Deciding on Development Server + Plex Server + NAS Combo Setup

[STL_xZEROx]

Let me preface this by saying I know that there are a LOT of NAS/Server/Plex threads out there and I'm sure everyone is tired of answering the same questions over and over. HOWEVER, hopefully the question(s) that I put forth to all you fine people today will let you stretch your imagination a bit and help me come up with a final design solution for my needs.

My current setup:
Gaming PC that currently runs a Plex Server and VMs for development purposes.

What I wish to accomplish:

• 
  - Move Plex Server from my PC to its own dedicated server with super simple, redundant storage management and enough oomph to transcode up to 2 or 3 1080p files at a time.
  
  - Have a development server to run VMs and to support other development needs.
  
  - Backup storage for my PC, laptop, and development server.

Now that I have briefly covered what I wish to accomplish, I have a couple ideas in mind that might work but would like some input to make sure I'm doing what is right for my situation.

My first instinct is to have Plex run on it's own dedicated hardware apart from my development server that I wish to build. I REALLY like the idea of a Drobo as my storage for Plex. It allows me to not only add drives into unused bays to instantly expand storage, but it also allows me to replace an existing drive with a higher capacity drive instantly as well. To me, this is the perfect storage solution for Plex.

So, Plex options:

• 
  - Build server and use Drobo as primary storage connected via USB-C/Thunderbolt
  - Use Drobo as server and storage as the 5N model can download Plex app and be made into standalone server (not sure about performance of Plex on Drobo)

OR,

• 
  - Build beastly server and have both Plex and development work on same system (would still use Drobo as primary Plex storage (and development backup? or keep them separate?)

I have a gigabit router so if I need to connect to my storage backup device (e.g. Drobo) from my PC, it should still have decent transfer speeds.

So, that's about it. And I know I mentioned Drobo exclusively, but if someone has a good alternative suggestion for this setup, I'm all ears. I am by no means attached to just these options. I am curious what other people think and how they would come up with a solution for this.

Regards,
STLxZEROx

 

[Rhinofart]

What hardware do you currently have? What's your budget?
I have Limetech unRAID 6 running on a Supermicro system with 2 x 4core Xeons with 40GB of RAM
On this particular system I have Plex Media Server running as a Docker Container, and a few VMs running different things.
This is a quick example of what unRAID is able to do.
https://youtu.be/LuJYMCbIbPk
You can even create a VM and passthrough your GPU, and other stuff to a gaming VM if you want.
FreeNAS is also a decent system as well.

 

[STL_xZEROx]

What hardware do you currently have? What's your budget?
I have Limetech unRAID 6 running on a Supermicro system with 2 x 4core Xeons with 40GB of RAM
On this particular system I have Plex Media Server running as a Docker Container, and a few VMs running different things.
This is a quick example of what unRAID is able to do.
https://youtu.be/LuJYMCbIbPk
You can even create a VM and passthrough your GPU, and other stuff to a gaming VM if you want.
FreeNAS is also a decent system as well.

My PC has an i5 6600k, 16GB DDR4 memory, GTX 780, and a 3TB HDD where I keep my Plex files.
My main complaint with unRAID is its lesser parity support for storage. Do you use it for development at all? It would have to be as stable as Ubuntu Server.

 

[Rhinofart]

I'm not a developer, but I do use the unRAID system in my production environment in my branch office. Also, why do you think it has lesser parity support? I currently have 2 parity drives in my array, 3 SSD cache drives which also host my VM OS disks, and 8 x 1 TB actual data drives. I can add more parity disks if I want to, etc.
So far it seems to be pretty darn stable.

 

[STL_xZEROx]

I'm not a developer, but I do use the unRAID system in my production environment in my branch office. Also, why do you think it has lesser parity support? I currently have 2 parity drives in my array, 3 SSD cache drives which also host my VM OS disks, and 8 x 1 TB actual data drives. I can add more parity disks if I want to, etc.
So far it seems to be pretty darn stable.

Ah, ok. from what I found in a cursory glance was that the parity support was lacking. That's good to know that you can have more than 1. How do you access your OS remotely? Command Line? VNC?

 

[Rhinofart]

There are a few ways. It has build in VNC, you can SSH, or if you have GPUs installed onto your system, you can attach a GPU to a particular VM, and use the GPU and Monitor. I do that with a windows 10 gaming system. I put in a Zotac GTX 960, attached it to a windows 10 vm, passed through my Keyboard/Mouse, and sound card. Bam! Awesome performing VM with dedicated GPU for gaming.

 

[STL_xZEROx]

There are a few ways. It has build in VNC, you can SSH, or if you have GPUs installed onto your system, you can attach a GPU to a particular VM, and use the GPU and Monitor. I do that with a windows 10 gaming system. I put in a Zotac GTX 960, attached it to a windows 10 vm, passed through my Keyboard/Mouse, and sound card. Bam! Awesome performing VM with dedicated GPU for gaming.

Ok...Ok...it's sounding better. haha Almost sounds like I should use that for my desktop as well to be able to switch between Windows and Linux easier!

Preferably, I would not keep the server next to me. I guess you have that Supermicro Systems pretty close to you to be able to use its HDMI and your MKB on it so I would stick with CLI on that server for most things, VNC if necessary.

I currently have a spare i5 2500k and will soon have a spare GTX 780 when I upgrade to the 1080ti. Was gonna maybe use those in the server build but I'm thinking it might not be enough for what I want...possibly...because there is a 5Ghz 2500k club apparently 😀

 

[Rhinofart]

I have a decent USB over ethernet adapter, and HDMI over Cat7 adapter. The supermicro chassis is out in my garrage, I have the keyboard / mouse / Headphones on the USB2Ethernet, and the HDMI - Cat7 hooked up to my Sony 1080p projector.

 

[STL_xZEROx]

I have a decent USB over ethernet adapter, and HDMI over Cat7 adapter. The supermicro chassis is out in my garrage, I have the keyboard / mouse / Headphones on the USB2Ethernet, and the HDMI - Cat7 hooked up to my Sony 1080p projector.

Nicely done. I like that. Is that setup your main computer? Or do you have a desktop for day to day use?

 

[Rhinofart]

It's my main gaming computer. I use my 17" MBP for most of my other stuff.

 

[STL_xZEROx]

It's my main gaming computer. I use my 17" MBP for most of my other stuff.

So, last thing or two here: What storage pooling system does it use? And are you able to upgrade drives to a larger capacity at any time? Hot swapping?

 

[steelraptor1]

Hello STL_xZEROx, I noticed your post.
I too have Plex with over 600+ blu ray movies on it. My system is i7 4930k,16gigs,gtx 980. Now here is how my system is a server/gaming system.My primary storage is a evo 850 500 gig for games,Plex and Wondershare. Second storage is a 1 gig for torrents etc... Now I use Wondershare to convert my media from my 1 gig storage to two 4tb hdd. The purpose for Wondershare is to convert any movie/show to the most compatible format which is mp4,h264, and acc audio. And locally I can direct play all movies to my tablets,phones and smart tvs. And remotely direct play/ mildly transcode to my friends and family. I been able to stream up 9 devices at a time with zero issues on my system. Cpu has hit as high as 40% usage. Hope this setup helps.

 

[STL_xZEROx]

Hello STL_xZEROx, I noticed your post.
I too have Plex with over 600+ blu ray movies on it. My system is i7 4930k,16gigs,gtx 980. Now here is how my system is a server/gaming system.My primary storage is a evo 850 500 gig for games,Plex and Wondershare. Second storage is a 1 gig for torrents etc... Now I use Wondershare to convert my media from my 1 gig storage to two 4tb hdd. The purpose for Wondershare is to convert any movie/show to the most compatible format which is mp4,h264, and acc audio. And locally I can direct play all movies to my tablets,phones and smart tvs. And remotely direct play/ mildly transcode to my friends and family. I been able to stream up 9 devices at a time with zero issues on my system. Cpu has hit as high as 40% usage. Hope this setup helps.

Thanks for the reply! I will look into Wondershare. Currently a lot of my files are in .mkv format. I will keep this in mind when moving my Plex Server to the new hardware

 

[steelraptor1]

Glad to help, mkv and mp4 are just containers won't matter to to many devices. The great thing about Wondershare vs other popular free tools is that it uses your gpu to convert your files a whole lot faster. Good luck.

 

[Rhinofart]

It's my main gaming computer. I use my 17" MBP for most of my other stuff.

So, last thing or two here: What storage pooling system does it use? And are you able to upgrade drives to a larger capacity at any time? Hot swapping?

I'm not sure what the storage pooling system is, but yes, you can add new drives, upgrade to larger. I'm not sure about the hotswapping. I'll give hotswapping a try when I'm at work tomorrow.

 

[STL_xZEROx]

It's my main gaming computer. I use my 17" MBP for most of my other stuff.

So, last thing or two here: What storage pooling system does it use? And are you able to upgrade drives to a larger capacity at any time? Hot swapping?

I'm not sure what the storage pooling system is, but yes, you can add new drives, upgrade to larger. I'm not sure about the hotswapping. I'll give hotswapping a try when I'm at work tomorrow.

Thanks!! You have been very helpful! I look forward to finding out