Need some direction on a Media Server/File Server Build

[Pagan_Ranger]

Hi Everyone,

I will be building a server to store my video, music and picture files.

Here is a rundown on the hardware so far:

• 8 X 1tb Samsung HardDrives
• *Connected to a Dell Perc 6i in Raid 5 or Raid 6
• Intel Pentium Dual Core e5200
• 2 x 1gb Gskill DDR2 (will eventually bump up to 4gb, maybe buy build time)
• Zotac PCIe X1 Video Card
• PSU from my current Rig (can't remember what, but it is decent)
• Intel 10/100/1000 1x Pcie Network Adapter
• Some sort of DVD-RW

** I still need a motherboard. I would really like to fine a Gigabyte EP45-UD3P, as I already have one in another rig and have tested it with the Perc 6i. It has all the features I need. I still have to scrape up some funds but should be ready in the next couple of weeks.

**Ideally, I would like this to be a headless server for the most part.

Uses: Basically, I want a place to store my my CD collection, DVD's and Pictures to access from other computers in my home (4+, including laptops, all on Win 7) and access other devices.

I need to be able to create network shares to the various media. I also want decent speed. It will be mainly run on a wired Gigabit network, but also, wireless access at times from various computers.

Currently I have a Patriot Box Office and I want that to be able to access the files. I plan on adding 1 or 2 more or something similar.

I do not really have a need at this point to stream files to a device, however, I would like that as a future option.

My Options:

This is where I am a bit lost. I am storing a some files on a Two FreeNas Boxes, mainly as a test.

I did notice that when I installed Windows Server 2003 on one of them (Dell Poweredge 2650), the speeds were much better than Freenas. May have something to do with the network drivers.

Freenas just doesn't seem to have what I want for this particular project.

I have been thinking about installing Windows 7, Windows Home Server, Server 2003 or Server 2008. Possibly even Ubuntu Server, but I am not a Linux guy.

On top of that, I have been thinking of installing some media serving software such as Boxee, XBMC or something I don't know about yet.

So, I am seeking out any advice regarding this project.

Thank you in advance.

 

[pjkenned]

My old old server was based off of an EP45-UD3P (specs here).

You can read the quest to replace that box starting with the oldest entry for the Big WHS here.

BTW FreeNAS is simple to setup, but it is not the fastest ZFS/ NAS solution around.

Learned a lot along the way, probably the best advice I can give is to make sure you are comfortable with administering the system when something goes wrong. If *nix based platform freaks out, and you do not know how to recover, you at best will take a longer time to get your data back or at worst will make things worse by deleting volumes or something. If you are comfortable administering the box, you will be happy with it even when a drive decides to act up.

Remember the human element makes or breaks the experience more than the platform.

 

[Pagan_Ranger]

Thank you for the response.

I have been using FreeNas for a while on a couple of different boxes and I am fairly comfortable with administering it, however, for this server I wanted to see if there is a better solution. I will read through your project, as WHS was one of the options I was looking at.

From my understanding, there is no point to have RAID on WHS due to the way it handles its storage pool. Is that correct?

 

[lightp2]

Hi, this is a reminder about particular point.

1. Seeing that you are installing Perc Controller on non-Dell servers, please google for all the compatibility issues and make preparation in case you need to. I saw some postings last time about needing a slight workaround to let Dell Perc RAID controller work properly on non-Dell motherboards. Do not know whether it is still relevant.

 

[pjkenned]

Thank you for the response.

I have been using FreeNas for a while on a couple of different boxes and I am fairly comfortable with administering it, however, for this server I wanted to see if there is a better solution. I will read through your project, as WHS was one of the options I was looking at.

From my understanding, there is no point to have RAID on WHS due to the way it handles its storage pool. Is that correct?

Windows Home Server 2011 (built on Server 2008 R2) will not have Drive Extender, so RAID is the way to go for redundancy and creating large pools.

In WHS V1 one can use RAID 6 to achieve a higher usable capacity and more performance and disable the built-in drive extender duplication.

 

[Pagan_Ranger]

Hi, this is a reminder about particular point.

1. Seeing that you are installing Perc Controller on non-Dell servers, please google for all the compatibility issues and make preparation in case you need to. I saw some postings last time about needing a slight workaround to let Dell Perc RAID controller work properly on non-Dell motherboards. Do not know whether it is still relevant.

Yes, I ready about that and I have tested it with the motherboard I am planning on using, as I have that MB in my main rig.