Help with filesever please. (1 Viewer)

[smarty12345]

Hi everyone.

I have been using mediaportal for a couple of years now. Currently single client with locally stored data on 3 external hdds. (about 6TBs worth currently)

I however have no backup solution in place. So I am thinking its time to build a fileserver.

My question is, What sort of Cpu/ram etc I would need for a fileserver?
I do not use any TV capture or streaming. It would purely be for hosting Movies, pics and tv shows.

My main concern is being "green" ie: using as little power consumption as can be while making sure the fileserver is capable of performing its task of suppying 1 to 3 HTPC clients some time in the near future with HD content over a network.

I had planned to use either WHS2011 or Windows Storage Server 2008 as the OS, and something like flexraid to manage the data pool and hopefully redundancy against drive failure.

Any suggestions from those of you in a similar situation would be appreciated in regards to what psu/cpu/ram/mobo combo you believe should do the trick..

Many thanks.

Martyn.

 

[erichzann]

The only computer I didn't build myself was this one because it was such a good deal

http://www.amazon.co.uk/ProLiant-N4...qid=1367963334&sr=8-1&keywords=hp+microserver

I would really recommend this machine. With 3 and 4 tb hard drives it should last you a while.

Currently I run windows 8 with drive bender to pool the drives and synchredible to back up from my main server.

The backup server wakes up nightly, runs a backup, emails me the details then goes to sleep. I forget it is there.

In the past I have run freenas and Ubuntu on it also.

 

[smarty12345]

Hi erichzann. Thank you for your reply.
That HP is an attractive price. But I assume one of the 4 hdd bays would have to be for OS installation? Leaving 3 bays left for data drives?
Part of my issue is I wan't to home the data and the "backups" in the same system. using one of the many software raid apps available. But I believe like with hardware raid setups at least one drive would be required for parity purposes for best protection? So I get the feeling 3 "useable" hdd bays may not be enough..

I forgot to mention earlier that the 6tbs of data I have is just Movles currently. I have another 2tb roughly of TV epsiodes.

The Mrs' would kill me if I had to have two "servers" running for storage and backups.. I get dirty looks as it is when I mention just the cost of the HDDs.. LOL...

 

[4Fred]

If it's just for storage, why not get a NAS?

 

[smarty12345]

I didn't want to go NAS as I could buy drives and components and build a system that would thearetically give me much more control and levels of future expansion, and generally at a lower overall cost of components.

What I am unsure about is really what level of CPU/RAM would be best suited for the job. I have seen posts from people here using Core2Quad CPU's or higher and I wonder if that kind of CPU is really required for a "simple" file server whose sole purpose is to allow network access to 720 and 1080 or lower mkv files.
As I was thinking of using a software raid application would this mean I would need a better CPU for that, or is that fairly simple work for a CPU?

 

[4Fred]

It somewhat depends on what OS you are planning on running, it also depends on what type of RAID you are planning on using.
On many mainboards there is the option to enable raid and let the mainboard be responsible for raid functions, the OS in this case does not "know" that the drive is raid enabled - thus this does not affect performance of the running OS.
If you use "soft raid" this is up to the OS and that may impact performance.
There are specifications for running different OS, here for WHS.
As an alternative there is also FreeNAS that may be right for you.

Now all that being said... I'd still NOT get the minimum requirements for anything but a bit more than I need right now. Let's say you start with what you said, basicallt a fileshare and some files. Then you want backup of all your clients, then maybe you want some other software for sharing media, then you want access to that from the internet but need transcoding due to bandwith, and then you want... well I think you get the idea

I'd say get atleast an Intel i3 and 4gb RAM, a small separate disk (preferably ssd) for whatever OS you want to run and separate disk(s) for storage. That way you have options on what software to run and some room to expand your solution.

 

[smarty12345]

Thank you 4Fred. You have pretty much confirmed for me what had been running through my mind. Based on current "needs" it wouldn't cost all that much more to go a stage or two further up the performance scale as a kind of buffer for possible future uses.
Im really just starting out with the idea at the moment. I have other logistical issues I need to work out too. Like where the hell I would actually put the fileserver. I was thinking either My loft or I have a "lean to" running along the side of my house. But Im a bit worried about both scenarios in the colder months and the issue with possible condensation between the heat generated by the system and the likely below freezing temps that would be found in either location. I feel the loft idea would be a marginally safer bet.

 

[4Fred]

I dont think you have to worry at all about the cold, if the computer is on it will generate enough heat not to freez even if the room gets below freezing. Moist however is something to worry about!

I was thinking like you for a while, separate storage and a separate mediapc at the tv location. I decided to combine the two to save money and power consumption. I howerver do not have a space limitation at the tv location, but I guess you have?
My system specs are up to date to see what I have, but missing are two WD Green disks for media storage.

 

[jonm]

You don't need much of a CPU for a server. Mine uses a cheap mini-itx ION "all-in-one" motherboard (I forget the make/model) and currently has 8x hard drives set up as 4x raid 1 mirrored pairs using Linux mdadm (the OS is Fedora.) Performance is great, and it uses just 70 watts. It just sits there and gets on with it:

[jon@lord ~]$ uptime
 17:11:10 up 399 days,  4:50,  1 user,  load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00

 

[smarty12345]

I dont think you have to worry at all about the cold, if the computer is on it will generate enough heat not to freez even if the room gets below freezing. Moist however is something to worry about!

I was thinking like you for a while, separate storage and a separate mediapc at the tv location. I decided to combine the two to save money and power consumption. I howerver do not have a space limitation at the tv location, but I guess you have?
My system specs are up to date to see what I have, but missing are two WD Green disks for media storage.

Yes. The condenstaion issue had occured to me also. But as the warmer air should be in the case I guess it should be fine.
I have read elsehwere though that if the hdds are in a room where temps dip below 0 degrees Celsius and are not spinning you risk them freezing up. Which would be an issue, as you wouldnt want the drives spinning all the time when not in use. It also occured to me thinking about it that there is the other extreme to consider too. A lot of loft spaces get very hot during the summer months. That could be even worse! I think I am going to have to rethink my otpions.
But you are correct, Space near the TV is fairly limited. As it is my current setup is not huge. As I am relying on external HDDs currently. But ideally it would have been nice to supply the data over a netowrk connection and shrink the clent down even further.
Currently my two year old is fixated on the "on" switch on the front of my current box.. [DOUBLEPOST=1368475142][/DOUBLEPOST]

You don't need much of a CPU for a server. Mine uses a cheap mini-itx ION "all-in-one" motherboard (I forget the make/model) and currently has 8x hard drives set up as 4x raid 1 mirrored pairs using Linux mdadm (the OS is Fedora.) Performance is great, and it uses just 70 watts. It just sits there and gets on with it:

[jon@lord ~]$ uptime
17:11:10 up 399 days,  4:50,  1 user,  load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00

Ufortunately, I am not remotely familiar with Linux Beyond standard Ubuntu instal and the like. I really dont fancy having to mess around with command lines and all the ususal Linux command stuff that I know nothing about and risk making things worse for myself.
So I am going to have to stick with a Windows based server as at least I pretty much know those inside out. But from what I have been able to gleam from here and other forums, for a Windows based system at min a i3-3220 is the most popular. But I have seen an AMD board I like the looks of with 8 sata 6gb ports on it That Intel boards just cant seem to manages. But as it would be AMD I think I would need to hedge my bets and get a A8 Quad APU.