Lets Build A Plex Server......That Does Offer Stuff As Well

nguyendot

It's going to move the same amount of heat, but it depends on the radiator. Typically a 240mm has significantly more area so yes you could run two fans slower than a single on an air cooled unit. The problem is the pumps do go out on those, it's just a simple impeller. My HTPC is dead silent and it's 100% aircooled. i3/16gb/970gtx/512ssd

EndersShadow

nguyendot wrote: »

It's going to move the same amount of heat, but it depends on the radiator. Typically a 240mm has significantly more area so yes you could run two fans slower than a single on an air cooled unit. The problem is the pumps do go out on those, it's just a simple impeller. My HTPC is dead silent and it's 100% aircooled. i3/16gb/970gtx/512ssd

Yeah, mine isnt bad but you can hear it a bit when you get close but thats probably more to do with the lack of space on either side of it.

Its more because I've always wanted to do it and its not as pricey or as DIY as it used to be to make it work. I am aware of the downsides as you have mentioned...

mrbiron

Well, i just looked up the PassMark score, which is what Plex loosely gauges the # of feeds you can run at one time. I can do 3. I shouldn't need that but its good to have head room.

Delivery confirmation of first package....Shhhhhweet!

All in all, with everything i bought from my list, a scorching deal on a windows 8 license, and i am at ~$404 total. That doesn't include the case which was $200 (8years ago), the 850 Evo i bought on black friday for ~$60. I think i'm doing pretty well.


As for plex, did you guys offer for the "Plex Pass" or just go with the free version?

nguyendot

Yeah my current main server (i5 750/16gb/12TB) was almost entirely free. I got the i5 quad core from a client who decommissioned their phone server. The ram was the only thing that cost money, I upgraded from 4gb to 16 for like $30. All the hard drives (4x 3TB + 10k raptor) came out of old NAS units. No OS as it's FREENAS + PLEX. Total cost $30 plus my time. I didn't bother even upgrading the heatsink since it sits in my data closet. The HTPC sits in an HTPC case that's super old. As the drives age though, I'm getting more scared of a failure. Time to swap out for some of those sweet 8tb units.

EndersShadow

mrbiron wrote: »

Plex, did you guys offer for the "Plex Pass" or just go with the free version?

Right now I'm using the free version... I PLAN on buying the lifetime membership but I didnt want to committ to it fully until after I'd played with it.

Once nice feature of the PAID versions is you can set up diff accounts... so kidos can only see movies with ratings P, PG, etc, or you can specify diff folders they have access too, or at least thats what I think I read...

To save now, go free, then once your sure its working right, go paid....

mrbiron

It's all about the line of work you are in i suppose. For me, i've been given all kinds of material, at the end of jobs, to build a $5k deck for the price of nails. Sheetrocked large portions of my home for the price of screws, sections of leftover sod, etc...

I do have an old (about 10 years) WD 74GB Raptor drive laying around....should i use it

mrbiron

EndersShadow wrote: »

Right now I'm using the free version... I PLAN on buying the lifetime membership but I didnt want to committ to it fully until after I'd played with it.

SOLD! Free it is, for now!

EndersShadow

mrbiron wrote: »

EndersShadow wrote: »

Right now I'm using the free version... I PLAN on buying the lifetime membership but I didnt want to committ to it fully until after I'd played with it.

SOLD! Free it is, for now!

Yup, if a free product sucks, I can be mad and all that but it cost me nothing.... if a PAID program doesnt work right, then I get pissed because I cant use it and it COST ME MONEY... that I'd rather spend on hookers and blow....

mrbiron

EndersShadow wrote: »

that I'd rather spend on hookers and blow....

There's hope for you after all! Let me know the next time your in the Northeast.

mrbiron

I was just running through the junk box of leftover cables, screws, arctic silver, etc... and realized that the board I ordered only has 4 SATA connections. 1 SSD, 1 Bluray Drive, 2 HDDs. MAXED!

I don't need the extra room, RIGHT NOW but as I progress, it would be nice to have more SATA options. How do we feel about the add-on cards or should I return the MB and get one with more connections?

Thoughts?

EndersShadow

I'd try to get one with 6 connections, that seems to be the point where it gets pricey the more you add. Thats one reason I went with the board I did. It had 6 and then if needed I can use PCI-E to SATA cards....

mrbiron

That's the way im leaning although I did get a nice deal on the one I'm getting tomorrow. $85.

I'll keep looking tonight.

mrbiron

New board ordered...

Then I panicked about the number of sata connectors on the PSU. Fortunately, they make molex to sata adapters when the time comes, I can buy one of those for a couple bucks and crisis averted.

Apparently I didn't think this one through as best I could. No worries.

EndersShadow

mrbiron wrote: »

New board ordered...

Then I panicked about the number of sata connectors on the PSU. Fortunately, they make molex to sata adapters when the time comes, I can buy one of those for a couple bucks and crisis averted.

Apparently I didn't think this one through as best I could. No worries.

They also make these: SATA Power Y Splitter Cable. Using these you can keep those pesky molex power cables tucked away....

I've got 2 of these, one for the Blu-ray drive + SSD, another for my HDD's... so I only have 1 SATA cable powering all my stuff in the HTPC hehehe...

mrbiron

Yeah, I was looking at those as well. Just figured I'd have molex connections left over so I'd use those.
The new question is, what do I do with all my old components (cpu, mb, ram, psu, aftermarket cooler)?

EndersShadow

mrbiron wrote: »

Yeah, I was looking at those as well. Just figured I'd have molex connections left over so I'd use those.
The new question is, what do I do with all my old components (cpu, mb, ram, psu, aftermarket cooler)?

Do they all work?

mrbiron

Dunno.
I know the MB has 1 bulged cap that I could see. Like I had said way back at the beginning, if I could find a 939 socket, I would try to reuse what I have. Too late now. I'm committed.

EndersShadow

mrbiron wrote: »

Dunno.
I know the MB has 1 bulged cap that I could see. Like I had said way back at the beginning, if I could find a 939 socket, I would try to reuse what I have. Too late now. I'm committed.

Chuck em lol

mrbiron

Finally, the last of my pieces show up today. (new MB and sata III cables)
A 16GB pen drive is arriving tomorrow so i can load windows 10 onto it for boot. That is, if i can figure out how to get windows 8 -> 10, then load onto a USB stick. My 6-7 year old laptop is on its last leg. Just need to get through this transitional period and will be relegated to music player for the remainder of its life.

I won't be able to put it together until maybe this weekend.

My new dilemma is how well my case fans held up over the past 8 years...I may be adding fans to the next round of items if so needed. By not having a GPU, the heat inside the case should be minimal.

I gutted the case over the weekend and grabbed my trusty ol' air compressor and went to town cleaning every nook and cranny. Boy was she dusty...



With all of this said, my wife still has NO CLUE what i am doing. I make all kinds of noise, random fedex boxes showing up out of the blue, PC parts strewn around my mancave...bless her heart and thank god for my Paypal slush account!

ZLTFUL

You can always add a cheap JBOD or SATA RAID controller card if you have a free PCI-E slot.
It's the only way to get to massive amount of storage even with a server MB.
My backplane and internal card can only handle 8 SAS drives but I added a 4 SAS raid card connected to an external array.
Between the 10 4TB drives connected to this, the 2 4tb drives in my NAS and the handful of 2TB USB drives connected to various routers and the NAS in the house, I will most likely never run out of space.
As it is, I *just* filled up the 16TB worth of space on my HTPC and still have a pair of 1TB WD Greens I am trying to find a home for.

EndersShadow

ZLTFUL wrote: »

As it is, I *just* filled up the 16TB worth of space on my HTPC and still have a pair of 1TB WD Greens I am trying to find a home for.

Whadaya know.. my home is LOOKING for a pair of those

mrbiron

ZLTFUL wrote: »

Between the 10 4TB drives connected to this, the 2 4tb drives in my NAS and the handful of 2TB USB drives connected to various routers and the NAS in the house, I will most likely never run out of space.
As it is, I *just* filled up the 16TB worth of space on my HTPC and still have a pair of 1TB WD Greens I am trying to find a home for.

F***!
Someone is playing with the big boys. What is your total # of movies on this server?
I don't know if i ever see myself having that type of library. Maybe 1/2 as much unless momma gives me carte blanche. (never happen in my lifetime)

40TB! Do you have any redundancy with that setup? Do you store anything on a "cloud"?

nguyendot

I use two servers for redundancy, they just sync each night. One R710 server, one built. I've got a 12 port sata card laying around somewhere...battery backed too

mrbiron

You IT guys crack me up.

ZLTFUL

mrbiron wrote: »

F***!
Someone is playing with the big boys. What is your total # of movies on this server?
I don't know if i ever see myself having that type of library. Maybe 1/2 as much unless momma gives me carte blanche. (never happen in my lifetime)

40TB! Do you have any redundancy with that setup? Do you store anything on a "cloud"?

Actually, total storage is around 68TBs all told. Both the media server and external array are RAID5 for parity. I lose one drive worth of space on each array but I gain redundancy for 1 drive failure. If 2 go down in the same array at the same time, I am screwed but all of the SAS drives in those 2 arrays are all Hitachi enterprise level SAS drives and are considerably more robust than your average consumer drive.

The HTPC and NAS are both RAID0 for performance but the important data is backed up from the HTPC and Media Server to the NAS.

The 16TB on the HTPC contains roughly 530ish Blu Rays stored in MKV format with each one's best soundtrack but all the extra features stripped. I also have another 200ish DVDs and HD home movies in MP4 format.
Then there is roughly 200GB of pictures and just under 2500 albums in lossless formats on there as well.

I have been working on getting the media server into its new home in the HT racks but am still pulling cables for the various functionality throughout the house.

When all is said and done, the HTPC, media server and NAS will all be mounted in the racks along with the HT amps, AVR, Oppo, xBox One, DirecTV Genie, multiple Sonos for various "zones" in the house along with a 3kw UPS and a 1.6kw UPS.

The racks have 2 dedicated 20 amp lines and a 30 amp line along with the networking rack mounted above them.

As for Cloud storage, I have a large percentage of my BDs also in UV format stored on Vudu.

Ultimately, the goal will be to be able to serve up data to all of the devices in the home, 4 audio "zones" inside the house, 2 audio "zones" outside (patio and garage), strong wireless coverage throughout (1 main router and 2 access points spanning the longest axis of the house) along with hard-wired connectivity in every room in the home.

My backup solution is currently in the form of a single 10 bay Powervault with 4 LTO6 drives and 6 LTO5 drives that I pieced together from retired hardware at work.

My plan, once everything is said and done, is to build a matching server and storage array that will reside in a data center nearby (leasing a single rack in a data center is surprisingly cheap if you are providing your own hardware) and after mirroring the storage array and settings, set them up to actively sync all the time.

The cost of the server was really inexpensive in the grand scheme of things (one gen newer than nguyen...R720) and the storage was all obtained either through surplus auctions or lot buys. It won't be hard or expensive to replicate and it should give me a solid 7-10 years of life barring any major multiple failures.

I won't get into the ESXI host that has now caught my attention...especially with the wife wanting to consider security options and IP cameras. LOL.

EndersShadow

^Lets just say, Ryans is bigger than mine......

And I'm jealous lol....

nguyendot

Yeah I had several units come in that I wanted to use as ESXi hosts. If one of my clients upgrades from a VRTX or some sort of blade chassis that's fairly new I'll be in great shape. 4 blades + dual PERC 8 and 25 2.5" SAS bays. 2 ssd per blade for caching and 2TB SAS for 50TB raw. It's expensive, but once they hit the used market they are significantly more affordable. At that time power consumption and heat becomes my #1 consideration.

mrbiron

nguyendot wrote: »

It's expensive, but once they hit the used market they are significantly more affordable.

I think "affordable" is well out of reach for 50TB plus hardware for most.

And to think, all i want to do is start off with a couple 4TB drives, save some movies and photos. Have backup and call it a day.

EndersShadow

mrbiron wrote: »

nguyendot wrote: »

It's expensive, but once they hit the used market they are significantly more affordable.

I think "affordable" is well out of reach for 50TB plus hardware for most.

And to think, all i want to do is start off with a couple 4TB drives, save some movies and photos. Have backup and call it a day.

I'm sure if you called "uncle tony" he might "know" a guy that could help you out with that......

I'm in the same boat... If "needed" I can compress my stuff down a bit to save on storage, but the case can hold 11 HDD's and I plan to try to fill all the slots with em first lol.....

mrbiron

Capeesh!

11!....wow, now i feel even worse. That's a lots of drives eh.

My assumption is by the end of the year, 8TB drives will be as affordable as 4TB drives now. It's all linear. By this time next year, they will already be working on 12-16TB drives meaning, at one time, i won't need more than 3-4 drives in my computer as they double the storage every year. I won't be able to keep up.

That's the hope. We all know it won't happen that way and i'll be crying for "Mo Rum!" shortly.