[tdhz77]

Traveling back and forth from the University creates problems with XBMC, MySQL, and network configurations. These problems are easily fixable, but I'm ready to jump into the NAS world, and would like to do the following and I'm requesting community help in purchasing one that fits my needs.

1st) What is the difference between a microserver and NAS?
2nd) I know that I can use an old computer and run FreeNAS linux on it, this method is not ruled out, but looks matter a little bit.
3rd) I want to run couchpotato, headphones, sickbeard and also MYSQL, to share XBMC Video/Audio libraries throughout the house.
4th) I currently have 1TB SATA harddrive ready to go, but I would like to make this as future proof as possible.
5th) Looking to spend around $300 or less.

Few concerns: One, would a HP Microserver which is cheaper than brands like Synology FreeNAS work?
Two, can you run MYSQL from just a NAS?

Looking forward to any suggestions you may have.

[one918]

I'll try to answer the best I can, however, if I am wrong, someone feel free to correct me. Much of my knowledge has come from researching a NAS myself. I have most everything to complete the build, just waiting for the parts to come in.

1st) What is the difference between a microserver and NAS?

To my understanding they are the same.

2nd) I know that I can use an old computer and run FreeNAS linux on it, this method is not ruled out, but looks matter a little bit.

I'm not completely sure I understand the question. And I have no experience with Linux. That's why I am shying away from any software RAID with Linux.

3rd) I want to run couchpotato, headphones, sickbeard and also MYSQL, to share XBMC Video/Audio libraries throughout the house.

Few concerns: One, would a HP Microserver which is cheaper than brands like Synology FreeNAS work?

It seems to me the two questions from above are one in the same, no? From what I understand you can run those from a self built NAS. I'll let someone else give you guidance as far as those are concerned as I have no experience with any of those.

4th) I currently have 1TB SATA harddrive ready to go, but I would like to make this as future proof as possible.

I believe it depends on the software RAID. With some, the drive size has to be the same. If I remember correctly with FlexRAID they can be various sizes and that was my deciding factor.

5th) Looking to spend around $300 or less.

You can get a Synology or Qnap 2 bay model for your target price. For a 4 bay I believe you are looking at $350 plus. Both the 2 bay and 4 bay models are diskless, with 256MB-512MB of memory compared to 2GB with the HP Microserver.

I ordered the HP Proliant N40L ($200 average) after reading all the positive reviews on several forums and blogs. The cost added up, however. I have pretty much decided on FlexRAID with WHS2011 ($50x2). Extra 2GB stick of ECC server memory ($20). In addition I ended up getting a drive bay adapter ($25) which adds space for a 5th HDD and a slimline optical drive ($30). But to add those I ended up with a PCI-e sata card ($15) (to allow the extra connections) and a sata power adapter ($10) for the optical drive. Anyway, I'm not trying to make this into my thread, just trying to show you the price can add up but it's up to you if you want to spend the additional money. Imho building a NAS vs. prebuilt gives you more options and lets you choose your preferred software RAID. Here is a good comparison of the RAID software options. http://snapraid.sourceforge.net/compare.html

Forgot to add a link to Eskro's thread here.

[SavellM]

3rd) I want to run couchpotato, headphones, sickbeard and also MYSQL, to share XBMC Video/Audio libraries throughout the house.

I know with Synology you can get apps to install SB,CP,SABnzbd, and Headphones... MySQL is built in just needs to be installed.

[tdhz77]

Thank you very much. Sorry for the grammar. I should reread my posts, but I'm really excited now, thank you!