[USCMitch]

So a move overseas has left me plenty of time to plan an upgrade of my media server when I finally get my household goods back (after 3 long months).

Current server configuration is:

CPU: Intel i5-3570k (Acknowledge that this is overkill, but it was re-purposed from another project with the thinking it would be ample if I ever went to a configuration that required transcoding on the server.)
MoBo: ASUS P8H77-I (2xSATAIII and 4xSATAII)
RAM: 8gb DDR3
- 500GB OS Disk
- 4x2TB WD Red storage drives (Storage pooled utilizing Stablebit Drivepool)
OS: Windows Home Server 2011

Planned upgrades:

- With WHS2011 reaching end of support early next year, I was researching alternatives.I eliminated Windows Server 2012 due to price and it really being overkill. I really wanted a good Linux alternative but couldn't commit as I would lose support for some key applications (iHome Server and Playon Server). That really only left Windows 8.1. Not my preferred solution but one I can live with unless I get some better advice.Thoughts?

- I was also going to take the opportunity to upgrade storage to 4x4TB WD Red drives. This will quickly become necessary as an expanding collection of uncompressed Bluray rips is eating at the current storage pool. I would also upgrade the OS disk to a 128GB SSD.

- With the increased capacity, I was also going to implement a RAID 10 configuration. This is up in the air. I'm very much a newb with RAID, but my initial reading indicates that this might be a positive change. I would still have the duplication provided currently by Drivepool, but also receive a performance increase from data striping. Thoughts?

- Finally, the current motherboard has support 6 disks. However, they are 4xSATAII and 2xSATAIII. I'd like to upgrade the mobo to an all SATAIII configuration to increase throughput off the server. This would require upgrading the motherboard and consequently the CPU as no LGA1155 motherboards that I've seen provide 6xSATAIII. Would the performance gains justify the $300 outlay for a new CPU/MoBo combination? A possible middle road would involve me essentially switching the CPUs of my server and HTPC. The HTPC has an i5-4440S. Under this scenario I would only have to purchase a new motherboard for the server to receive the i5-4440S. The i5-3570K would still way more than enough horsepower for an HTPC especially since my HTPC has a discrete GPU.

Thoughts and suggestions?

Apologies for the long wordiness, but this issue has gone around in my head for some time and I'd really like to hear some outside opinions.

Thanks in advance.

[noggin]

I wonder if there is scope for running Linux as your base system, with a virtual windows install for the PlayOn etc. stuff?

[aaronb]

Windows 8.1 is totally fine for a media server. I'd go with Pro so you have remote desktop to run it headless. If you keep it clean it will be perfectly stable. I run Win 7 Pro on my media server, with some of my server functions (Plex, SAB, CP, etc) running in an Ubuntu Server VM. This gives me shell access, and some "portability" without having to redo everything if my server dies or I want to build a new one, and also keeps Windows cleaner. Have to reboot maybe once a month for Windows updates, but otherwise rock solid. Windows is perfectly stable if you don't muck it up too much. Linux with Windows in a VM is also an option, if you're comfortable using Linux as the main OS.

Rather than upgrading CPU/MB, just get an expansion card or two for more drives. It can be as simple as a $20 4 port PCI Express card, or one of the IBM M1015s if you want the option for even more storage, though those a lot more pricey.

I would not go with RAID 10. Your disks are fast enough to feed a few clients at once, I don't see a need to add another layer of complexity and another thing to break.

Definitely upgrade the OS disk to an SSD. That will be the best thing you can do for the server

[USCMitch]

Windows 8.1 is totally fine for a media server. I'd go with Pro so you have remote desktop to run it headless. If you keep it clean it will be perfectly stable. I run Win 7 Pro on my media server, with some of my server functions (Plex, SAB, CP, etc) running in an Ubuntu Server VM. This gives me shell access, and some "portability" without having to redo everything if my server dies or I want to build a new one, and also keeps Windows cleaner. Have to reboot maybe once a month for Windows updates, but otherwise rock solid. Windows is perfectly stable if you don't muck it up too much. Linux with Windows in a VM is also an option, if you're comfortable using Linux as the main OS.

Rather than upgrading CPU/MB, just get an expansion card or two for more drives. It can be as simple as a $20 4 port PCI Express card, or one of the IBM M1015s if you want the option for even more storage, though those a lot more pricey.

I would not go with RAID 10. Your disks are fast enough to feed a few clients at once, I don't see a need to add another layer of complexity and another thing to break.

Definitely upgrade the OS disk to an SSD. That will be the best thing you can do for the server

I definitely plan to keep the install as clean as possible. It will probably only be Windows 8.1 Pro, Playon Server, and NextPVR.

An expansion card isn't really feasible. The ITX mobo only has the one PCI slot and that will be occupied by the tuner card. That is an issue I will have to deal with eventually though. The 4x4TB configuration will "only" give me 8TB of usable space, which doubles my current capacity which isn't quite full yet. So I should be good for a while but will definitely eventually need more disk.

Is the risk of breakage with RAID significant? I ask strictly out of ignorance. Would you recommend maintaining the simple mirroring for redundancy?

[aaronb]

I wouldn't say it's significant, but just adds more complexity to your setup for little or no gain. The disks are fast enough that striping doesn't really benefit you much for a media server

[USCMitch]

Quick follow-up question to this thread.

I have almost all of my upgraded hardware purchased except for upgrading the CPU. The i5-3570K (TDP 77W) is overkill and not really energy efficient enough for a 24/7 server. I'd like to replace it with something cooler and greener. I've come down to two CPUs:

i3-4370 @ 3.8GHz TDP: 54W
Passmark:5566

i5-4590T @ 2.0GHz TDP: 35W
Passmark: 5484

Price is approximately $60, with the i5 being the more expensive.

All that being said, which is the better home media server CPU? Again, the primary use will be for a home media server streaming media to 1-2 Kodi setups. Would like the ability to transcode if I need it in the future. Server will also backup local clients.

I'm leaning to the i5-4590T for the following reasons:
- Much lower TDP
- Higher multithread performance

However the i3-4370 has a better single-thread performance and a slightly better Passmark.

Any help would be appreciated (even if it's for a CPU I'm not currently considering).

[smitopher]

You would be spending money on electricity 24/7 to run the server, generating additional heat inside your server that needs to be moved out of your server to maintain a comfy place for the components so they don't fail prematurely, and spending money on electricity to move all that heat out of your house...

to satisfy a requirement, transcoding, that you do not have now and do not know if or when you may have that requirement.

If it were me, i'd run a nice lean and FREE OS on just enough hardware that would satisfy your requirements for RIGHT NOW and and KNOWN future requirements.

My server would be quieter and more reliable.
My electric bill would be lower.

Transcoding is neat IF YOU NEED IT. Kodi does not need it.

Additional Server Workloads I would consider before transcoding.
Running a PVR backend
Running a downloader
Running a index searcher for your downloader

All of which are not CPU intensive.

[Deucehearts]

Windows 8.1 Pro has a great feature called storage spaces that I use with Server Essentials (Recently upgraded my HP ex490 from WHSv1). I feel its a nice way to replicate data across multiple drives. It allows you to create virtual drives that you can then assign to replicate across multiple drives or not. It is very similar to drive extender from WHSv1, except you have more control.