Old Dell SC1430 as NAS/Mediastreaming

[K4lim]

I tried to use my RasPi 3B+ as a NAS/Streaming server but stopped doing it on the same day because of the slow writing speed over network to USB (2mbps max). So I decided to buy some very old computer/server hardware and found a Dell SC1430 for 10 bucks.

It got an Intel Xeon 5120 @ 1.86GHz and some 4GB ram. I'll also add a SSD for the boot partition and some WD Reds for storage.

 

It should be capable of running a simple NAS and streaming FullHD/4k movies, right? I want to install FreNAS.

There won't be more than 2 clients connected at the same time.

[NelizMastr]

FullHD and 4K are a no go on something as old and slow as this. For 4K you'll need to equip it with a GTX1050 or better, so that's a waste. Should be okay for 720p.

You'll need to upgrade it to a quad core CPU at least for 1080p.

[Guest]

Streaming services like Plex have very rough guidelines on passmark scores for transcoding.

 

The Guideline

Very roughly speaking, for a single full-transcode of a video, the following PassMark score requirements are a good guideline for the following average source file:

• 4K (60Mbps, HEVC) file: 4000 PassMark score (being transcoded to 10Mbps 1080p)
• 1080p (10Mbps, H.264) file: 2000 PassMark score
• 720p (4Mbps, H.264) file: 1500 PassMark score

 

The CPU you listed has a score of 1248. While this doesn't dictate everything, it's a decent way to tell what you can expect.

 

[K4lim]

Alright, thank you!

I can get a Xeon X5460 which would have 4,3k+ Score for 19 bucks. So this should be fine? What about old memory? Will this get in my way?

[Scheer]

Not to beat a dead horse, but in case you were unaware the money you are saving purchasing ancient servers like this is extremely quickly offset by how expensive they are in the long run due to power usage. That power is also turned to heat... so if you are running A/C double the power usage as it taxes the A/C roughly that much again. In a nutshell an old server pulling 250W, plus additional heat it puts out needing to be cooled will cost you about 5 cents an hour at cheap electricity rates, about a buck a day in the summer. This will offset in the winter a bit though, where your furnace will run a bit less since this will be helping heat the house.

 

Looks like the average cost of electricity in Germany is more than triple what I pay, so that makes it that much more important to focus on energy efficiency. If you live with your parents and don't pay electricity, before you say they won't care or notice, I'd be willing to bet they'd notice nearly 100 euro more per month on the electricity bill in the summer months.

[K4lim]

I'm paying about 28cents/kWh and a/c's aren't that popular over here in germany. You're still right tho, electricity will cost me some extra money. If this thing constantly pulls 250W, I would pay 47€ per month. It looks like I have to buy some newer Hardware in the long run or have to shut it down over night/while noone ist at home to save some money.

 

At least I got something cheap in the meantime, I guess.