[Lakz]

Hi,

I few month ago I had the "genius" idea of combining an HTPC and a media/web server in one same box. Now I am sick of having to take down the whole server whenever I want to reinstall the OS. I think it is time to have a dedicated server machine that does one job and does it well.

I have not yet decided whether I’ll use Ubuntu, Fedora or RedHat but it shouldn’t be an important factor for now.
I have never built anything of that sort and I must admit that I’m clueless when it comes down to hardware selection. I don’t know what kind of CPU and PSU are needed need to achieve these tasks :

- Stream medias including Blu-Ray and HD content over the network to simultaneous clients (let’s say 3 or 4 at peek hours)
- Run a torrent client, FlexRAID, SAMBA, Apache, MySQL, ownCloud, etc
- Eventually handle a TV tuner to record or stream live TV across the network

I might initially use a GUI, but I’d uninstall it to remotely control the server via webmin. So any integrated GPU will do. I own 3 x 3Tb WD Caviar Green, but the array might expand as I tend to accumulate quite a lot of data. Since it’ll be working 24/7, I do not want to go ahead and build an electricity hog. On the other end, I do not want the power (i.e calculating speed) to be a bottle neck.

What kind of requirements am I looking at?

[kortina]

Build yourself a server, and run VMware on it.

Server Specs:
CPU - xeon 1230 (nice balance between power, performance and cost)
8-16Gb of ram

Run a virtualised UNRaid server, to take care of your bulk storage needs, and expansion (dedicate and pass-thru several disks)
Run a virtualised Linux server (fedora/ubuntu/redhat whatever) and run MySQL/Apache etc on it. (dedicate and pass through a disk)

Then you can do your dev work on your Linux box, and have bulletproof always up storage.

[kortina]

Checkout this thread on the unraid forum, it is a great example:
http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.p...ic=14695.0


•Case:
Norco RPC-4224 (V3) $339.98
•CPU:
Intel Xeon E3-1240 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 80W Quad-Core Server Processor $238.99 Newegg sale
•Motherboard:
SUPERMICRO MBD-X9SCM-F-O LGA 1155 Intel C204 Micro ATX Intel Xeon E3 Server Motherboard $133.99 open box from Newegg.
•RAM:
Kingston 16GB 2x (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Unbuffered DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Server Memory Model KVR1333D3E9SK2/8G
$169.98 ($84.99 ea) Newegg.
•Power Supply:
SeaSonic X750 Gold 750W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply Sale: $119.99 W/ Free shipping.
•SATA Expansion Card(s):
2 X SUPERMICRO AOC-SASLP-MV8 $109.99 each
[This will only get you 16 drives in unRAID. you will need 3 for up to 24. Se recomended hardware below.]
•Cables:
4 x NORCO C-SFF8087-D SFF-8087 to SFF-8087 Internal Multilane SAS Cable $19.99 Each Newegg
2 x NORCO C-SFF8087-4S Discrete to SFF-8087 (Reverse breakout) Cable $14.99 Each Newegg
1 x NORCO C-P1T7 4Pin Molex 1 Male to 7 Female Power Extension Splitter $7.99 Newegg


obviously you can build much smaller, if you dont need MASSIVE storage you can get a much cheaper case and skip the SAS cards too.

The CPU/RAM/Motherboard is a great combo, I have them and also have a cheap case that will hold 10 drives, and 1x SAS card.

[Lakz]

Thanks for the response.

Build yourself a server, and run VMware on it.

Run a virtualised UNRaid server, to take care of your bulk storage needs, and expansion (dedicate and pass-thru several disks)
Run a virtualised Linux server (fedora/ubuntu/redhat whatever) and run MySQL/Apache etc on it. (dedicate and pass through a disk)

While I understand the concept of virtualization, I'm very unfamiliar with it. What would be the benefit of running unRaid/FlexRaid and the rest of the server on two distinct virtual machines? To be honest I don't even understand what you mean by "dedicate and pass through" one or several disks. I will look for information and read on. I'd appreciate if you could rapidly explain to me what's this all about, or where to look

Server Specs:
CPU - xeon 1230 (nice balance between power, performance and cost)
8-16Gb of ram

Wouldn't that be an overkill to stream blurays and host a few things? I was thinking of a much simpler dual core Celeron g530.

Interesting build though, I like the motherboard though. And yeah I'll stick with SATA

[Kirky99]

I'm doing exactly what you are thinking of doing on an Athlon II X4 Phenom 925 processor. 8G memory, on an M4A88T motherboard. No issues, although I can't get you energy consumption right now. I'm running Windows on it, not Linux, although for a while I was running Ubuntu Server. That CPU has more than enough power for my needs.

FlexRAID is nice for expansion, I'm really liking how it's been working.

My OS is on an SSD along with the MySQL install (speedy DB calls) as well as my XBMC thumbnails.

[Lakz]

I'm doing exactly what you are thinking of doing on an Athlon II X4 Phenom 925 processor. 8G memory, on an M4A88T motherboard. No issues, although I can't get you energy consumption right now. I'm running Windows on it, not Linux, although for a while I was running Ubuntu Server. That CPU has more than enough power for my needs.

FlexRAID is nice for expansion, I'm really liking how it's been working.

My OS is on an SSD along with the MySQL install (speedy DB calls) as well as my XBMC thumbnails.

Do you run XBMC on this machine?

Yeah, FlexRAID is a good snapshot solution. I have been considering unRaid but I figured that its dedicated OS would limit flexibility. That was without taking virtualization into consideration...

[Kirky99]

No, it's a server... It runs, MySQL, MediaPortal TV Server, Mumble/Murmur, SABnzbd+, Sickbeard, Couchpotato, FlexRAID (storage pool, and Snapshot RAID), and I also run a few library management tools, and the occasional DVD ripper. I'm thinking of putting it in a MAME cabinet, but I'm worried that might put it over the edge.

I've got VirtualBox on there for some testing, but nothing production.

[kortina]

Hi,

I few month ago I had the "genius" idea of combining an HTPC and a media/web server in one same box. Now I am sick of having to take down the whole server whenever I want to reinstall the OS. I think it is time to have a dedicated server machine that does one job and does it well.

Requirement1: One box

- Stream medias including Blu-Ray and HD content over the network to simultaneous clients (let’s say 3 or 4 at peek hours)
- Run a torrent client, FlexRAID, SAMBA, Apache, MySQL, ownCloud, etc
- Eventually handle a TV tuner to record or stream live TV across the network

I might initially use a GUI, but I’d uninstall it to remotely control the server via webmin. So any integrated GPU will do. I own 3 x 3Tb WD Caviar Green, but the array might expand as I tend to accumulate quite a lot of data. Since it’ll be working 24/7, I do not want to go ahead and build an electricity hog. On the other end, I do not want the power (i.e calculating speed) to be a bottle neck.

Requirement2: File server for content (Movies and TV), 3x3Tb drives with room to grow
Requirement3: Utility server for SQL/TV/Web
Requirement4: Low power

In my experience the best way to bulk store content is unraid. It is expandable, fault tolerant and power friendly. There are *heaps* of alternatives, but there are many unraid users here, and most stick with it.

Now you have a tricky situation, you want super flexibility with SQL, Apache, ownCloud etc, which makes unraid a bit less suitable. Easy fix would just be to have TWO servers, 1 for storage, and 1 for utilities.

But you have a requirement for ONE server, and this is where Virtualization (VMWare) comes in.

Basically you can run VMWare (ESXi) on your computer, then run MULTIPLE computers within that. If you have ever used VirtalBox, VirtualPC etc it is very similar.

You can boot ESXi from a USB drive, then run TWO computers within it. (one unraid, one utility)

This is very common, and the thread I posted is about a guy who has done exactly that.

---

While I understand the concept of virtualization, I'm very unfamiliar with it. What would be the benefit of running unRaid/FlexRaid and the rest of the server on two distinct virtual machines? To be honest I don't even understand what you mean by "dedicate and pass through" one or several disks. I will look for information and read on. I'd appreciate if you could rapidly explain to me what's this all about, or where to look

Unraid is a very good file server for home media, it is not a great web server, it is not the best at hosting mySQL, it is not as flexible as other Linux distro's because it is specifically designed to be a good home media file server. Run it, leave it alone and you will be happy when you realise that just runs and you NEVER touch it expect when for the 5 min when you add another drive.

Wouldn't that be an overkill to stream blurays and host a few things? I was thinking of a much simpler dual core Celeron g530.

Interesting build though, I like the motherboard though. And yeah I'll stick with SATA

The Xeon is probably a bit overkill, but it looks to me like you enjoy experimenting, so having some spare cpu and ram is very useful when running esxi, you can run another 3-4 or 5 machines without having any problems. This is important when you have a wife. When you setup XBMC to use unraid for storage and a shared SQL backend, you NEVER want it offline. So run TWO virtual servers, that you NEVER touch. and then run another two to play with. It will all fit on the ONE physical server in the corner, and you will benefit from an always working media centre and a very flexible play pen.

A XEON is much cheaper (and power efficient) than a single server for unraid, single server for utilities and a single server for playing with.

[saitoh183]

My server specs are in my signature. I use my server to store everything, not just videos. It can easily support my wife and me watching different shows at the same time on 2 different XBMCs all while running HDD scans on drives not being used to stream. While Flexraid is doing its Validate process, so shows will buffer alot during play back but i just pause flex till im done.

[Lakz]

Kotrina, I realize that I never thanked you for all your tips.

I went with what you recommended and I'm absolutely blown away. ESXI 5 is amazing.

Motherboard : Tyan S5512GM4NR
CPU : XEON E3 1230V2
RAM : Kingston KVR16E11/8
CHASSIS : RSV-L4000
PSU : Rosewill FORTRESS 550W 80 PLUS Platinum

ESXI is intalled on a USB dongle, the Datastore is on a SSD and all the data is passed-thru to the dedicated Raid virtual server.

I got a cheap, flexible, expandable, reliable and very cool server

[PatrickVogeli]

Nevermind!