Advice on home server build

[chodie_foster]

Please bear with me because I am a complete novice when it comes to this, not even sure if this is the right category to post this but here goes.

I built a gaming pc a couple years back and it has a 1TB ssd in it. Started downloading movies n show and installed Plex, now the drive is getting full so I want to expand.

Originally I was looking at buying a nas from QNAP or Synology and putting my Plex server on there, but the more I read the more conflicted I became and thought I should do something else.

So I’ve decided I’d like to build a home server to do the following things:
-media server to run Plex or Kodi
-function as my nas
-be my download station, so I can just leave vpn running on it and download whatever I want without having to use my other pc. Currently I only run vpn when I’m downloading because, 1) it’s much slower and 2) certain sites won’t allow me access. I use PIA

So here I am, not sure what I do or don’t need, tried looking at the other million forums about server builds but don’t know enough to know which parts pertain to what I need. I’m hoping I can get some advice on what type of hardware I should use and softwaware as well, os etc should I get a MoBo with two nics to double the speed of data transfer...does my switch support that...do I even need it. Will I be able to leave vpn running on it and still be allowed to share data with other devices on the network not running vpn.

I am building a rack for my networking gear so I plan on putting it in a rack mount case, so don’t need to try to squeeze a bunch of small components in. Also as far as Plex goes, I currently just stream across my local network, but if I’m going to build this I would like it to be capable of playing to a couple devices not on my network. Most likely it wouldn’t be more than one or two devices out of my network, but want it to be able to transcode well if/when I do decide that. Obviously I would like to not to be too power hungry but from what I read, for the transcoding I’ll need a more powerful cpu, so hopefully there’s a happy medium there somewhere. I already have a gaming pc no I don’t need any graphics cards or anything, I believe this will be what hey call a headless server, or maybe not if I’ll attach a monitor to it to download stuff, idk.

Sorry if i was rambling or if some of my comments don’t make sense or are dumb, like I said I really don’t have much experience when it comes to this, and trying to figure out what I need for what I want to do based off other forums for others peoples needs is not enough help.

Thanks for any advice in advance.

 

[PsyKhiqZero]

I didn't quite read all of your post. But as far as I can tell, any PC running windows pro can serve your needs. For a novice it will be easy as you can use homegroup function for sharing. Windows Pro also allows you to act as a host to remote desktop. This would allow you to access the pc for purposes of initiating downloads without having the PC hooked up to a monitor. This way it would be the only PC required to access the vpn.

 

[feelinfroggy777]

I have a home server that I run with plex for the same use as you are wanting.

I would not go with the nas from Synology as the CPU will not be able to transcode. Particularly at high definition.

For more streams, you will need more cores/threads. So I would go with a quad core/8 thread chip at the minimum. I use a Xeon E3-1230 V5 chip on a Gigabyte X150 Pro ECC motherboard. I have 16gb of ECC RAM, but you don't need ECC RAM for what you are using. ECC RAM is expensive and not necessary.

The Xeon will allow for several continuous streams of HD video, but I don't transcode much as my videos have a file format that is supported by the clients. My devices are Chromecast, PS4, iPad, and a Vizio smart TV. I use the .M4V format for my video data and my server never has to transcode.

As far as streaming out of your local network, you need to test the upload speed of your current internet connection as this will probably be your bottleneck and not the ability of the transcoder. So if your upload speed is 10mps, then it wont matter if your CPU can transcode at 20mps because it wont go through faster than 10mps.

The biggest question you will have is how you want to run your server. I run Free NAS and it has a plex plug-in that works well. It is easy to setup. You will need a cheap video card to get the IP address for the server. Then you will be able to access it from another PC on your network.

 

[velocityg4]

Server Software: Never liked Kodi, Plex is much better.

VPN: AirVPN does not interfere with local network access. So, you can use file sharing between computers and Remote Desktop. They have good speed and privacy features.

Plex loves CPU cores. If I was building new. I would use a Ryzen 5 1600. This is really just needed for transcoding. Which is necessary if you are using anything like a Roku, Tablet or Smartphone. If you just hook the PC up to your TV and every other device connecting is a PC running Plex. You aren't likely to transcode anything.

Storage Space: You should balance the drives with your budget, needs and number of ports you have. 10TB drives have a poor value due to there extreme price per GB. I'd say 8TB are the best value. Sure 3TB give a better $ per GB but if you need a lot of space you need a lot of drives. Which means controller cards, noise and a huge case. 5,400RPM is fine for viewing if you can get 7,200RPM for about the same then go for it.

As for data storage. Skip RAID, Storage Spaces, ZFS, unRAID, &c. It is all just a pointless pain in the butt which adds extra cost (parity/mirrored drives). Just load yourself up with hard drives and point Plex Server to each storage location. Even with redundancy you still need backups.

Speaking of backups. Just use Freefilesync. It is much faster than regular backup software. Sure you have to run it manually. But it is just a bunch of media so you don't need to run it very often. Only attach backup hard drives during backups. That way you reduce my risk of them getting hosed by ransomware or a power surge. The rest of the time they should be in a fire and water resistant safe. If you have unlimited bandwidth and a great internet connection. Consider Backblaze. They have unlimited storage for $50 a year. I don't know if they have a file size limit still. I think they dropped that limit.

OS: Stick with Windows. Life will be a lot easier.

GPU: Get something cheap like a GT 1030 for 4k playback. Then hook it up to your TV. If this is just going in your utility closet/server room. Just get a GT 710 for when you need a monitor for diagnostics.

RAM: Get at least 8GB.

SSD: Would be nice to have for OS, Software and as a cache.

 

[USAFRet]

Don't be dissuaded from the prebuilt NAS boxes.
Qnap or Synology.

As opposed to the above comment of "would not go with the nas from Synology as the CPU will not be able to transcode. Particularly at high definition."

...Yes, they can.
https://www.qnap.com/en-us/product/ts-453a
"Supports hardware decoding and transcode 4K (H.264) videos on-the-fly or offline"

I have one of those.

No harm in building your own, but the newer NAS boxes are far more than just basic storage.

 

[feelinfroggy777]

Don't be dissuaded from the prebuilt NAS boxes.
Qnap or Synology.

As opposed to the above comment of "would not go with the nas from Synology as the CPU will not be able to transcode. Particularly at high definition."

...Yes, they can.
https://www.qnap.com/en-us/product/ts-453a
"Supports hardware decoding and transcode 4K (H.264) videos on-the-fly or offline"

I have one of those.

No harm in building your own, but the newer NAS boxes are far more than just basic storage.

Here is information provided by Plex regarding NAS devices used as servers.

https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201373823-NAS-Devices-and-Limitations

It outlines the limitations of NAS devices and states:

By far the biggest limitation with most NAS is processor-based. Very few NAS contain powerful processors, which can have a significant impact on your experience using Plex.

Virtually every Plex App will need content to be transcoded at least some of the time. Examples of why content might be transcoded:
◦The content is not perfectly compatible with the device (filetype/container, resolution, bitrate, codec, etc.) when streaming to a mobile phone, tablet, or other device
◦A subtitle needs to be burned into the video for display
◦Content is higher quality than what the Plex App requests (for instance, remote or shared access)

Transcoding can be a very CPU intensive process in many cases. Many processors used in NAS are not capable of good performance in situations where transcoding is required.

 

[USAFRet]

Oh, I agree.
Not all of them are capable.

But some are.

 

[chodie_foster]

I guess I should explain a little more about my Plex needs, currently I just watch it through my Xbox 1s, which is hardwired through my switch. I just bought a house so that’s all we use, eventually I will probably use either my ps3, ps4, or Apple TV in the bedroom, but will also be hardwired. There will most likely never be more than one, possibly 2 phones or iPads that use it when we’re away, so I don’t need it to transcode 5 devices or anything, but when I do need it, I’d like to not have any buffering. And when we’re home there will never be more than one device using it, it’s just me and my girlfriend. And I would like it to be as energy efficient so I don’t want to overkill it, but obviously needs to meet my potential needs. I currently have 75up/10down speed, but will probably upgrade to either 150/20 or 300/30 shortly. I work for a cable company so I get a great discount and at this time my budget won’t really allow for multiple 8TB hdd, and I certainly won’t need that much now, once I build this I will start downloading more so it would be nice to have the room, but 6TB is probably pushing my budget still, might have to settle for 4.

 

[velocityg4]

I guess I should explain a little more about my Plex needs, currently I just watch it through my Xbox 1s, which is hardwired through my switch. I just bought a house so that’s all we use, eventually I will probably use either my ps3, ps4, or Apple TV in the bedroom, but will also be hardwired. There will most likely never be more than one, possibly 2 phones or iPads that use it when we’re away, so I don’t need it to transcode 5 devices or anything, but when I do need it, I’d like to not have any buffering. And when we’re home there will never be more than one device using it, it’s just me and my girlfriend. And I would like it to be as energy efficient so I don’t want to overkill it, but obviously needs to meet my potential needs. I currently have 75up/10down speed, but will probably upgrade to either 150/20 or 300/30 shortly. I work for a cable company so I get a great discount and at this time my budget won’t really allow for multiple 8TB hdd, and I certainly won’t need that much now, once I build this I will start downloading more so it would be nice to have the room, but 6TB is probably pushing my budget still, might have to settle for 4.

Transcoding uses quite a bit of CPU power. How much isn't just a function of the number of streams but the quality of the video. By quality I mean bitrate not resolution. The higher the bitrate of the original and the higher the bitrate of the output. The more demand there is on the CPU. As I recall x265 video also requires more than x264 for the same bitrate. So a 1080p video could be more demanding than 4K depending on the bitrate of the sources.

You'd likely be fine with a Core i3-8000 series (quad core), Ryzen 1200 to 1500x, or any semi-current Core i5. I would suggest Ryzen 1600 or better, one of the hexacore i5 series or a quad core i7. Just so you will be prepared for a very demanding transcode. I'd avoid any dual core CPU and try at least for a Quad Core with SMT/Hyperthreading.

I couldn't say anything about the up/down speeds. If Plex allows you to transcode to x265 10mbps should look pretty good. I haven't kept current on Plex and x265. I know the new client for Windows finally added support.

 

[chodie_foster]

a couple more question, i am under the impression that i can build this to also function as my nas, whenever i try researching this i just get results about nas's though so it is a little unclear. does a dedicated nas do something different, is this possilel, do i need to run a special os or programs?

Also, how much ram will i need and should i get ecc ram if its going to function as all my storage. im trying to build this as cheap as possible, and as quiet and energy efficient as i can. i already know im going to have to spend a lot of money on the hard drives, so id like to keep the other components as low cost as possible. i understand ecc ram is more expensive but im willing to spend some more if its worth the investment to keep my data safe.

 

[USAFRet]

a couple more question, i am under the impression that i can build this to also function as my nas, whenever i try researching this i just get results about nas's though so it is a little unclear. does a dedicated nas do something different, is this possilel, do i need to run a special os or programs?

Also, how much ram will i need and should i get ecc ram if its going to function as all my storage. im trying to build this as cheap as possible, and as quiet and energy efficient as i can. i already know im going to have to spend a lot of money on the hard drives, so id like to keep the other components as low cost as possible. i understand ecc ram is more expensive but im willing to spend some more if its worth the investment to keep my data safe.

Sure, this can be your home NAS box.
Just a central storage place for commonly shared files, and potentially backups of your other systems.
And also to serve up video to your TV.

No, it would not need a separate OS. Linux, Windows...
My previous 'house server' ran Win 7 or 8.1. In looking to upgrade it last fall, I settled on the Qnap I have now.

A current dedicated NAS box is just a small prebuilt PC, often running a Linux variant. Toss in some drives and go.
Just like any other PC.

And ECC RAM is NOT necessary.

 

[PsyKhiqZero]

Both windows home and pro can create and connect to network shares. That should be all you need for "NAS" functionality. I only suggested pro so you could use windows remote desktop to connect to it.

 

[feelinfroggy777]

a couple more question, i am under the impression that i can build this to also function as my nas, whenever i try researching this i just get results about nas's though so it is a little unclear. does a dedicated nas do something different, is this possilel, do i need to run a special os or programs?

Also, how much ram will i need and should i get ecc ram if its going to function as all my storage. im trying to build this as cheap as possible, and as quiet and energy efficient as i can. i already know im going to have to spend a lot of money on the hard drives, so id like to keep the other components as low cost as possible. i understand ecc ram is more expensive but im willing to spend some more if its worth the investment to keep my data safe.

I run Free NAS as my OS for my home server. It is Free, it has a plex plug-in, and it is easy to install and setup. But any Windows program will work fine as well. Windows has it's advantages as you can rip DVD/Blu Rays straight from your server and transcode videos with handebrake. Handbrake takes time and a lot of processing power, so it is convenient to manage these processes on your server and not on your "daily driver".

DDR4 ECC RAM is expensive and is not really necessary for a home video server. ECC RAM should be used for "mission critical" information. ECC RAM is typically more important for businesses. The worst thing that will happen, is one of your movie files will become corrupt. You will just have to go through the process again. It is not really the end of the world and it is not worth the extra cost of ECC RAM. 8gb of RAM will be plenty for either Windows or Free NAS.