File Server CPU

schlitzbull

schlitzbull

Gawd
Joined
Feb 19, 2014
Messages
655
What is the minimum CPU needed for a file server running Win10 holding video files for my Plex server to access? 3-5 users simultaneously max.
 
Just serving up the files? A dual core should be sufficient, quad would be a nice to have since you're running it on win10.

Any reason against a linux NFS option instead has alot less overhead for the OS?
Why split Plex/File server and streaming/transcoding files over a network connection to the plex host(or are you doing direct play only)?
More details :)?
 
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I've got a Terramaster F2-220 NAS with Intel Quad Core Xeon, D-1527 2.41Ghz and 4GB RAM (35 TDP). It is basically a lightweight computer running Xpenology. It can stream one movie to my living room. Not sure how it would handle 3 streams.

If I was building a PC I would want something like a low TDP Xeon with at least 4 cores.
 
Thanks for the responses guys. Not against Linux i'm just now well versed in it. Took in intro course in college a good 15 years ago so I remember "ls -a" is about it.

Spartacus09 said:
Why split Plex/File server and streaming/transcoding files over a network connection to the plex host(or are you doing direct play only)?
Click to expand...

I underestimated my addiction to the server stuff and just bought an air 540 because I always wanted to build in one. Amazing case but isn't great for storage. After 2 years, my storage is drying up so i'm looking for options. Part of my underestimation was building a RAID. Things have slowly grown into 13TB or so of media that has zero backup because I love to plan on hating myself in the future. :) I really want to play with VMWare next. Buying a 2700x has really opened my eyes to how much cool shit you can do on one machine.

Edit: Definitely not doing only direct play.
Edit 2: I have a spare z270 board so i'm really hoping I can just pick up a g4560 and be good.

Sloginfizz said:
I've got a Terramaster F2-220 NAS
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I've looked at things like that but I can't justify the price. I have a spare case, PSU, mobo and cooling for another machine so it seems like a waste. Plus if any part of a home built breaks its not a big deal to replace it.
 
2-4 core should suit your need then (4 highly recommended), the bottleneck is likely going to be your network/plex server though being able to transcode that many streams (highly recommend doing a ramdisk for the transcode data on the Plex server)

I'm VCP working towards VCAP, running a ESXI homelab of my own, hit me up if you have any questions on the VMware stuff.

Edit: my 3770k maxes out transcoding 2 high bit rate 1080p streams on local connection (to put the CPU need in perspective). I generally try do to direct play to offload the processing to the viewing client.
That being said the standard quality 20mbps 1080p streams it can do 5-6 of.
 
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schlitzbull said:
I've looked at things like that but I can't justify the price. I have a spare case, PSU, mobo and cooling for another machine so it seems like a waste. Plus if any part of a home built breaks its not a big deal to replace it.
Click to expand...

I bought mine on Newegg Blast for $119 (Currently $199). Its not the NAS that was expensive, it was the Hard drives. Two Easy Store Drives (Reds) were $320. Processor G4560@$57 and Cheap 4GB RAM@$45 is more expensive than my NAS.

If you already have 13GB Stored, you are going to be in pain. The Drives are actually the expensive part. Five 8TB Drives in Raid 5(Parity) will get ya 32TB of storage ($800 on sale, and $1,250 if you have to pay full price), 10TB drives are more expensive and will get ya 40TB for $1.600.

I don't store that much data, so I can't relate. I have 8TB in Raid mirror for my important stuff which is all I need ATM. Good Luck, sounds like Spartacus is willing to help explain things.

FWIW, I would get at least a quad core with HT, otherwise just like now with your storage, you will be wishing your server had more power later on. I use my server for my home surveillance back ups (just actual events) and have a separate computer just for my surveillance system.
 
Build a quad core Xeon with ECC

Install FreeNas

Install all your drives

Use ZFS and not crappy inundated RAID

No need for expensive controllers etc...

Install plex in a jail

Give the jail storage

Mount your movies and media

Be done with it. Rest peacefully knowing your data is literally indestructable as far as servers are concerned.

It can all be done 100% through a ridiculous user friendly gui. No need for windows and its bunk junk.

I run a 6 year old Xeon E5 1620 quad w 32gb reg ecc.

It can stream to like 10 rooms at same time.

I also run PfSense and Win 10 vm on it using built in Bhyve which is retarded easy with its gui.

Software cost me notta cent.
 
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I run an i5-3470 with PlayOn and 16GB RAM. I can stream 2 HD movies as long as the server isn't having to do a transcode at the same time (like say a couple of MKV's instead of MP4's). Some of your limit is going to be what NIC and hard drives you are using. Good quality components should handle 3-4 no problem.
 
As stated earlier, if its only use is to serve files then you're more likely to have the network connection be your bottleneck. For my file server I run an i3 530 @ stock speed with 6gb of ram and a 1gb network connection. The drives are in a MR Rackables 16 bay SAS enclosure and I have 24TB total. I never stream to more than 2 devices at once. It could easily handle more if it's just serving the files. I too run windows 10 on my machine and I use Stablebit Drivepool and Stablebit Scanner to manage my data. I like its ease of use and the ability to choose which folders are duplicated and which aren't. The option to add more drives as my needs grow is nice too. For the extra important data (family pics and such) Those are encrypted and stored on backblaze. This setup has been working wonderfully for me.
 
I have run such machine, just file server, on sandy bridge celeron back in the days (Win 7), ran perfectly fine, no issues. However Plex server does use CPU when trans coding, not streaming at native resolution. If you try to forward or rewind then CPU speed does matter imho. I was later running my Plex server on i5-4570S, few month later upgraded it to i3-8350k, the difference is definitely noticeable. forward rewind etc are MUCH faster,
 
If you run any type of software storage and care about your data, ECC is highly recommended.
 
Overblod said:
I have run such machine, just file server, on sandy bridge celeron back in the days (Win 7), ran perfectly fine, no issues. However Plex server does use CPU when trans coding, not streaming at native resolution. If you try to forward or rewind then CPU speed does matter imho. I was later running my Plex server on i5-4570S, few month later upgraded it to i3-8350k, the difference is definitely noticeable. forward rewind etc are MUCH faster,
Click to expand...

I was running PlayOn on an i3-3220 and had the problem with going forward or backward. Haven't checked that yet on the i5 since I just swapped it in last week and haven't needed to yet.
 
Wingman_ice said:
I was running PlayOn on an i3-3220 and had the problem with going forward or backward. Haven't checked that yet on the i5 since I just swapped it in last week and haven't needed to yet.
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Plex does recommend i5, and for Coffee lake i3 = previous gen i5. however is may not be just the number of cores, after all I upgraded from i5-4570S to i3-8350k, it might be the max freq of a single core that matters, i3-8350k does go to 4ghz, which is a huge improvement over i5-4570S.
 
dexvx said:
If you run any type of software storage and care about your data, ECC is highly recommended.
Click to expand...
If only more people understood this.

I get so tired of comments like.... you dont need ECC because your a home user? Wtf does that even mean? As if an enterprise Corp data is more important than the 10,000 priceless family photos and videos that mean the world to me and my family? Or the movie collection I spent hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars curating. Etc...

Get ECC whether your a home user or not for all file storage period. But make sure you use ZFS.

I mean on another note you will read articles about the end of RAID blah blah. I agree raid is dead and has no place in today's massive multi terabyte systems. Hell as a home user I have 24tb of storage potential with about 18 used.

Zfs has been and always will be the answer to massive pools of data. It really seems to be a great mystery to everyone on what zfs is.

My wife asked me what she does to power everything down when a big storm comes through and I'm not home. I said yank the plug out of the wall. I dont have to worry about a power failure with ZFS. But with raid Oh snap did I have the battery backup add on board installed to my 600 dollar raid card?? Is my data going to survive a sudden power loss? With zfs I dont need a 600 dollar raid card and a bbu. I'm not talking about a UPS either.
 
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