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Advice on Home server build

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  • Servers
  • Western Digital
  • Streaming
  • Systems
  • TV Shows
  • Build
Last response: in Systems
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January 22, 2014 1:48:35 PM

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January 22, 2014 2:02:55 PM

Windows Home Server will run effectively on minimal hardware depending upon how many users are connecting to is at the same time, and how many users will be streaming files at the same time. The "big processes" for a home server might be using handbrake to rip DVD/BluRays, and if you can live with slower conversion times - my advice would be to go with the lower end processors (core i3 or any quad-core AMD processor).

RAM should be 2GB for OS, 0.5GB per simultaneous user and 1.0GB per simultaneous stream client.

Hard drives - I would recommend WD Black drives for the setup - either the 2TB or 4TB drives will work fine. They are higher performing as compared to the red drives - which are built for NAS enclosures. The Black drives are also one of the most reliable drives on the market.

Avoid RAID configurations if at all possible - use the library functions with Windows to assign file locations. You can have ten 2TB drives, with ripped BluRay discs on them, all added to a single library and not suffer performance drops.

I would also consider a 128GB SSD for the operating system - this dramatically improves boot times, and responsiveness to applications on the server.

Last bit of advice - when you build your "data libraries" - don't forget backup drives. If you have 10TB of data, you need at least 10TB for backups....

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January 22, 2014 2:15:18 PM

ronintexas said:
Windows Home Server will run effectively on minimal hardware depending upon how many users are connecting to is at the same time, and how many users will be streaming files at the same time. The "big processes" for a home server might be using handbrake to rip DVD/BluRays, and if you can live with slower conversion times - my advice would be to go with the lower end processors (core i3 or any quad-core AMD processor).

RAM should be 2GB for OS, 0.5GB per simultaneous user and 1.0GB per simultaneous stream client.

Hard drives - I would recommend WD Black drives for the setup - either the 2TB or 4TB drives will work fine. They are higher performing as compared to the red drives - which are built for NAS enclosures. The Black drives are also one of the most reliable drives on the market.

Avoid RAID configurations if at all possible - use the library functions with Windows to assign file locations. You can have ten 2TB drives, with ripped BluRay discs on them, all added to a single library and not suffer performance drops.

I would also consider a 128GB SSD for the operating system - this dramatically improves boot times, and responsiveness to applications on the server.

Last bit of advice - when you build your "data libraries" - don't forget backup drives. If you have 10TB of data, you need at least 10TB for backups....



Thanks for the advice. I think i'll probably go with a AMD quad core chip provided the TDP is low enough. The new A8 7600 looks like it should be okay with some tweaking.

The RAM is something i had no clue about - thanks for clarifying that. 4GB should be plenty then, as I dont see all three of us ever streaming all at once!

I had considered WD black drives, i have one in my PC currently and its great, but i sort of assumed that the reds would be best for home servers. I'll look into the Black drives then. As far as RAID goes, I was only going to use RAID 1 (mirrored drives) for back up. I am aware that WHS has library functions so no need for RAID 0.

Looks like i forgot to include the Kingston ssd now i'd looked at, it was a 120gb model. i don't need the speeds of something like a Samsung 840 pro, so this drive is ideal.

Thanks for the advice :) 
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January 23, 2014 6:54:29 AM

RAID1 is not a substitution for a backup. I run production servers for a living, and utilizing RAID1 on production servers is so you don't have any downtime. If a drive fails, I have a stock of drives to replace the defective drive. It takes a while to rebuild the array (the system runs slow - but does not go down).

A good example - one of my servers has 10 WD Black Drives, RAID10 (striped/mirrored), with 6 drives as swaps. For a 5TB array - I bought 16 drives - more more than 300% the cost of a single drive. I can't afford to be down for any period of time, as employees can't work if the server is down.

At home, if the server is down, mama and the kids may not be able to watch their favorite program....but I don't lose money. I simply have a "data" drive (can be multiple drives) and a backup drive that can keep copies of all the data. I use SyncBack Free to backup the drives nightly (it does incremental backups - so it is extremely quick). If a drive fails, it takes about 1 hour per TB to restore.
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January 24, 2014 12:28:36 PM

ronintexas said:
BTW - the Samsung 840 EVO is on sale for $99.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2W0...


So no RAID 1 then? Yeah after looking into it it seems it isn't a great option for an actual piece of backup software like the one you mentioned. I'll be looking into that instead :) 

And Yeah unfortunately I don't live in the US so I can't get that deal :/ 
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