Home Server Discussion

[Lurker]

Another vote for Xeon-based Gen8 microserver with Unraid. Been rock solid for me.

 

[lowracer]

Another vote for Xeon-based Gen8 microserver with Unraid. Been rock solid for me.

which xeon?

 

[Lurker]

which xeon?

E3-1230V2

 

[lowracer]

standard heatsink, or?

 

[Lurker]

standard heatsink, or?

Yes, standard passive. Was worried initially about higher TDP but no issues over past 2 years or so.

 

[PHalanKS]

I wouldn't mind upgrading my cpu if anyone's going to be going the eBay route.

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[DannyBoyOPC]

My gen 8 has the i3 3240 upgrade in it and been working well for close on 2 years.

Want to upgrade to a Xeon when I get the chance to


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[lowracer]

I wouldn't mind upgrading my cpu if anyone's going to be going the eBay route.

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me too

 

[z3llin]

Pretty sure it’s explained exactly on their website but there are a few options and configurations.

In simplest terms it’s a bunch of XFS file systems presented together as a single volume and managed directly by UnRAID.

You can even mix disk sizes but that will of course have some caveats but is possible unlike most other setups as long as the parity drive is as big or bigger than the next largest drive.

The real beauty of UnRAID is that it’s an OS and not just an array. So it had a great web UI with a VM and Docker server meaning you can do everything with it that you possibly need in home.


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Ah, they abstract it one layer. That would explain it. I was wondering if they took ZFS and beat it into shape some how.

 

[doombus]

I wouldn't mind upgrading my cpu if anyone's going to be going the eBay route.

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My gen 8 has the i3 3240 upgrade in it and been working well for close on 2 years.

Want to upgrade to a Xeon when I get the chance to


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me too

Gents check out this link on carb and going for R650.00 slightly higher TDP but would work just fine
[Sale/Trade] - Xeon E3-1230 3.2ghz | CPU

 

[doombus]

i have got 2 G8 micro-server's one stock std 1610 celeron 8gb ram and the other with an insane E3 1275 @3.4Ghz (89W TDP) and 16gb ram
running good old windows 10 on both (easier for the wife to get things running when shit goes down, had the more fancy setups but the wife wasn't interested)

std g8 for browsing, banking and plex media player when the smart tv is too slow for my liking etc. xeon g8 is my file and media server 3x3tb and 1 4tb
plex server on an old 380 g6 for the transcoding and heavy lifting dual xeon for the win and 64gb ram (xeon in the G8 overheats if i look at it too hard never mind running a 7.1 surround sound 30 odd gb hd movie)
exsi on the g6 with server 2012 r2 and 2016 (test bench for when i finally start to re-certify)

Dont think ill ever get rid of my G8's i absolutely love t them, wife says i give my setup more attention than i give her

 

[SauRoN]

Ah, they abstract it one layer. That would explain it. I was wondering if they took ZFS and beat it into shape some how.

I think ZFS is the optional (aka unstable) version that you can install.

They do use BTRFS on the cache drives if you do pool them.

****

Woah the website got quite a major makeover I see to be all youthful and trendy so the info isn't quite as transparent as I remembered.

 

[PHalanKS]

Woah the website got quite a major makeover I see to be all youthful and trendy so the info isn't quite as transparent as I remembered.

Interesting... I just upgrade mine to 6.6, looks rather different. I think it's a bit crazy now as it looks like they rebranded the ui in a hurry but hopefully they polish it off a bit more.

 

[SauRoN]

Interesting... I just upgrade mine to 6.6, looks rather different. I think it's a bit crazy now as it looks like they rebranded the ui in a hurry but hopefully they polish it off a bit more.

Yeah just did the same and it's like it scales a bit kak.

Less fits in the screen than did before and now requires me to scroll.

 

[PHalanKS]

They really could get with the times and make this whole thing responsive already...

 

[SynicalFox]

There are too many damn choices for this :SMH:

I have decided I want to pursue this server route but not only for the home server setup side of it but also to gain some experience working with the setting up of the server.
Now Looking to throw VM Ware EXSi onto whatever solution I get to turn it into a headless server.
I will then create Virtual Server's for the following:

Plex​

Print server for the printers​

File storage access​

This is all I need for now.

With Plex it will only ever be 2 TVs maximum streaming over network at the same time and this will be mostly 720p content. This will stream to PC/Laptop/media center.

Unfortunately my budget is about R2500 (max).

The only thing I have towards this server is pretty much a 2.5" 750GB Drive (Which has a smart rating of 50% health so.....)

The microserver seems awesome but my only concern is future expansion. Since 4 bays may end up being constraint unless one ups the individual drive sizes??
A standard server however will be slightly more bulky to deal with but I am sure I can make a plan.

Not sure if I still need UnRaid if going VM route???

 

[SynicalFox]

I've gone with a HP Gen 7 N54L Microserver for now, includes 2 x 1TB drives for R1500. Seemed like a great deal and now I don't need to populate it with drives.

 

[DeathByIp]

Yep running Windows Server 2016. I don't really know any of the other tech people have suggested so maybe there's better ways - this is just easy and works for me

• Gen 8 Microserver is around R2000.00
• Xeon Processor - R1250.00 @ Ebay ( Check compatibility, there's a couple of them )
• (2x8)16GB DDR3 ECC Ram - R2000.00
• 256GB SSD - R750.00
• 4 x 3TB Enterprise HDDs I got at R650.00 each.
• Cable kit was R100.00 (I needed to McGuyver the backplane to support the configuration I'm running, SSD boot device with 4 drives in array.)

I'd say R5 - 6k with HDDs is a good estimate. The ram was a tad pricey.

CP out

Links for the ram. Have same machine and want to make sure it’s supported

 

[CRE4MPIE]

Links for the ram. Have same machine and want to make sure it’s supported

I can't really seem to get the info. IIRC I bought it from Esquire.

8GB DDR-1066/1333 ECC Unbuffered 1.5v CL9

 

[SynicalFox]

So.....an update.

I received the HP Microserver Gen 7 N54L on Friday. Man, these are cool little tiny boxes but it does have weight to it. I like the form factor of it very much and the Gen 7 seems very flexible with the number of potential drive bays (5 3.5" HDDs and an SSD).
Specs:
N54L Turion processor (AMD)
4GB RAM
250GB HDD that comes with
3 x 1TB WD HDDs
DVD Drive

(I am using a USB for installing this stuff below)
So now I had decided I would first install VM Ware ESXi onto this machine to make it a headless server (Bare Metal setup) and then create a single VM where I would load either Linux/Windows 10 and run the print server/Plex media server and storage access from.
But, alas VM Ware ESXi 6.7 Standard does not install at all due to the unsupported CPU.
So I decided I would go back a version to 6.5 and decided to try the HPE custom version. No luck because installer errors stating memory is only 3.85GB and 4GB is required (it has 4 GB).
So now I am downloading 6.5 U2 Standard edition and seeing if that works.

Right now not sure if this VM thing is worthwhile anymore.
Other alternatives:
I go Linux distro with KVM
I go Windows 10 (or Server maybe) and just use remote desktop for access

Not sure what else, but opinions are welcome.
Possibly just need more RAM but I would need to know a price on this.

 

[tman]

Thread resurrection:

I had a mini ITX system in a Lian-Li case next to my smart TV for movies, downloads, music etc. After an unfortunate house break in it was stolen this week.

I am quite keen to get another system for: the occasional torrent, backups, and PLEX, but I am reluctant to get another HTPC sytem, due to:

1. With spotify, youtube, Plex, netflix etc availible on a smart TV its not really required for me to have a full blown system anymore
2. I am reluctant to buy another PC in fear of it being stolen again.

So What I have been thinking of is to either buy a Microserver or a NAS (Qnap or similar) and just place it in a remote place of the home connected via LAN to my router.

Any thoughts / suggestions?

Was thinking of this: takealot.com and pop 2 x 4tb's in there

 

[Maxim]

I got a small asustor i start to use and test out as i am new to nas.

So far its been been great hooking up my pc, xbox, chromecast and mygica 1900pro.

I am pretty happy with it so far and i dont do major stuff - its a movie server mainly.

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[DannyBoyOPC]

Thread resurrection:

I had a mini ITX system in a Lian-Li case next to my smart TV for movies, downloads, music etc. After an unfortunate house break in it was stolen this week.

I am quite keen to get another system for: the occasional torrent, backups, and PLEX, but I am reluctant to get another HTPC sytem, due to:

1. With spotify, youtube, Plex, netflix etc availible on a smart TV its not really required for me to have a full blown system anymore
2. I am reluctant to buy another PC in fear of it being stolen again.

So What I have been thinking of is to either buy a Microserver or a NAS (Qnap or similar) and just place it in a remote place of the home connected via LAN to my router.

Any thoughts / suggestions?

Was thinking of this: takealot.com and pop 2 x 4tb's in there

First of all, sorry to hear about the break in.
I hope you and the family are all ok!


Microservers work great for this application.
I used a hp n54l/gen 8 for this purpose and never had any issues.

 

[pXius]

If you don't need any sort of transcoding for Plex/Emby you can get away with a NAS.

A microserver with a gpu for hardware transcoding works great in most cases. Keep in mind that GPU transcoding only handles video. Audio transcoding is bound to the CPU in both Plex and Emby.

To keep it as cheap and modular as possible. A normal system with a Sandy Bridge or newer Intel chip (has Intel Quick Sync for HW transcoding) will be the most flexible, and cheap if you score some deals on carb. A microserver looks the part though.