I've currently come to impasse in how to store files for my home server. I can't decide where to store them and what to use to store them. My home network is setup as such:
An HTPC machine in the basement that runs Boxee which we use to watch movies stored on our network, hulu, youtube, netflix, etc. It also contains my PVR software which we use as a DVR.
A server machine that will reside in the basement that runs a webserver, ftp server, and other developer type software that is usually automated to some degree. This server needs to be on 24/7 because it contains all my server software (websites, ftp, etc)
A home PC up in the office that we use for gaming, listening to music, web browsing and just about everything. It's the most powerful machine we have in the office which is why it's the most used I would imagine.
An emu machine that sits in an arcade cabinet in the basement. This machine is soley used to run my Arcade cab and is only on when the cab gets turned on.
Several notebooks.
Basically my question comes down to how should I store all our music, movies, and pictures so that all computers have access to them at anytime and we don't have turn anything on to access them.
Right now they all reside on our home PC that we use for a multitude of things. It has the most storage (mostly because the external HDD is attached to it) and is also the most powerful so that's where I started storing things. However, I'm starting to regret my decision because that machine is a power hog and it generally stays on 24/7 so we have instant access to all the music, movies, and pictures. We also don't like having to run upstairs and wake it up out of sleep mode (happens occasionaly) when we're downstairs ready to watch a movie. And even then, when it does go to sleep, the HTPC loses the connection to it so we lose all our file access and have to restart the HTPC to get it back anyway, which is a huge pain. I'd like to move those files off that computer and I'm unsure where to put them.
The way I see it I have two options:
1) Keep the storage connected to the HTPC
2) Keep the storage connected to the Server machine
I would really prefer option #2, because the server machine needs to be on 24/7 anyway. However, my uncertainty comes in because the server machine is fairly old and it does not have any SATA connections, which all the HDDs I would put into it are. I'm not sure if I can get a PCI sata card or anything like that to stick in it, and if so what kind of speed loss I would see if I did something like that. I'm really interested in a Hard Drive Enclosure that can house multiple internal HDDs. I have 3 internal SATA HDDs that I would be using for storage and 1 external HDD. I need to stream video, music and pictures from this storage. If I used a SATA card or HDD Enclosure Case would I lose any speed when streaming (100mb network). Also I'm unsure how those enclosures connect to the PC.
Option #1 I'm not so keen on because the HTPC does not have any extra room for HDDs at the moment so I would be forced to use and external method. And I don't really want a case of Hard Drives sitting below my tv, it would look a little unnatural imo. However, this HTPC pc is more powerful than the server machine, would that have any affect on the streaming speeds or is that really only throttled by network speeds?
Looking for some expert advice on what to do. I really like option #1, but I'm not sure what would be better for streaming speeds an enclosure or some sort or a SATA card in the PC to store them internally. I'm also a little worried about heat with all those hard drives in there (would be 5 total + optical drive) which is why I'm leaning towards an enclosure of some sort.
Any advice is much appreciated!
An HTPC machine in the basement that runs Boxee which we use to watch movies stored on our network, hulu, youtube, netflix, etc. It also contains my PVR software which we use as a DVR.
A server machine that will reside in the basement that runs a webserver, ftp server, and other developer type software that is usually automated to some degree. This server needs to be on 24/7 because it contains all my server software (websites, ftp, etc)
A home PC up in the office that we use for gaming, listening to music, web browsing and just about everything. It's the most powerful machine we have in the office which is why it's the most used I would imagine.
An emu machine that sits in an arcade cabinet in the basement. This machine is soley used to run my Arcade cab and is only on when the cab gets turned on.
Several notebooks.
Basically my question comes down to how should I store all our music, movies, and pictures so that all computers have access to them at anytime and we don't have turn anything on to access them.
Right now they all reside on our home PC that we use for a multitude of things. It has the most storage (mostly because the external HDD is attached to it) and is also the most powerful so that's where I started storing things. However, I'm starting to regret my decision because that machine is a power hog and it generally stays on 24/7 so we have instant access to all the music, movies, and pictures. We also don't like having to run upstairs and wake it up out of sleep mode (happens occasionaly) when we're downstairs ready to watch a movie. And even then, when it does go to sleep, the HTPC loses the connection to it so we lose all our file access and have to restart the HTPC to get it back anyway, which is a huge pain. I'd like to move those files off that computer and I'm unsure where to put them.
The way I see it I have two options:
1) Keep the storage connected to the HTPC
2) Keep the storage connected to the Server machine
I would really prefer option #2, because the server machine needs to be on 24/7 anyway. However, my uncertainty comes in because the server machine is fairly old and it does not have any SATA connections, which all the HDDs I would put into it are. I'm not sure if I can get a PCI sata card or anything like that to stick in it, and if so what kind of speed loss I would see if I did something like that. I'm really interested in a Hard Drive Enclosure that can house multiple internal HDDs. I have 3 internal SATA HDDs that I would be using for storage and 1 external HDD. I need to stream video, music and pictures from this storage. If I used a SATA card or HDD Enclosure Case would I lose any speed when streaming (100mb network). Also I'm unsure how those enclosures connect to the PC.
Option #1 I'm not so keen on because the HTPC does not have any extra room for HDDs at the moment so I would be forced to use and external method. And I don't really want a case of Hard Drives sitting below my tv, it would look a little unnatural imo. However, this HTPC pc is more powerful than the server machine, would that have any affect on the streaming speeds or is that really only throttled by network speeds?
Looking for some expert advice on what to do. I really like option #1, but I'm not sure what would be better for streaming speeds an enclosure or some sort or a SATA card in the PC to store them internally. I'm also a little worried about heat with all those hard drives in there (would be 5 total + optical drive) which is why I'm leaning towards an enclosure of some sort.
Any advice is much appreciated!