Advice Needed Media Server Build

[kjackson09]

I want to create a central server in the house. The server will need to be in a raid configuration (preferably 1TB x 2) so that 1TB is being backed-up on a regular basis.

This function of this server is to:

1. Store music, video and photos
2. Store various word documents
3. Be accessible on our local network (remote access would be great but not a must have).

At first I liked the idea of buying a NAS such as the D-Link 323 or one of the Synology NAS units, but after some research it seemed that streaming audio/video from these units to things such as a PS3 or Xbox360 was very difficult, so now I am looking into a media server.

I came across the HP Media Server which doesn't look to bad, but was thinking I could probably build something myself.

Basically I am looking for a small form factor case, it should use as little power as possible because it will always be on. And it needs to be able to run at least two drives in a raid configuration for backing up data. It would be great to access the O/S from this unit from another computer if possible seeing as I don't intend to hook a keyboard or mouse up to it, but can if necessary.

Help on where to start (specs) is greatly appreciated. Or links to guides if possible. My budget is around $700 but flexible.

Many thanks.

 

[Deviant Grasshopper]

The HP Media Server has windows home server IIRC. If that's the route you're going to take I'd suggest using a Dell or other name-brand older system and installing home server on it. I've read of plenty of problems with people using budget/built rigs with home server since it uses drivers from server 2003 - so your system would need to be server 2003 compatible which many home built rigs are not.

I have windows home server and IMHO it was a waste of money. The only benefit it really provides past file sharing is a useful backup solution. I was burned by a couple of early bugs and it pissed me off, so YMMV

 

[kjackson09]

Thanks for the response. I am pretty open to software choice for the server provided I can:

1) Back up drives installed on the rig (not looking to backup other computers on the LAN).

2) Be able to install programs such as TVersity on the rig for streaming capabilities.

3) I would like to be able to access and control programs on the server from other computers on the LAN. The reason is because I do not want to have to hook up a keyboard/mouse and monitor to this server change settings etc.

 

[mc866]

WHS sounds like it will be a perfect fit for you. I'm running WHS on very old hardware and it runs great, do you have any old PC's you could utilize? It's actually running on an old AMD Sempron 2800+ with 1GB of memory that I threw together with left over old parts and has been more than enough power for what it needs to do. I didn't install WHS until after SP1 had been released so I haven't had any major issues with it. The only point where you may need more processing power would be if you plan on streaming HD content. Any low end AMD new build would be more than enough to get WHS up and running. That or check out the for sale thread and see if you could snag up an old system on the cheap.

Originally posted by: kjackson09
Thanks for the response. I am pretty open to software choice for the server provided I can:

1) Back up drives installed on the rig (not looking to backup other computers on the LAN).

WHS allows folder duplication, so you can keep a copy of your data saved

2) Be able to install programs such as TVersity on the rig for streaming capabilities.

I've gotten Orb and TVersity running on WHS and have been able to stream to my other PC's and my 360. Also WHS automatically is setup to stream to XP/Vista and Xbox 360's if you enable media sharing

3) I would like to be able to access and control programs on the server from other computers on the LAN. The reason is because I do not want to have to hook up a keyboard/mouse and monitor to this server change settings etc.

WHS is designed to be "headless" or without monitor/keyboard/mouse, you install the WHS console on the other PC's in your lan and can control the server from there, if you want complete control you can always use RDP from one of those lan PC's also. You also have the option to login remotely if your router supports it, you setup a domain like this: https//yourname.homeserver.com and it allows you to access the server remotely. Pretty slick, there are also plugins out there that allow you to remotely stream your media and such.

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[JackMDS]

Almost all of the stand alone NAS' are slow even if they are rated as Giga.

The Network traffic of a computer with Giga NIC is much better (when optimized can get up to 50MB/sec.).

For the price of a good NAS' you can build a computer and run it with Windows Home Server (as mentioned above and get a Good NAS of it and much more.

http://www.ezlan.net/WHS.html

http://www.sagetv.com/whs.html

http://www.ehomeupgrade.com/20...-server-now-available/

 

[kjackson09]

Hmmm, I do have an older Asus socket 478, P4 3.0 PC with 1GB of RAM that would probably suffice. The reason I was looking to build something new was I wanted it to be very quiet and low on power consumption. My understanding is that some of these cases designed for media servers run on very low power, especially if you choose a board with on board video and on board CPU.

Thank you for answering my question regarding the "headless" system, that is exactly the information I was looking for.

Now....................regarding data back up and WHS.

I am looking for redundancy in my server. For example two physical hard drives, one drive always being an exact copy of the other. Can WHS do this?

Thanks again for the great information.

 

[mc866]

That older Asus should work great for you unless you are planning on using TVersity to stream HD content. I can't say for sure but an older less powerful system should use less power than a newer one unless you are getting into the specifically designed low power processors and mobos. Even then I'm not sure if the power savings would be worth the expense of putting together a new system, but again I can't say for sure because I don't know where you are located and how much it costs for power in your area. Just think though, you are saving $700 or so that you were willing to spend by reusing your old system. As far as quiet I guess you could remove fans or install much quieter ones? Personally my whs sits in a back room in my basement that we're hardly in so noise isn't a concern.

Originally posted by: kjackson09
Now....................regarding data back up and WHS.

I am looking for redundancy in my server. For example two physical hard drives, one drive always being an exact copy of the other. Can WHS do this?

So you may want to do a bit more research on this topic but this is how I understand WHS to work and the options and limitations it has. There is no need for raid on WHS, the file system is setup as one large storage pool. Each drive you attach to the server you are given the option to add it to the pool, I believe the drive for the OS may stay separate from the storage pool though. I'm not sure how it would work if you installed the OS on say a 1TB drive because I've used an old 74GB raptor for the OS and it appears that all of the secondary discs fill up with data first. I'm not sure if you have any experience with working with Win Server, I hadn't, but WHS is based on server 03. The shared file structure is broken down like this for example: //Pictures, //Videos, //Music, each user or PC connected also gets a folder, and you can add folders. Each of these folders allows you the option to setup duplication, which should cover you on backing up the data within the shared folders on the server.

Now if you wish to backup the WHS install SP1 provided an option to create a backup of the WHS install, the only requirement for this is an external hard drive. So if you plug a USB hardrive into the server you have the option to add it to the storage pool or you have the option to add it as a backup location. I believe this is the only option you have for backing up the OS install that is built into WHS. I have been kicking around the idea of trying to install Acronis True Image onto my WHS install and see if I can make an image but haven't gotten around to it.

It should also be noted that although it didn't seem like you were too interested in the feature that any computer on your network that you install the WHS console to can be setup to do automated image backups. This is a pretty cool feature that could possibly come in handy for you.

Hope this made some sense and if I got anything wrong hopefully someone else can chime in and correct me.

 

[kjackson09]

So if I understand this correctly...................

Windows Home Server does a great job of backing up other computers on the network.

BUT...............

It does not do a good job backing itself up?! I need an external hard drive to accomplish this?

I was hoping to move to a setup with all storage in one location and virtually eliminate having data stored on invidual PCs throughout the house. I want this centrally stored data to be backed up on a regular basis.

For example, I envisioned my server could have three separate hard drivers.

Hard Drive #1 - Contains O/S
Hard Drive #2 - 1TB data (music, movies, photos, documents etc)
Hard Drive #3 - 1TB (backup of hard drive #1 in case HD#1 suffers a complete failure)

Can WHS do this? Or do I need to look at something else?

Thanks.

 

[mc866]

Originally posted by: kjackson09
So if I understand this correctly...................

Windows Home Server does a great job of backing up other computers on the network.

BUT...............

It does not do a good job backing itself up?! I need an external hard drive to accomplish this?

I was hoping to move to a setup with all storage in one location and virtually eliminate having data stored on invidual PCs throughout the house. I want this centrally stored data to be backed up on a regular basis.

For example, I envisioned my server could have three separate hard drivers.

Hard Drive #1 - Contains O/S
Hard Drive #2 - 1TB data (music, movies, photos, documents etc)
Hard Drive #3 - 1TB (backup of hard drive #1 in case HD#1 suffers a complete failure)

Can WHS do this? Or do I need to look at something else?

Thanks.

So all of the folders and data on WHS can be setup for folder duplication which means they are safe and backed up. To back up the installation of the OS you are required to have an external drive to do this. WHS is odd in a sense because of the way the pool of data is setup, you don't backup at the drive level you backup at the folder level. Hope that makes some sense.