[SOLVED] First time home server build

[NWCherokee]

Going to build a simple file server from existing parts and was looking for some advice. Here is the hardware I already have:

Intel DQ77MK motherboard
Intel i7-3770
16 GB G.Skill 1600 DDR3
Intel 256gb 5450s ssd
WD Red Plus 4TB

Looking at mainly creating a headless file server to be used to back-up and transfer files at home. Note, I also have additional external drives and cloud storage for the final back-up process so I don't think I need any type of raid for this server as redundancy is not critical. I may broaden the scope of this to include some multimedia or plex functions down the road, but this will be my first server build and I want to begin learning with the basics.

I have a licensed copy of Windows 10 PRO that I can throw on this system which I believe would allow me to simply set-up file sharing and access the server via remote desktop, but I am also interested what I should look at for accomplishing the same thing with linux.

In addition, the motherboard Q77 chipset has the full Intel vPRO suite of features and the 3770 has intel SIPP, intel vPRO tech, intel VT-d and intel TXT but frankly I have no IT experience and have no idea (yet) what all these enterprise Intel features are for or how they could benefit what I am looking to do. As an alternative I also have an MSI Z270- board andan i7-7700 w/ 16gb DDR4 sitting in a closet I could use instead.

 

[USAFRet]

For a simple file sharing system at home, you don't need anything special.
What you have will work just fine.

Install the OS, set up file sharing, done.

Be careful about your expectations with Plex.
It does NOT work with ISO files of DVDs, or other disk image formats.

Why are ISO, VIDEO_TS, and other Disk Image Formats Not Supported?

Files such as ISO or IMG and folder structures such as VIDEO_TS or BDMV are generally referred to as “disk...

support.plex.tv

I tried it on my QNAP NAS, only to find that restriction.
The majority of my music library is ISO copies of DVD, and thus Plex did not work for me.

 

[kanewolf]

Going to build a simple file server from existing parts and was looking for some advice. Here is the hardware I already have:

Intel DQ77MK motherboard
Intel i7-3770
16 GB G.Skill 1600 DDR3
Intel 256gb 5450s ssd
WD Red Plus 4TB

Looking at mainly creating a headless file server to be used to back-up and transfer files at home. Note, I also have additional external drives and cloud storage for the final back-up process so I don't think I need any type of raid for this server as redundancy is not critical. I may broaden the scope of this to include some multimedia or plex functions down the road, but this will be my first server build and I want to begin learning with the basics.

I have a licensed copy of Windows 10 PRO that I can throw on this system which I believe would allow me to simply set-up file sharing and access the server via remote desktop, but I am also interested what I should look at for accomplishing the same thing with linux.

In addition, the motherboard Q77 chipset has the full Intel vPRO suite of features and the 3770 has intel SIPP, intel vPRO tech, intel VT-d and intel TXT but frankly I have no IT experience and have no idea (yet) what all these enterprise Intel features are for or how they could benefit what I am looking to do. As an alternative I also have an MSI Z270- board andan i7-7700 w/ 16gb DDR4 sitting in a closet I could use instead.

If this is a learning project, use Linux.

 

[Cj-tech]

Going to build a simple file server from existing parts and was looking for some advice. Here is the hardware I already have:

Intel DQ77MK motherboard
Intel i7-3770
16 GB G.Skill 1600 DDR3
Intel 256gb 5450s ssd
WD Red Plus 4TB

Looking at mainly creating a headless file server to be used to back-up and transfer files at home. Note, I also have additional external drives and cloud storage for the final back-up process so I don't think I need any type of raid for this server as redundancy is not critical. I may broaden the scope of this to include some multimedia or plex functions down the road, but this will be my first server build and I want to begin learning with the basics.

I have a licensed copy of Windows 10 PRO that I can throw on this system which I believe would allow me to simply set-up file sharing and access the server via remote desktop, but I am also interested what I should look at for accomplishing the same thing with linux.

In addition, the motherboard Q77 chipset has the full Intel vPRO suite of features and the 3770 has intel SIPP, intel vPRO tech, intel VT-d and intel TXT but frankly I have no IT experience and have no idea (yet) what all these enterprise Intel features are for or how they could benefit what I am looking to do. As an alternative I also have an MSI Z270- board andan i7-7700 w/ 16gb DDR4 sitting in a closet I could use instead.

I recommend using a Linux distribution such as Ubuntu. It involves more command line knowledge but is much more customizable. You can also setup SSH or VNC server for remote control of the device. I know you are using the components you already have, but something like a Raspberry Pi or other SBCs would use less electricity.

Personally, I have a Raspberry Pi 4 running the Raspbian operating system. It's setup to run a Samba file server and a Plex Media Server to allow media streaming to my devices (mainly music and some videos). The only problem I've found is I can only use one hard drive at a time. If I add a second HDD, the Pi won't stay on. I'm planning on getting a dual-bay hard drive dock that is externally powered.

 

[Satan-IR]

I too recomment a light flavor of Linux Ubuntu like Mint and a Samba server. You can access/read and depending on how you setup server and permissions or write/edit files through anything that can connect with proper apps.

Many good media players can stream from network, like VLC media player. There are also applications which can stream audio and video even on Android devices like X-plore File Manger here and in later iOS versions you can connect to a Samba server and stream audio/video, all provided the media format doesn't require a codec that the devices lack.

There's only one drawback which is not directly relevant to Samba or linux but inherent to networking side of things. To my somehow limited experience, if the WiFi router/AP is not a gigabit capable one there might be buffering issues when opening/streaming larger media with a high bitrate for example larger than full HD videos.

 

[punkncat]

Something I would mention regarding this on a Windows enviro. There is really no need to "waste" a license to set up a simple file share. None of the functionality within W10 is compromised. A water mark and a desktop picture you can't change and never see unless remoted in.