Kodi Community Forum

First off my applogies i attempted to post in the "Off Topic" section however I was not allowed.

I just recently picked up an HP ProLiant N40L Microserver in replacement of my failing Synology DS210j and im currently looking for some advice.
When my DS210J was running perfectly it was running Sabnzbd and Sickbeard on it as well as serving up content tp my XBMC and OpenELEC machines. However over time i started getting SMART errors and has declined in performance so greatly i have been unable to really do anything other then just be plain NAS. Anyway the declining state of the NAS, prompted me to pick up the HP.
My OpenELEC machine now does the downloading and whatnot however im looking to setup the HP to replace the NAS in its function as a NAS but also to run SAB, SIckbeard and CouchPotato.
Im currently between FreeNAS, unRAID, WHS or FreeBSD
My current understanding is FreeNAS is a great NAS OS however the installation of additional software like SAB or SB are very difficult. unRAID seems somewhat complex, however it does have some working SAB and SB installer and it appears to be maintained and updated. WHS seems to be very simple and i have been told that you can easily install software on. However Im a little reluctant use Windows as i have been primarily Mac and Linux for the last several years using mostly NFS shares and im not sure i wanna revert back to samba, although im not sure why that sounds bad to me, but it does for some reason. Another idea is to just install Ubuntu or FreeBSD. I am familiar with Ubuntu i could install mdadm and webmin (both apps im unfamiliar with) The issue there would be the lack of ZFS support and the HP only supports raid 0 and 1 and i was hoping do do something like raid 5, while ZFS seemed like a good option and would not require buying a raid raid card but rather just more ram. The other full OS option would be FreeBSD, it supports ZFS and has packages for all the applications i want to run, however i have never used the OS at all.
Anyway any help or recommendations would be super helpful! thanks for reading my long post and ramblings

Drew

If you understand the pros and cons of zfs (with the cons probably not being so much of an issue if you have a fully populated N40L) you could also consider zfsguru or nexentastor - I haven't actually used either, my freenas box has been running beautifully for as long as I can remember, but if I was rebuilding I'd be using (or at least testing) zfsguru.
OpenMediaVault is another option if you're not intent on using zfs and want to use a linux based os.

I recommend too ZFSguru. It's a Full FreeBSD so it's easy to install apps. ( also LaSi is available for ZFSguru )
I'll do a tutorial of I have time

I just got a N40L actually, I am running xubuntu on it. In the process of setting up an FTP server for xbmc devices around my house.

+1 for FreeBSD 9 and ZFS.

hazeh Wrote:If you understand the pros and cons of zfs (with the cons probably not being so much of an issue if you have a fully populated N40L) you could also consider zfsguru or nexentastor - I haven't actually used either, my freenas box has been running beautifully for as long as I can remember, but if I was rebuilding I'd be using (or at least testing) zfsguru.
OpenMediaVault is another option if you're not intent on using zfs and want to use a linux based os.

From what im gathering here ZFSGuru is something you install on the top of freeBSD?

ALso my only consurn currently is my Microserver will not be fully populated as 2 tb drives are too expensive imo. My idea is to use a spare 2tb i have now and expand at a later time as the drive fills and when drive prices reduce. However from what i gather with ZFS this could be a problem

Drew

hazeh Wrote:If you understand the pros and cons of zfs (with the cons probably not being so much of an issue if you have a fully populated N40L) you could also consider zfsguru or nexentastor - I haven't actually used either, my freenas box has been running beautifully for as long as I can remember, but if I was rebuilding I'd be using (or at least testing) zfsguru.
OpenMediaVault is another option if you're not intent on using zfs and want to use a linux based os.

After some further zfsGuru looks like a great option as it has a nice Webgui, has zfs and LaSi looks simple enough to setup and configure all the goodies that im looking for.
I must say i like the interface of Nexentastor, the interface looks far more clean and finished

The Cons seem confusing in some regards. I do understand that i need a gig of ram per 1 TB
Although for adding drives after the first pool is created seems to be impossible, id have to make another pool with the new hardware i add.
The idea was to have 3 to 4 2TB drives max and 2 to 3 drives for storage and 1 for parity, from what i gather this is possible for ZFS, however id want to have the 3 to 4 drives right off the bat, but drives are super expensive right now. so im attempting to hold off

Any advice would be helpful! the recent posts have been wonderful

Drew

The zpool is made of one or more vdev's - that being a simple collection of JBOD drives, a raidz1, raidz2, etc.

You can't expand a vdev but you can add more vdev's - raidz arrays - to an existing zpool.

Therefore, if you setup a zpool with a single raidz1 of 4 drives you can add another raidz1 or even a raidz2 to the existing zpool sometime down the road to expand the capacity. Make sense?

See page 77 in here: http://hub.opensolaris.org/bin/download/...sadmin.pdf

Use Ubuntu with software raid (mdadm). Loads of software and guides available + software raid is independent of motherboard raid (fakeraid) so it doesn't matter ifraid5 is supported by your motherboard chipset as it is supported by mdadm.

teeedubb Wrote:Use Ubuntu with software raid (mdadm). Loads of software and guides available + software raid is independent of motherboard raid (fakeraid) so it doesn't matter ifraid5 is supported by your motherboard chipset as it is supported by mdadm.

Is there a striped down version of ubuntu that might better serve in this function of really only being a NAS and sab/sb/cp machine?

Drew

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Instal.../MinimalCD

Its a minimal version of Ubuntu that once installed boots to a command prompt, leaving you to install what you want.

EDIT: Another thing, SMART errors are usually an indication that the HDD is about to fail...

Drewdatrip Wrote:Is there a striped down version of ubuntu that might better serve in this function of really only being a NAS and sab/sb/cp machine?

Drew

ubuntu server, ubuntu minimal, xubuntu (xfce)

errornumber419 Wrote:ubuntu server, ubuntu minimal, xubuntu (xfce)

I have been looking for some type webgui / interface as I feel like i might miss the blunt simplicity of my Synology
In the process of looking I ran into Zentyal which seems to be a Ubuntu server that has a nice web GUI. It does seem like overkill as there are many features I would not be used however the interface, Ubuntu base, fake raid, LaSi (Sab sb cp easy install) seem like a real viable solution.
If anyone has some experience or advice that would be rad. All the help thus far has been great

Drew

Drewdatrip Wrote:Is there a striped down version of ubuntu that might better serve in this function of really only being a NAS and sab/sb/cp machine?
Drew

Did you look at openmediavault? I suggested it in my first post.

hazeh Wrote:Did you look at openmediavault? I suggested it in my first post.

I somehow skipped over OpenMediaVault, after looking it over, it looks like it could be the one for me. It appears that it has simple and easy access to NFS share setup, hardware usage history Software raid via build in mdadm a nice WebGUI and while an official Sab plugin has not been made there appears to be a decent user made http://sourceforge.net/apps/phpbb/openme...?f=5&t=183
And due to the fact that its base is Debian you can "apt-get" all the requirements for additional software

Thanks a bunch!!

Drew