2015-06-03, 21:07
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.
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.