Can anyone give me any pointers on a new server i want to build. I recently networked our house with Cat5e cable as i want to build a solid media network, but im still in two minds which direction to take with my server build.
The issue is the TV server side of things, which obviously requires windows for the MP install. This puts a bit of a spanner in the works in that i cant just buy a straight forward NAS and dump it on our network without the need for a 2nd unit to run the TV server (which is still an option, but will be more expensive in the long run).
The way i see it, i have two options:
1. Dedicated TV server build plus seperate NAS unit hooked up to the network
Pro's - Much more simple management as the NAS will take care of all my media for me without much setting up etc.
Con's - Much more expensive to build given the cost of 4 bay NAS units, plus the additional long run electricity costs of running two seperate machines.
2. All in one DAS build with TV server and FreeNAS install to handle the media file disks in a RAID setup.
Pro's - Cheaper option and much neater in terms of network handling as everything is in one place.
Con's - I dont imagine the RAID side of things to be as robust or reliable as a proper Synology unit.
Im leaning towards the 2nd option by building my own all in one TV server and NAS (DAS) unit, however im still a bit unsure how compatable FreeNAS is going to be with the windows MP install. I dont really want to have to have two seperate boot options when starting the server (windows or FreeNAS OS), i just want to have the server sitting in sleep mode (s3) on the network, and then just have it boot into windows whenever its needed, along with the option of handling the NAS side of things by going to the relevant IP address in my web browser. Is this possible?
Sorry for the long post, hopefully someone can help!
TIA
The issue is the TV server side of things, which obviously requires windows for the MP install. This puts a bit of a spanner in the works in that i cant just buy a straight forward NAS and dump it on our network without the need for a 2nd unit to run the TV server (which is still an option, but will be more expensive in the long run).
The way i see it, i have two options:
1. Dedicated TV server build plus seperate NAS unit hooked up to the network
Pro's - Much more simple management as the NAS will take care of all my media for me without much setting up etc.
Con's - Much more expensive to build given the cost of 4 bay NAS units, plus the additional long run electricity costs of running two seperate machines.
2. All in one DAS build with TV server and FreeNAS install to handle the media file disks in a RAID setup.
Pro's - Cheaper option and much neater in terms of network handling as everything is in one place.
Con's - I dont imagine the RAID side of things to be as robust or reliable as a proper Synology unit.
Im leaning towards the 2nd option by building my own all in one TV server and NAS (DAS) unit, however im still a bit unsure how compatable FreeNAS is going to be with the windows MP install. I dont really want to have to have two seperate boot options when starting the server (windows or FreeNAS OS), i just want to have the server sitting in sleep mode (s3) on the network, and then just have it boot into windows whenever its needed, along with the option of handling the NAS side of things by going to the relevant IP address in my web browser. Is this possible?
Sorry for the long post, hopefully someone can help!
TIA