead and manually entered my default gateway just in case that did the trick.. which it didn't.

 

So tonight I went ahead and did a fresh installation of FreeNas.. still same issues. Has to be some sort of step I am missing... I'm just about to give up on the FreeNAS.. I MIGHT try FreeBSD, but I'm just considering installing win7pro on it and remote desktop into manage everything at this point...

Can you layout your network for us? A brief description of your main core network will suffice. Do you use DHCP on your network?

 

How did you setup the storage for the jails, did you put it on your harddrive storage?

When running a "sluggish" task on Plex, can you go to the FreeNAS GUI and press "Show running processes" (or similar, its down the left hand side). Is anything maxxed out?

System/Server Administrator - Networking - Storage - Virtualization - Scripting - Applications

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On 8/28/2016 at 2:45 AM, B-dubya said:

I'm looking to get my server up and running... I picked up a HP Z600, it is running dual Xeon E5640's @ 2.67GHz, 16gig of ram, currently booting off of an 8GB flash drive (I'll be getting a bigger one soon, its just the only blank I had laying around..)

 

What I want my server to do for me...

  • Store stuff - Naturally. But I like things as simple as it can be. I want a folder to show up in File Explorer. I want to be able to just open it up, paste a file there, and be happy about my awesome server saving my stuff. It will mainly just be photos, videos, possible documents for my kids school. Alternatively, have it auto back up a folder from my pc.. but that is a bit more advance than I am even looking to set up at this time, maybe once my skill set is better equiped.
  • Plex Media Server - Name says it all, it is about 75% of the reason I want a server. I want to rip all of my DVD and BluRays and keep them safe in a box away from my kids. (so side note - if you have any recommendations for software to do so.. that would be handy!)
  • Minecraft Server - Looking to have an in house server for my kids and their friends. This way I can control what, and who, is on it. I do plan on leaving it up 100% of the time.

 

I have freeNAS up and running on it right now, but am having a heck of a time getting plex to play nice. It is as if it can't connect to the internet, and as a result making it seem very sluggish.

 

If anyone has tips or maybe other suggestions I am all ears. I've done a linux server before to make a Minecraft server for the kids... But I really like the idea of a web based gui I can just pull up and change things as I see fit.

 

Thank you for your time!

 

I run Plex on Ubuntu server and have had zero issues.  You can map drives easily for drag and drop options

 

I run a separate machine for storage and surveillance

 

 

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The sluggish feel comes when i try to load a test movie on my roku.. once up it is quick, just not like before when it was on my desktop... I can live with it though.

 

My network..  modem, router, then switch,  which I have everything hardwired in my home that can be. 

 

The FreeNAS server is getting internet access, it is the plex plugin that is failing for some reason.

 

I can access my storage just fine. I have the jail set up,  with the correct link to storage, as plex can discover and play my test video.. it just won't get the movie info from the website, and i selected all options for it to try to pull from.

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3 hours ago, B-dubya said:

The sluggish feel comes when i try to load a test movie on my roku.. once up it is quick, just not like before when it was on my desktop... I can live with it though.

 

My network..  modem, router, then switch,  which I have everything hardwired in my home that can be. 

 

The FreeNAS server is getting internet access, it is the plex plugin that is failing for some reason.

 

I can access my storage just fine. I have the jail set up,  with the correct link to storage, as plex can discover and play my test video.. it just won't get the movie info from the website, and i selected all options for it to try to pull from.

I assume you have no firewall or restrictions on your router? Can you please also confirm your gateway is correctly set in the Jail? Can you please also confirm you can "check for updates" successfully from the FreeNAS GUI itself? If so this would indicate an issue with the network settings in Plex.

System/Server Administrator - Networking - Storage - Virtualization - Scripting - Applications

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Update : 

 

We can pretty much call this closed. I ditched my experiment with FreeNAS and switched to lastest LTS of Ubuntu.. have my file sharing going strong with samba, and my plex is acting properly.


The only thing I'm lacking now is a web based interface.. I did like the point & click of FreeNAS.. but plex just did not want to go online, which had to be something with plex itself because I was about to download plex while in a jail.. so the jail had access but plex did not for what ever reason.

 

I may play around with it down the road some more with a spare pc.. but we are up and running now..

 

Thank you all for your support

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