File server build

[nfinity]

I was looking for advice for both hardware and OS. Not looking to build some powerful raid system but want more options available to me than a nas.

I currently have around 500GBs of movies, music, pictures, games and programs. The server would be mainly used to stream movies and music but there will be times when I'll want to pull large and or many files from or too it. I hope to build a system which can saturate an entire 1 Gig LAN (theoretical 128mbps I believe). I have a WD red 3TB drive which should be able to push those speeds when working with larger file sizes. Plan to use a 1TB laptop hard to back up the main 3TB drive. Have no need to run RAID for the data drives. Those are the only 2 data drives i plan on having. Thinking I could have a script or the os backup the 3TB drive to the 1TB for redundancy.

Power efficiency is important to me as well. I hope to use a picoPSU. Thinking a Celeron 1037u or J800/j1900 would be ok? Power efficient yet enough performance to maximize a gigabyte network? Any other recommendations on hardware are welcome.

Next I'm contemplating the OS. I'm a windows user for my other machines and I would have to be able to see and maneuver through directories on the server from those windows machines. So thinking I'll have to stink with NFS…. My knowledge is weak here. Assuming I could still go with a freeNAS or NAS4free? Any other recommended os's for my situation and plan? I have only other OS I have worked with in the past is Linux(Ubuntu) other than apple. I don't have much experience here on a good file server OS. Think Windows Home server would be too much or more than I need for such a low powered system as my plans advise…

Any advice on a recommend cpu and os would be greatly appreciated. Again I wish to saturate my gigabyte networking without using a power hungry server. Hope to build a system idling at 10-15 watts max if I'm lucky. Thanks ahead for your input!

 

[HDWhirlwind]

I was looking for advice for both hardware and OS. Not looking to build some powerful raid system but want more options available to me than a nas.

I currently have around 500GBs of movies, music, pictures, games and programs. The server would be mainly used to stream movies and music but there will be times when I'll want to pull large and or many files from or too it. I hope to build a system which can saturate an entire 1 Gig LAN (theoretical 128mbps I believe). I have a WD red 3TB drive which should be able to push those speeds when working with larger file sizes. Plan to use a 1TB laptop hard to back up the main 3TB drive. Have no need to run RAID for the data drives. Those are the only 2 data drives i plan on having. Thinking I could have a script or the os backup the 3TB drive to the 1TB for redundancy.

Power efficiency is important to me as well. I hope to use a picoPSU. Thinking a Celeron 1037u or J800/j1900 would be ok? Power efficient yet enough performance to maximize a gigabyte network? Any other recommendations on hardware are welcome.

Next I'm contemplating the OS. I'm a windows user for my other machines and I would have to be able to see and maneuver through directories on the server from those windows machines. So thinking I'll have to stink with NFS…. My knowledge is weak here. Assuming I could still go with a freeNAS or NAS4free? Any other recommended os's for my situation and plan? I have only other OS I have worked with in the past is Linux(Ubuntu) other than apple. I don't have much experience here on a good file server OS. Think Windows Home server would be too much or more than I need for such a low powered system as my plans advise…

Any advice on a recommend cpu and os would be greatly appreciated. Again I wish to saturate my gigabyte networking without using a power hungry server. Hope to build a system idling at 10-15 watts max if I'm lucky. Thanks ahead for your input!

Hey dude

Im learning about servers and hoping to build my own custom rack and more for game server hosting and cloud storage etc. I have looked in to OS systems deeply and for instance windows home server is very neat and tidy! You can get 120 free days with windows so you can always test it, if you are new to this like i am i would recommend maybe starting off without making your own build, maybe buy a premade server cloud like the WD EX2, you can look into that!

Im new aswell but ive done my homework your build seems nice but maybe think about adding an optical drive for the system it makes it a whole lot easier with extra USB ports and keep it small baring in mind it me quite big next to your router or youll have wires running haywire

~HDWhirlwind

 

[nfinity]

Hey dude

Im learning about servers and hoping to build my own custom rack and more for game server hosting and cloud storage etc. I have looked in to OS systems deeply and for instance windows home server is very neat and tidy! You can get 120 free days with windows so you can always test it, if you are new to this like i am i would recommend maybe starting off without making your own build, maybe buy a premade server cloud like the WD EX2, you can look into that!

Im new aswell but ive done my homework your build seems nice but maybe think about adding an optical drive for the system it makes it a whole lot easier with extra USB ports and keep it small baring in mind it me quite big next to your router or youll have wires running haywire

~HDWhirlwind

Thanks for the advise! Windows Home server is an option for sure. I have used Windows Home Server 2011 for 30 days trail. Its was cool and looked like it would work. Little bit of a resource hog and may not run well on little hardware like a 1037u cpu but maybe it will work. Think I'll try it out again one of these days before I buy any new hardware

 

[Lexluethar]

I feel a windows server system would be overkill for what you are wanting to do. A simple Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 deployment would work as well as most NAS devices. Western Digital and a few other big names have devices specifically tailored for what you are trying to do and to boot - you don't have to spend hundreds of dollars on Windows licensing.

As for the security and backing up that can all be done from another windows system.

WD My Cloud EX2 Diskless Personal Cloud Storage - NAS (WDBVKW0000NCH-NESN) - Newegg.com
BUFFALO LS220DE LinkStation 220 RAID NAS Personal Cloud Storage and Media Server - Newegg.com

I personally plan to purchase the WD at some point because it does RAID for you, you can hot swap drives and it has a pretty web interface. Buffalo has a few models too - although cheaper i can't speak to the quality (i have a few friends with the WD one and they like it).

 

[iParanormalx]

I feel a windows server system would be overkill for what you are wanting to do. A simple Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 deployment would work as well as most NAS devices. Western Digital and a few other big names have devices specifically tailored for what you are trying to do and to boot - you don't have to spend hundreds of dollars on Windows licensing.

As for the security and backing up that can all be done from another windows system.

WD My Cloud EX2 Diskless Personal Cloud Storage - NAS (WDBVKW0000NCH-NESN) - Newegg.com
BUFFALO LS220DE LinkStation 220 RAID NAS Personal Cloud Storage and Media Server - Newegg.com

I personally plan to purchase the WD at some point because it does RAID for you, you can hot swap drives and it has a pretty web interface. Buffalo has a few models too - although cheaper i can't speak to the quality (i have a few friends with the WD one and they like it).

I agree with this 100% and to add a cherry on-top you can easily configure those devices on a VPN to access your NAS securely over the internet.