OS choice as a home server

Laviski · 23-08-2013 11:20AM #1

as of late i have being looking at storage solutions, my hard drives are getting full and need a fix soon. I have looked at nas and tbh the rdy to buy nas seems rather restrictive and expensive (depending of course what you are looking at) then i was looking at freenas and i can build a decent case with old/new parts very cheap. But then i decided i think i'm better off getting a home server being able to directly play movies to the tv and now i need advice on what OS would be best for my needs.

TLDR:
box to store picture videos music and be able to to play directly and using (insert os here). I will be using 4 hdd on RAID 5.

Khannie · 23-08-2013 11:45AM

Something Linux + XBMC-ish.

Linux supports software raid 5 out of the box (it's very performant).

4 HDD's in RAID 5 is going to rape your electricity bill btw and also be noisy in your living room.

Another idea might be to have the NAS outside the living room and use a Raspberry Pi hooked up to the TV for actual streaming over the LAN / viewing.

kippy · 23-08-2013 11:49AM

Why would you need a server when all you want is storage?
A few of these babies would sort out your problems, from what I can tell anyway.
http://www.dabs.ie/products/buffalo-3tb-drivestation-usb-2-0-desktop-hard-drive-7X7Z.html?src=3

Laviski · 23-08-2013 11:50AM

Khannie wrote: »

Something Linux + XBMC-ish.

Linux supports software raid 5 out of the box (it's very performant).

4 HDD's in RAID 5 is going to rape your electricity bill btw and also be noisy in your living room.

Another idea might be to have the NAS outside the living room and use a Raspberry Pi hooked up to the TV for actual streaming over the LAN / viewing.

the power and noise will be a concern but i just wanna exhaust all options so i can make an informed decision. at least if i post what i'm thinking people can correct me on things i haven't considered yet.

Khannie · 23-08-2013 11:57AM

Yeah, it's a good idea. For me if I were using that much storage and only streaming pictures and video to the TV I'd probably build an atom based box, throw linux on it, kernel RAID 5 the 4 HDD's and stick that up in the attic, then use a Raspberry Pi with XBMC to view on the TV.

Power over time really does become a cost consideration in the medium term.

Laviski · 23-08-2013 12:03PM

kippy wrote: »

Why would you need a server when all you want is storage?
A few of these babies would sort out your problems, from what I can tell anyway.
http://www.dabs.ie/products/buffalo-3tb-drivestation-usb-2-0-desktop-hard-drive-7X7Z.html?src=3

yeah i have externals but want a more permanent redundant system single drives especially the bigger they are are are prone to fail and they will fail.

if i'm going for a nas i think its better value to build my self and then that thought escalated into a home server. so i'm just speaking out loud atm cause i would appreciated other thoughts and for example did not think of the Raspberry Pi. but still lots to dwell on.

invaderzimirl · 23-08-2013 12:19PM

I had this issue many years ago myself and i came to the soluation the the Qnap TS410 (currently available model is the Qnap TS-412 300 unpopulated)
was perfect for me when you look at the specs it just gets better.

like

Power Consumption (W) Sleep mode: 11W
In operation: 26W
(with 4 x 500GB HDD installed)

it supports (Single Disk, JBOD, RAID 0, 1, 5, 5+Hot Spare, 6, 10) raid 5 is what i have set on my TS-410 with 4 2TB drives i have 5.5 usable its got SSH and remote VPN solutions built in and is a DLNA server (if you have apple i don't it has i tunes server and apple backup time vault or what ever its called)

its beside my TV in my living room and practelly scilent for the last 3 years, i beeped when a drive was near failing and i swapped the drive and all's good no data loss

theres even a phone app to pull data from it :-)

i spens about a year and a halp deciding what to get as i had a system with hard drive dangling from Sata cables hidden in a room eating up lots of power. now i just use this

if i can be of any help ask i know personally for myself it was the best option
plus its small (177(H) x 180(W) x 235(D) mm)

Laviski · 23-08-2013 12:28PM

invaderzimirl wrote: »

I had this issue many years ago myself and i came to the soluation the the Qnap TS410 (currently available model is the Qnap TS-412 300 unpopulated)
was perfect for me when you look at the specs it just gets better.

like

it supports (Single Disk, JBOD, RAID 0, 1, 5, 5+Hot Spare, 6, 10) raid 5 is what i have set on my TS-410 with 4 2TB drives i have 5.5 usable its got SSH and remote VPN solutions built in and is a DLNA server (if you have apple i don't it has i tunes server and apple backup time vault or what ever its called)

its beside my TV in my living room and practelly scilent for the last 3 years, i beeped when a drive was near failing and i swapped the drive and all's good no data loss

theres even a phone app to pull data from it :-)

i spens about a year and a halp deciding what to get as i had a system with hard drive dangling from Sata cables hidden in a room eating up lots of power. now i just use this

if i can be of any help ask i know personally for myself it was the best option
plus its small (177(H) x 180(W) x 235(D) mm)

Yeah this is where the torment begins, i was posting the in the topic to "buy a nas" but as i kept looking it seemed nas was just restrictive and a home server would serve a better purpose inthe long term when just looking at stats and cost. for example 4 WD 2TBred + qnap looking at 700+ whereas could build a home server for less (still getting 4 WD 2TB drives) and leave more options in future. but home server would be more power hungry. so......

invaderzimirl · 23-08-2013 12:52PM

well if you need more expanability for the Qnap you can get a 8 bay expansion that connectas via the Esata cable

23-08-2013 01:07PM

It sounds like you want a HTPC rather than a server.

OS choice as a home server

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