Recommendation for storage and media server

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phalanxs

phalanxs

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Jun 19, 2012
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Hello Community,

I am interested in building a couple of servers for home use. One is a storage server (FreeNAS) for backing up my home PC's. The other is a PLEX media server. Both will be utilizing Ubuntu Desktop (unless I have to use Ubuntu Server). I have pretty much gathered that they will have to be separate servers (hardware). I was told not to combine the two, which I am fine with.

Not sure which server I will create first. I am looking at a couple different servers to purchase from eBay. HP Proliant DL380 G6, HP Proliant DL180 G6, and Dell Poweredge 2950 III.

I have read several reviews about the 2950 III. Most of the review complain that it uses a ton of power and is loud (especially for home use).

I couldn't find any power usage on the DL380 G6 or DL180 G6. I do like that both of them use DDR3. Does anyone know what is the max HDD space per bay (I couldn't find concrete information on it)?

DL380 G6 - http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-PROLIANT-DL380-G6-2x-2-26GHz-6-CORE-L5640-12GB-RAM-2x-2-5-73GB-HD-/380908822782?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58afef60fe&rmvSB=true

DL180 G6 - http://www.ebay.com/itm/301513869324?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&rmvSB=true

I was also looking into building my own with new hardware. The server chassis I considered is: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0091IZ1ZG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Please feel free to comment as I welcome your opinion and recommendations.

Thanks!
 
Solution
A
FreeNAS is a (NAS) OS on itself, it does not run on top of Ubuntu.
I suppose you have read DL380 specs. Depending on the model, it supports either SAS or SATA drivers, with 16x2TB listed as max.
To be honest, I would not go with slimline server for home use (you're not looking into density), I would rather get something more "conventional".
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Alabalcho

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FreeNAS is a (NAS) OS on itself, it does not run on top of Ubuntu.
I suppose you have read DL380 specs. Depending on the model, it supports either SAS or SATA drivers, with 16x2TB listed as max.
To be honest, I would not go with slimline server for home use (you're not looking into density), I would rather get something more "conventional".
 
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McHenryB

McHenryB

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Any proper server is going to be noisy. They are designed to run in environments where cooling is paramount and noise is irrelevant. For home use exactly the opposite applies. You don't need a real server for your purposes - a normal PC will do the job. (I use a Mac Mini for this; silent, small, and stable.) And you only need one computer to cover both tasks.
 
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phalanxs

phalanxs

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Jun 19, 2012
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Thanks for the info!

Alabalcho - I thought the slim line servers would hold more than that. My reason for going with a production server was the amount of HDD space they hold i.e., 24TB+ What do you mean by "conventional" server? What processor and motherboard would you recommend?

McHenryB - I planned on putting the server in my office closet. I'm guessing that is not a good choice! Haha. Your Mac Mini allows you to backup your computers and run a PLEX server?

 
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McHenryB

McHenryB

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Neither backups nor PLEX are particularly demanding tasks, so most anything will do. The likely problem is disk space. Be wary of servers that use SCSI disks - these are very expensive. The advantage of a Mac is that you can attach external Thunderbolt arrays which are as fast as internal disks and can be expanded to just about any capacity you require.

If you are determined to use a rack-mounted server such as the ones you link to I would try and see one in the flesh. They are very noisy and probably more resiliant than you require in a home environment. Also, they tend to gobble up power. Great if you need 24/7 reliability, can house them in a purpose-built server room with air conditioning, and don't really care about power consumption. Otherwise they may be overkill.
 
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Alabalcho

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I run my home server on miniITX Atom board, but I don't neet (yet) enourmous storage, and I don't do too much media serving. I don't know Plex too well, but if it requires transcoding, you will need something like i5 with 8gigs RAM.

 
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phalanxs

phalanxs

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How much extra HDD space can you attach via Thunderbolt arrays?

 
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McHenryB

McHenryB

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An array such as this one http://www.drobo.com/storage-products/5d/ will accept 5 disks (plus an mSATA SSD for caching if speed is important). You can chain 6 Thunderbolt devices on a single port; the current Mac Mini has (I believe) two Thunderbolt ports.

So I think the answer to the question is "Enough".
 
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phalanxs

phalanxs

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Interesting. I have never heard of drobo. I like the fact that you can switch drives as needed and it will configure the raid. Plenty of options and models.

I researched the 2012 Mac Minis and they seem to be the way to go. 2012 was the last year you can modify the RAM and HDD. The 2.3Hz has a pass mark of 7K+ and the 2.6GHz has a passmark of 8k+. Now, I need to look into one and see how much it will cost!

Thanks for the info.
 
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