Server for Plex Media Server and Data Storage

[SkyForCe]

Hey guys,

 

I bought a QNAP 431P a yeare ago. It served me well, but it lacks transcoding abillity.

So I want to replace it with something better, to be able to watch movies on your Smartphone too with Plex.

I am gonna use it as a Backup, File Storage and Movie Server.

Due to the high prices of a good NAS I thought I would build my own little Server for that.

 

Budget?   As cheap as possible.

Drives?  For now just 1x4TB and 1x3TB but I am going to expand that in the future. Also gonna do a RAID to not loose my data.

Steam over Internet?    Yes, my upload speed is 10 MBit/s. Thats not that much but it will do.

How many Steams at the same time?    Maximum is 4, but that would probably never happen. Most of the time it will be 1 or 2

4K?     Maybe in the far future, but for now there are just 1080p movies with 4-12GB size.

OS?    I still don't know what will be the best. Will have to do more research.

Anything missong? Pls ask.

 

Thats what I got so far:

CPU	Ryzen 5 1400	€            108,00
RAM	8 GB - HyperX Fury	€              63,00
Mainboard	Asus Prime B350M-A	€              73,00
PSU	EVGA SuperNOVA 650 G2 80+ Gold	€            103,00
Cooler	be quiet Pure Rock	€              23,53
Case	????	€
SSD	Crucial MX500 -256GB	€              56,90

 

Still looking for an MicroATX Case with 6 HDD slots or 5 HDD + 1 SSD slot.

The case can be a very cheap one, because the Server will be placed on the attic.

Anything you would do different or a case that would fit my needs?

 

Thanks in advance,

SkyForCe

[Strayan_Hades]

Looks good man.

[SkyForCe]

3 minutes ago, Strayan_Bass said:

Looks good man. How many streams are you planning to run at the same time?

Maximum is 4, but that would probably never happen. Most of the time 1 or 2.

 

Added some informations in the post.

 

Do you know any cheap MicroATX case with space for 6xHDDs

[Strayan_Hades]

Just now, SkyForCe said:

Maximum is 4, but that would probably never happen. Most of the time 1 or 2.

 

Added some informations in the post.

Yeah the Ryzen 5 is perfect for that. Just depends on the file and devices you want to trans code to. Most common formats that can be " Direct Play " are MP4/MKV  with h264 codec and AAC audio.

[SkyForCe]

Just now, Strayan_Bass said:

Yeah the Ryzen 5 is perfect for that. Just depends on the file and devices you want to trans code to. Most common formats that can be " Direct Play " are MP4/MKV  with h264 codec and AAC audio.

So yea, most of my files are MKV some are MP4. And I think they are all or most of all h264.

Dont't know about AAC but thats good to know fot the future.

Well transcoding is just needed when watching on phone or tablet. Most of the time it will be watched via Computer or TV, so there is no transcoding needed.

Transcoding would be needed if I am not at home and want to enjoy a movie on my tablet or laptop. One reason is that the tablet can't read mkv and my network speed of 10Mbit/s wont be enough for the normal files.

But other than that there is no transcoding needed.

 

Only thing I am still looking for is a cheap case with enough space for storage

[manikyath]

42 minutes ago, SkyForCe said:

Budget?   As cheap as possible.

why not keep the QNAP for storage, and make an encoding box to sit beside it?

 

besides that, one word of warning: ryzen is great for this on paper, but it does not have an iGPU, so you'll need to add some form of graphics card just to make the system boot.

[SkyForCe]

1 minute ago, manikyath said:

why not keep the QNAP for storage, and make an encoding box to sit beside it?

 

besides that, one word of warning: ryzen is great for this on paper, but it does not have an iGPU, so you'll need to add some form of graphics card just to make the system boot.

Oh thanks for pointing that out, didnt know that. Then I am just gonna get a cheap used GPU.

 

I thought that I am going to keep the HDDs of the QNAP and put them into the system so that I could get some money back for the QNAP.

How would such an encoding box look like and how would I set that up.

 

 

[manikyath]

Just now, SkyForCe said:

Oh thanks for pointing that out, didnt know that. Then I am just gonna get a cheap used GPU.

 

I thought that I am going to keep the HDDs of the QNAP and put them into the system so that I could get some money back for the QNAP.

How would such an encoding box look like and how would I set that up.

 

 

cheap GPU: you'll most likely end up spending more than the price difference of getting an option with iGPU

 

encoding box: the same, just with less hard drives

[SkyForCe]

15 minutes ago, manikyath said:

cheap GPU: you'll most likely end up spending more than the price difference of getting an option with iGPU

 

encoding box: the same, just with less hard drives

Well, I think it would be cheaper to sell the NAS, because it doesn't really matter if the data is stored on the nas or computer. And I have space for 6 drives anyway.

At least thats how I see it.

 

So, which CPU would you recommend then instead with similar performance?

[SkyForCe]

For the GPU, a MSI GeForce GT 710 1GB for 40€ wont hurt that much and will be more than enough right?

Can get a used one for like 30€ for sure.

What do you think?

 

[SkyForCe]

Because it doesnt look like there is a mATX Case with 6 storage bays I am just gonna get a normal ATX. Size doesn't really matter.

[SkyForCe]

I now consider using an Ryzen 2200g or 2400g instead of the Ryzen 5 1400 due to the built in GPU.

The Ryzen 3 2200g would even be 8€ cheaper. I think the performance would be slightly worse, but for 1080p and a maximum of 4 clients at once it should be enough right? 

 

How do thoose 2 compare in transcoding power with the Ryzen 5 1400 ?

 

Or would you do the 1400 and a GeForce GT 710 ?

[SkyForCe]

After some research and a lot of comparing I came up with a new build, without an seperate GPU and less power consumption. What do you guys think?

That build is about 200€ cheaper and uses less power. It isn't as powerful, but for my needs I think it will work.

 

CPU	Intel Pentium G4560	€              35,00
RAM	8 GB - HyperX Fury	€              58,99
Mainboard	Gigabyte GA B350M	€              31,12
PSU	EVGA 600W 80+ WHITE	€              49,99
Case	Thermaltake Versa H22	€              30,99
SSD	Crucial MX500 -256GB	€              52,92

[Mdgtman91]

Looks good but I would bump up to 16GB of RAM if you can.

My box has all 8GB full all the time and I am going to be bumping it up soon.

To give you an idea of my setup its an AMD A10, 8GB of RAM, 4 1TB drives is raidz for files storage, 1 4TB drive for media storage, and 1 64GB ssd for plex jail.