2013-07-20, 23:16
Hello,
I'm also entertaining the idea of having a server, but I've been on the fence with the decision of building one or buying a Synology. If I built, the specs in this thread seem like they would be perfect since I'm trying to accomplish many of the same goals as the OP.
From all the research I've done, it seems like the primary benefit of the Synology device is the support and ease of use since it arrives ready to go. On the other hand, the custom built server is more powerful and less expensive, but it requires time and effort to get it going.
I'd rather spend less money, but when you calculate time, effort, and reliability and figure that into a fair monetary value, is it really worth it?
Also -
1. Is RAID really worth it?
- If I built a server, I planned on doing RAID, but I also considered excluding RAID from the build and sticking to the backups. RAID or no RAID, I'd still have separate backups and if an entire drive is media, which wouldn't be changing, do I really need RAID? Without RAID, if the drive takes a dump then I can just put in the backup of that particular drive, right? I guess the benefit here would be to not worry about configuring the array, in addition to some of the other issues if/when the array is being rebuilt after a problem.
2. I'm new to servers, so I'm unsure...can I build a server that does everything or most of what a Synology can do? (I know you can build a server and use the Synology OS, but from what I've read, it isn't necessarily reliable.)
3. Server Goals: XBMC streaming to multiple devices, Couchpotato, Sickbeard, Sabnzbd, FTP, Cloud Storage, VMware, Surveillance Station (Blue Iris?), DNS...?...I don't know...what other cool stuff can I do?
Any insight is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
I'm also entertaining the idea of having a server, but I've been on the fence with the decision of building one or buying a Synology. If I built, the specs in this thread seem like they would be perfect since I'm trying to accomplish many of the same goals as the OP.
From all the research I've done, it seems like the primary benefit of the Synology device is the support and ease of use since it arrives ready to go. On the other hand, the custom built server is more powerful and less expensive, but it requires time and effort to get it going.
I'd rather spend less money, but when you calculate time, effort, and reliability and figure that into a fair monetary value, is it really worth it?
Also -
1. Is RAID really worth it?
- If I built a server, I planned on doing RAID, but I also considered excluding RAID from the build and sticking to the backups. RAID or no RAID, I'd still have separate backups and if an entire drive is media, which wouldn't be changing, do I really need RAID? Without RAID, if the drive takes a dump then I can just put in the backup of that particular drive, right? I guess the benefit here would be to not worry about configuring the array, in addition to some of the other issues if/when the array is being rebuilt after a problem.
2. I'm new to servers, so I'm unsure...can I build a server that does everything or most of what a Synology can do? (I know you can build a server and use the Synology OS, but from what I've read, it isn't necessarily reliable.)
3. Server Goals: XBMC streaming to multiple devices, Couchpotato, Sickbeard, Sabnzbd, FTP, Cloud Storage, VMware, Surveillance Station (Blue Iris?), DNS...?...I don't know...what other cool stuff can I do?
Any insight is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
....)