Server PC

Deano316 · 2012-03-23 02:35

I already have a HTPC (running Vista) which at the moment is doing all the heavy lifting for my media (downloading, viewing etc). I'd like get a second PC which could act as a server (just running sabnzbd/sickbeard/couchpotato/headphones), this would free up my main PC to solely view media and run games on. Anyone have any suggestions on the minimum specs I would need for my server PC?

aicjofs · 2012-03-23 05:09

Probably depends on what OS you plan on running on it. Its mostly acting as a network interface with a few post processing jobs(not encoding). You could go low as a Pentium 3 1Ghz, maybe 512MB RAM, linux build. I ran my old server with Technet Windows Server 2008, Pentium 4 2.8Ghz Hyperthreaded, 2GB RAM, even had my Teamspeak server, ventrillo, and a PBX, no video encoding, with windows based software RAID. The only thing that would kill it was software RAID 5 with gigabit transfers, and/or running it as a domain controller which changed the encryption level which the CPU couldn't handle and halved the gigabit transfer speed. Anything better then that would be fine if you don't plan to encode anything on it.

In contrast I now have 6 core Phenom, 8GB RAM, but a few extra virtual machines, and its complete overkill.

alex84 · 2012-03-23 08:42

Suggestion mate. Skip the power hungry server and get an Qnap atom powerd device like this one
http://www.qnap.com/pro_detail_feature.asp?p_id=161

Install 2x 2tb in raid1 or jbod. You have one klick installers for you apps, sabnzbd, sickbeard, cp, headphones. You will be upp and running within an houre. Then you got an set it and forget it, low power, low maintanence, raid server.

Cheers

Deano316 · 2012-03-23 13:32

Thanks for the suggestions guys, what I was thinking was to repurpose an slightly older PC as I have a friend who is always getting them and refurbishing them. I've basically learnt about HTPC's from scratch over the last two years and have outgrown my current system. Not familiar with RAID (yet) but continually buying new desktop HDD's is making my tech area (family man) increasingly untidy. Going to relocate the new server PC and all my storage to a tall, well ventilated cupboard which is central to the house. Currently have around 10TB of storage (only 70GB left!) need a neater way of doing that too?

Harro · 2012-03-23 14:15

I feel your pain and have been in the same situation.
I finally got tired of hearing my PC 's fans that I went and took the plunge on building an Unraid server. I thought I would need to move the server in another room but found that it is very quite and infact have it running behind my tv. Once the TV is turned on Ido not hear it at all, but if all is totally quite you can hear a small humming from it. I am very happy and will be upgrading to another one soon.

wsume99 · 2012-03-23 14:23

I would check out unraid. It is built off a version of linux so it runs on pretty much anything. The OS runs off a USB stick and you can use it for free with a 3 disk array. My advice to you would be to get a free copy and try it out on your hardware. If it runs then you can decide for yourself if it will suit your needs before purchasing a license. It is intended to be a media server and there is an active development community that has created a ton of add-ons. It does a very good job of handling a bunch of different disks, which it sounds like that may be your exact situation. Check out the unraid forum for more info.

mr.sparkle · 2012-03-23 15:25

(2012-03-23 14:23)wsume99 Wrote: I would check out unraid. It is built off a version of linux so it runs on pretty much anything.

It's pickier than you think.

bigdog66 · 2012-03-23 15:47

(2012-03-23 15:25)mr.sparkle Wrote:
(2012-03-23 14:23)wsume99 Wrote: I would check out unraid. It is built off a version of linux so it runs on pretty much anything.
It's pickier than you think.

not really...only thing it could be considered picky on is the nic...if that is a problem even an expensive intel gigabit nic at $30 is a relatively cheap fix
you do need a mobo that can boot from usb because the OS runs from a flash

other than that other limitations come from the hardware side...you don't want to run multiple hard drives from a pci expansion card because pci shares resources

I run my unraid server with a sempron 140 and 2 gigs of ram and it runs great
could be something else im not thinking of at the moment though lol

Kirky99 · 2012-03-23 16:46

You don't need much for a file server. However I normally suggest looking at low poer (musually means newer hardware) when you're looking at a machine that will be on 24/7.

I had mine on an Athlon II 240e processor with 4G of memory running Ubuntu server. I'm now running one using Win7 with FlexRAID. As I've said numerous times, I prefer the FlexRAID option, for me it's easier to maintain.

The key is you want to look at something that can use a variety of disks and it would be swell if you dodn't have to format them to work. There are a few options. More if you don't mind formatting the disks ahead of time.

mr.sparkle · 2012-03-23 17:03

(2012-03-23 15:47)bigdog66 Wrote: not really...only thing it could be considered picky on is the nic

Nope, you gotta watch for Gigabyte boards that can't disable HPA.

mr.sparkle Fan Posts: 412 Joined: Dec 2009 Reputation: 2	2012-03-23 15:25 Post: #7 (2012-03-23 14:23)wsume99 Wrote: I would check out unraid. It is built off a version of linux so it runs on pretty much anything. It's pickier than you think.
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mr.sparkle Fan Posts: 412 Joined: Dec 2009 Reputation: 2	2012-03-23 17:03 Post: #10 (2012-03-23 15:47)bigdog66 Wrote: not really...only thing it could be considered picky on is the nic Nope, you gotta watch for Gigabyte boards that can't disable HPA.
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