[coupas]

Hello everyone,

I have been reading and reading until my eyes are bleeding. This forum, the avs forum and other forums as well. But I can't seem to find a good guide/suggestions that seem to fit my criteria..

I need the server to do the following:

• File Server
  
• Stream HD to HTPC
  
• Run .torrents 24/7
  
• Rip/encode/shrink optical media to .iso/.mkv etc when needed (I have a laptop that don't have an optical drive. Nor does my HTPC (I might add optical to HTPC if this is a dealbreak for the server))
  
• 10+ Drives
  

What I need is both Hardware and Software recomendations:

Budget is around 1000$ (HDD's excluded)
I would like unRaid if it is possible as I hear good things about this, but unsure it can run torrents?

Can all cases be equipped with drive cages?

Thanks in advance good people of XBMC.

/Rickard

[Geeba]

To run all those sort of applications I'd go for a Windows Server, WHS v1 maybe v2, or 2008. Not sure if unRaid can rip and encode video.

My WHS server does exactly what your asking... now. and I can access it here sat at my desk in work.

Hardware for that I would take a look at the WHS forums...

I have a CD/DVD and Blu-Ray drives installed in the server and rip straight to it....

People will tend to recommend what they like really... if you've read alot thats really good.... I did try FreeNAS and Linux but I'm more of a windows user and I dont really have alot of free time anymore to learn new stuff Setting up a WHS is as easy as installing XP.... and you can add to it easily.

[gobba]

I would go for Linux (ubuntu) and use LVM for the filesystem. That should give you the same functions as unRaid but free. =)

For hardware i would look for a motherboard with as many sata ports as possible, any decent new prop would work. And buy extra sata expansion cards. You should have gb network at home for the streaming, i guess you can 100mbit switch but not sure it would handle streaming 1080p.

I would go amd (am3 socket) as amd tends to be abit cheaper. But the important thing is the motherboard. Number of sata-ports and sata3. Preferably with integrated nvidia GFX. (had best experience running x-server with nvidia on ubuntu). Integrated network which most motherboards have, gigabit ofc.

I would run it without x-server (the gui) and manage it through ssh. Thou if you are new to linux you can go with the normal ubuntu installation to get the gui. And use VNC to access it remotely.

For torrents i would install Torrentflux (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/TorrentFlux). Then you just browse to the server and manager your torrents through the webinterface.

if you want to rip blueray movies then get any blueray-player. Dont know what software to use as i dont use blueray but an googling of "rip blueray movies ubuntu" should get you going.

[splnuts]

I have been using unraid for a couple months and love it.

Protoype builds for the size of server you are looking for (you would want a bigger processor for what you would be using it for though):
http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.p...#msg113243

How to install Couchpotato, Sickbeard and Sabnzbd:
http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.p...ic=11307.0

How to install Transmission (torrents):
http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=8736.0

Transcoding:
http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=3714.0

[Geeba]

100Mb Switch will easily do 1080p but Gig Switches aren't alot more these days....

[PatrickVogeli]

With unraid you won't be able to rip, enconde and/or shrink.

I'd put ubuntu or windows and install flex raid on top of it. That's what I'm planning to do when I get myself a server.

[darkscout]

Ubuntu. My headless server is Ubuntu. Anytime I need to use a "GUI" to do something I either X11 forward it or run vncserver. It's running Windows 7, Ubuntu 32bit (for distcc) and a few other OSs under VirtualBox.

[eskro]

i think its got alot to do with how much time your willing to put on this
like Geeba said, setting up a WHS is just as easy as installing Windows in general...
Depends on how much techie you are and your willingness to learn...

Many of use a seperate computer running unRAID as our media server
to feed HTPC's around the house...
i personally think its the best in my opinion
then to rip blurays you'd have to use one of your current PC
and buy an optical drive for it.... no biggie,,,
unRAID is free up to 3HDD,
but will eventually cost money if you wanna add more HDD...
Here are the prices...

unRAID BASIC: Maximum 3 HDDs/ Free
unRAID PLUS: Maximum 6 HDDs/ $69 for 1 Key / $99 for 2 Keys
unRAID PRO: Maximum 21 HDDs/ $119 for 1 Key/ $149 for 2 Keys

Linux (ubuntu) and LVM is another option but again,
if your not to comfortable with linux, you might get head aches in the long run...
and ripping blurays on Linux is achievable but of course harder then on Windows...
Windows is so widely use to rip blurays
and removing copie protections off of bluray discs...

now about FlexRaid,
the cool thing about FlexRaid if i recall good is that,
you can install it on-top of Windows!
its kinda like installing an application on windows, you install FlexRaid
So no real need for a seperate PC that acts only as a media server
to feed other PC's around your house...
with FlexRaid, you can build an all in one HTPC....
so of course you'll be able to rip blurays like on any windows system,
and you'll be able to feed other PC's around your house too!
But i recall reading on FlexRaid at the beginning and while it was promising,
back then, it was too immature of a software... many had issues here and there and..
i got discouraged... i knew unRAID was stable as many were using it!
another problem you might encounter too with FlexRaid is the noise...
imaging having a HTPC running windows + FlexRaid on top of it + 10 HHDs??
man, this would be noisy for sure!
thats why many of us prefer to have a PC that stricly acts as media server/feeder
and that would preferably be 'not' close to the TV..
preferably in another room

-hope this helps-

[Valdysses]

I realize that this kind of thread generally nets responses based on what someone already owns or is planning to buy, but I think that's useful.

I run a WHS (Windows Home Server) system, which does exactly what you're looking for very well. I'm sure there are numerous Linux systems that also do it very well, but I don't have experience with them.

WHS can be installed on your own hardware (not just prebuilt), so 10+ drives shouldn't be an issue. Drive Extender (built into WHS) is a kind of selective software RAID that will allow all those drives to be seen as one large volume, with duplication of any or all files across discs.

Torrents 24/7 is not an issue, but frankly I think most here would agree that getting a good usenet account and running SABnzbd+, SickBeard and CouchPotato is preferable to torrents for most purposes.

All that being said, splnuts linked to some great resources above, and if you're sold on unraid that'd be a great way to go.