Silent Plex/Backup Server

[bermel72]

I need a plex server in my life lol, I fell in love with plex after I was playing around in the play store on my OPO one day, downloaded it found it interesting and later that night installed it on my laptop as a server, now I stream all my music from my laptop to my phone and my ps4, almost everyday. I love the fact you can stream music outside of your home network as well. Anyways

As I said previously I need a more dedicated plex server, I don't want to spend alot of money on it maybe like $500 at the most or somewhere around that (USD of course). It needs to do a couple things.

1. Needs to store my music
2. Needs to store my videos
3. One seperate drive I want my computer backups (laptop - 500 ssd, my computer - 500 ssd, fiances computer - 500 ssd)
4. I need it to stream at the most to 4 different devices.
5. I have an internet that is 90 MB/s download and 3 MB/s upload, will that be fast enough to use inside my network.
6. For it to be as silent as possible, since it will be sitting right under my desk, the more compact the better.

Thanks.

 

[Shou Miko]

How many devices u need to stream to at the same time?

I run a Plex server myself on my gaming rig that my sis has access to, on a 90/90mbit connecting and she steams in original bitrate, that means no quality loss over the original file and it runs fine even with me gaming she haven't complained.

 

[bermel72]

How many devices u need to stream to at the same time?

I run a Plex server myself on my gaming rig that my sis has access to, on a 90/90mbit connecting and she steams in original bitrate, that means no quality loss over the original file and it runs fine even with me gaming she haven't complained.

Like 3 devices at the most.

 

[N-Gen]

My plex file server is listed in my sig (Basilisk) and it's enough for up to 4 simultaneous HD streams on Plex. 5th one is hit or miss, might work might not. I mainly use it to stream to Raspberry Pi devices although any media I watch on my PCs is also via Plex. It's also hosting all of my photos and their backups, the drives are almost full so throughput internally isn't stellar, so to speak.

Total cost is very cheap, the most expensive parts were the Node 804 at €110 and the EVGA Supernova G2 550W Gold at €100, 8GB RAM was about €44, board was ~€40, HDDs, well you can pick HDDs. OS runs off a 16GB flash drive. So yeah even with my parts (exc. HDDs) you'd be way under budget. Power draw is relatively low, I'm getting on average 55w at the wall with 5 HDDs spinning.

Adding to this: Your internet connection measures what you can receive/send outside of your network. You're going to either have a 100Mbps connection or 1Gbps connection within your house, even newer WiFi is >300Mbps so you're more than safe. My Raspberry Pi devices stream over wireless N so 300Mbps max and I have had no issues whatsoever.

 

[Frick]

@N-Gen What is the bottleneck? I'm assuming CPU? Is there a need for that much memory?

 

[N-Gen]

The bottleneck should be the CPU, yes. There is no need for 8GB of RAM, in fact the system was built around 4GB but I found a new matching stick off Amazon for €22 so I couldn't pass it up. Sometimes the system uses close to the full 8GB of RAM but that's more related to ZFS rather than Plex so it is purely a ZFS thing. Bear in mind there's 20TB (17TB after RAIDZ) worth of HDD space with only about 4TB free in there and RAM helps a lot in that kind of file system. If you built a FreeNAS machine you'd be requested to use 1GB of RAM per 1TB of data (which isn't necessarily true, it's a bit more complicated than that).

 

[BigPaPaRu]

I use a 3 year old computer as my server. Nothing special. Has a POS GT620 , (2) 1TB hard drives, 8 GB memory and windows 10. I have it running Plex, Kodi, Utorrent, Netflix, Amazon video, and VLC. It is silent and always on and has no problem streaming to multiple people all day.

 

[newtekie1]

I have an internet that is 90 MB/s download and 3 MB/s upload, will that be fast enough to use inside my network.

That won't have any affect on streaming inside your network, only streaming outside your network. And 3MB/s upload should be enough for streaming to one or two devices outside your network without a problem.

My suggestion:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/7hPwMp

 

[alucasa]

NUC makes decent plex servers plus a 2tb 2.5 inch hdd.

 

[bermel72]

What about this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X61 106.1 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($120.39 @ NZXT)
Motherboard: Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($56.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($68.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar NAS 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Node 804 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($115.55 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($71.49 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Logitech Wireless Combo MK270 Wireless Standard Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($20.95 @ Amazon)
Total: $813.32
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-14 11:47 EDT-0400

 

[N-Gen]

What about this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X61 106.1 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($120.39 @ NZXT)
Motherboard: Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($56.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($68.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar NAS 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Node 804 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($115.55 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($71.49 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Logitech Wireless Combo MK270 Wireless Standard Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($20.95 @ Amazon)
Total: $813.32
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-14 11:47 EDT-0400

You're only going to be retrieving files from it, an FX-8350 is way overkill for your needs.

 

[bermel72]

You're only going to be retrieving files from it, an FX-8350 is way overkill for your needs.

I'm sorry I do not follow what you are saying. It may be doing trans coding when streaming the videos and music themselves. Do you think a FX-6300 would be better? I looked on passmark and the FX 8350 seems like it rates higher then the i5 and lower then the i7 so I thought it was a good tradeoff

 

[newtekie1]

What about this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X61 106.1 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($120.39 @ NZXT)
Motherboard: Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($56.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($68.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar NAS 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Node 804 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($115.55 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($71.49 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Logitech Wireless Combo MK270 Wireless Standard Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($20.95 @ Amazon)
Total: $813.32
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-14 11:47 EDT-0400

I thought the budget was $500? If you are willing to spend that much, give me a few and I'll put something together.

Edit: This would be better.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($194.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212X 82.9 CFM CPU Cooler ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock B150M Pro4S Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($78.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($27.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Patriot Blaze 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($42.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Archive 8TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive ($214.99 @ B&H)
Case: Fractal Design Node 804 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ NCIX US)
Keyboard: Logitech K400 Plus Wireless Mini Keyboard w/Touchpad ($29.69 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $744.61
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-14 12:43 EDT-0400

 

[JunkBear]

I need a plex server in my life lol, I fell in love with plex after I was playing around in the play store on my OPO one day, downloaded it found it interesting and later that night installed it on my laptop as a server, now I stream all my music from my laptop to my phone and my ps4, almost everyday. I love the fact you can stream music outside of your home network as well. Anyways

As I said previously I need a more dedicated plex server, I don't want to spend alot of money on it maybe like $500 at the most or somewhere around that (USD of course). It needs to do a couple things.

1. Needs to store my music
2. Needs to store my videos
3. One seperate drive I want my computer backups (laptop - 500 ssd, my computer - 500 ssd, fiances computer - 500 ssd)
4. I need it to stream at the most to 4 different devices.
5. I have an internet that is 90 MB/s download and 3 MB/s upload, will that be fast enough to use inside my network.
6. For it to be as silent as possible, since it will be sitting right under my desk, the more compact the better.

Thanks.

Too bad you are in USA I just put my hand on brand new LenovoThinkcentre M73 SFF with 500gigs hdd, DDR3-4gigs, i5-4430. The full setup including screen keyboard and mouse is 350$ Canadian.

 

[bermel72]

I thought the budget was $500? If you are willing to spend that much, give me a few and I'll put something together.

Edit: This would be better.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($194.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212X 82.9 CFM CPU Cooler ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock B150M Pro4S Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($78.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($27.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Patriot Blaze 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($42.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Archive 8TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive ($214.99 @ B&H)
Case: Fractal Design Node 804 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ NCIX US)
Keyboard: Logitech K400 Plus Wireless Mini Keyboard w/Touchpad ($29.69 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $744.61
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-14 12:43 EDT-0400

This setup should run freenas on it correct? I would rather spend a little bit more and be able to run freenas as a headless operating system then sit there and deal with windows as an operating system. Also do you know if you install FreeNas if theres anyway to access documents outside of your home fairly easily?

Basically what I want from this system (if possible on FreeNas)

1. Plex Media Server (Don't plan on upgrading for a couple years with this so it needs to be stable).
2. Backup Service (Personal for Laptop - 500 SSD, 2x Desktops - 500 SSD (each), and my media on my server + extra TB for my important documents)
3. To access files, music, and movies outside my home network from my phones mobile network (Really important).
4. I need it silent so it can sit next to me while I'm on my computer, and it will be etherneted.

Thanks.

 

[N-Gen]

While you can run FreeNAS you will not get support from the FreeNAS community if you don't follow their basic guidelines. Which are 1GB of ECC RAM per 1TB of data with a minimum 8GB of ECC. While this is not required by FreeNAS or FreeBSD it seems to be required by the community. They will refuse to support you on the basis of "you didn't follow the guidelines".

You can install owncloud on FreeNAS to access files externally.

 

[Cybrnook2002]

For your requirements, you are PERFECT to run (the same as I do, 2 x actually) unRAID. It is at it's core a media server with parity protection (Soon to have dual parity). But also supports VM's and "Docker" containers. They have a pre-built Plex Docker image, all you do is download it, do some basic config (there is a video you can follow), and off it goes.

Tutorial (2016): Install unRAID and Plex Media Server (Bootable USB)

You would need to buy the license. But I have another setup that is perfect for unRAID, it is:

Q6600
SuperMicro MB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182151)
4GB (2x2) DDR2
----------------------------
I would sell these for $125 shipped. Then the HDD's are on you to get, board supports 6.

This is more than enough to be a file server, host your shares, run backups, and host your Plex app for streaming.

 

[newtekie1]

This setup should run freenas on it correct? I would rather spend a little bit more and be able to run freenas as a headless operating system then sit there and deal with windows as an operating system. Also do you know if you install FreeNas if theres anyway to access documents outside of your home fairly easily?

It should run FreeNAS, but I wouldn't. FreeNAS used to be nice, but all the crap now, and the community has turned from a helpful source of information to a bunch of stuck up pre-teens that think their shit don't stink, has made it not worth it.

I just run Windows headless...

 

[bermel72]

It should run FreeNAS, but I wouldn't. FreeNAS used to be nice, but all the crap now, and the community has turned from a helpful source of information to a bunch of stuck up pre-teens that think their shit don't stink, has made it not worth it.

I just run Windows headless...

I'm not against that but I would like to have some sort of HDMI switch, but I can't find any that will support a 1440p 144Hz monitor. I just would really like to get things setup and be able to switch between the two systems if there is ever any sort of problem. I suppose long story short if that doesn't work I could always use something like Team Viewer as a remote control source to run everything but that's a pain in the you know what.

Edit:

I just realized I am completely overthinking this. This is the monitor I am using. That being said I should be able to use my main computer on the display port and my server on the HDMI port, meaning that I could just switch the connection on the monitor and not need a switch at all correct?

 

[newtekie1]

I'm not against that but I would like to have some sort of HDMI switch, but I can't find any that will support a 1440p 144Hz monitor. I just would really like to get things setup and be able to switch between the two systems if there is ever any sort of problem. I suppose long story short if that doesn't work I could always use something like Team Viewer as a remote control source to run everything but that's a pain in the you know what.

Just use Remote Desktop.

Or just connect the server to one of the extra inputs on your monitor, and use the monitor to switch. Who cares if the server is connected with VGA/DVI and only runs at 1920x1080, you won't be seeing it enough for it to matter.

 

[bermel72]

I thought the budget was $500? If you are willing to spend that much, give me a few and I'll put something together.

Edit: This would be better.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($194.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212X 82.9 CFM CPU Cooler ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock B150M Pro4S Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($78.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($27.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Patriot Blaze 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($42.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Archive 8TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive ($214.99 @ B&H)
Case: Fractal Design Node 804 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ NCIX US)
Keyboard: Logitech K400 Plus Wireless Mini Keyboard w/Touchpad ($29.69 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $744.61
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-14 12:43 EDT-0400

Thats pretty impressive that you got the 8TB drive in there. This will surely work, so back to my previous question will running Windows 7 Ultimate on this work? Also:

1. Would I be able to back up multiple computers over the internet on this? And I'm assuming you just set it up like a normal backup process?
2. Would I be able to access files outside my home network, and how would this work?

 

[newtekie1]

will running Windows 7 Ultimate on this work?

Yep, that is what I used on my home server for years.

Would I be able to back up multiple computers over the internet on this? And I'm assuming you just set it up like a normal backup process?

Over the internet or over your local network? Backing up multiple computers over the local network to your server on the same network is easy, just do it like a normal back up, but select the network drive as the backup location.

Getting computers to back up over the internet is quite a bit harder.

Would I be able to access files outside my home network, and how would this work?

Yes. You can set up an FTP server software(Filezilla Server is free) on your server. Then you can access your files over the internet through Filezilla client. If you want to do things like play music/movies over the internet, plex is your answer there.

 

[bermel72]

Yep, that is what I used on my home server for years.



Over the internet or over your local network? Backing up multiple computers over the local network to your server on the same network is easy, just do it like a normal back up, but select the network drive as the backup location.

Getting computers to back up over the internet is quite a bit harder.



Yes. You can set up an FTP server software(Filezilla Server is free) on your server. Then you can access your files over the internet through Filezilla client. If you want to do things like play music/movies over the internet, plex is your answer there.

Perfect, backups would just be within my own network, also Filezilla would work, along with plex, cool, I know what I'm going to build now. Thanks so much, I am stealing your build that you came up with to.

 

[bermel72]

Yep, that is what I used on my home server for years.



Over the internet or over your local network? Backing up multiple computers over the local network to your server on the same network is easy, just do it like a normal back up, but select the network drive as the backup location.

Getting computers to back up over the internet is quite a bit harder.



Yes. You can set up an FTP server software(Filezilla Server is free) on your server. Then you can access your files over the internet through Filezilla client. If you want to do things like play music/movies over the internet, plex is your answer there.

Do you know if Filezilla is supported by android or what a good app is that supports FileZilla?

 

[N-Gen]

I wouldn't run the 8TB without backup just alone unless it's used how intended, cold storage. If it's critical data don't leave it just on the 8TB, have an extra copy. You should be doing this REGARDLESS of what drive you're using for data, not just the 8TB.

I can report it works well formatted as NTFS and ZFS filesystems. Definitely will not work under BTRFS if you opt to use it due to some problems within the file system itself, I've tried it and it was horrible. But all in all, pretty ok drives overall and for the price. In my case I mirror the critical data from my RAIDZ(RAID5) array to it so I have an extra copy and keep other non-critical stuff on it. All in all, it's your data and this is just my 2c.