Home media server - advice needed.

Jed Shields · 8 Sep 2008 at 14:16

Hi guys,

I've got a HTPC downstairs that holds the majority of my ripped movies and tv shows, the rest being on my Synology NAS. I'm now running out of space and was thinking of setting up a server, mainly for storage of more films and tv shows. All this runs on a gigabit network connected to different rooms via 200Mbps Netgear Homeplugs.

I've got an old Athlon XP 2600 and the motherboard has 4 SATAs and some IDE ports. I'm looking at leaving it on 24 hours a day though and I'm not sure if the old Athlons use up a lot of electricity or not. Or is it worth just buying something new and cheap that's more efficient?

The server will be next to my desktop PC and so can share my monitor.

Is it possible for a server to go into hibernate mode to save on running costs and only wake up when my HTPC is looking to read a movie from it?

Are there any other things that I should be thinking about?

Jed Shields · 8 Sep 2008 at 23:20

Slight bump

badbob · 8 Sep 2008 at 23:26

Similar situation here, HTPC and NAS and out of space also. Or add a multiple bay NAS. One option like me is to replace the HD inside your NAS. Another is just to add more HD to your HTPC. One quiet 3.5" isn't going to make your HTPC noisey (have two Samsung 3.5" in mine)

As for server you want wake on lan, should power up.

Kalsius · 9 Sep 2008 at 00:59

Depends on what kind of storage you want and what else you want it to do.

I built a custom storage box for expandability, I bought a Thermaltake case and using the IcyBox HDD cases I will be able to get a total of just under 9TB of storage in there with a 12 port SATA RAID card. This thing sits Folding most of the time and is always on running iTunes so I can watch stuff on the ATV or stream music to the various connected outputs using the iPOD touch as a remote.

After swapping out the fans and replacing the noisy fan on the IcyDock cage with a 120mm Yate Loon its practically silent and sits there quite happily. Thats for my own, for my parents I re-jigged an old Shuttle and turned it into a similar 500GB RAID server for their stuff too.

What are your expectations for storage, access etc? There are some really nice NAS boxes out there if you want to go prebuilt but if you want to do anything over 3TB of RAID, you may need to self build as I have. Plus you get the benefit of more efficient components and thus lower draw whilst its on.

Jed Shields · 9 Sep 2008 at 08:57

I've got the Synology DS297, so there's room for expansion as I've only got one drive in there at the moment. However, I know that I'll need more. The HTPC is at capacity with a 500Gb and a 1Tb. I'd like to expand considerably for both media files and backup purposes, so I think a server fits the bill better than just daisy chaining external drives onto everything.

I've also got a couple of older 250Gb PATA drives hanging about, so I'd be able to get some use out of these if i go the server route ...

Kalsius - is yours a server, or just a (huge) custom built NAS?

Kalsius · 9 Sep 2008 at 20:03

Huge custom built NAS....

Will take some piccys at some point... Basically went for the Thermaltake Armor as it has 11 5.25" bays which means 1 for the power/reset etc, 1 DVD-RW and space for 3 of the IcyDock SATA cages. Only got one in there at the moment with 4 Spinpoint F1's. Everything from OcUK except the 12 port SATA RAID card. Runs sweet as a nut and after replacing some of the fans with Yates (got some Xilence too now) its practically silent. iTunes running along with other stuff such as FTP server etc and once I get all my lighting switches and the transceiver, I will also be running my home automation software on there.

I spent quite a lot of time researching the whole home NAS thing and looked at QNAP, Buffalo etc and although they all had their plus points, for the same cash I got 2.7TB of RAID 5 and lots of future expandability whereas all the other solutions capped me at 4 drives. And with the amount of stuff I wanted on there, I didnt want to spend a lot of cash and then have to do a full upgrade again in a year. It all depends on what you want, running a full tower (and finding somewhere for it to live) can be hard to convince the missus of but now mine can't live without it.

We got rid of Sky practically and now find it so much easier to watch films or tv shows together without the trawling through hundreds of DVD boxes only to find the one you want doesn't have the DVD in

Jed Shields · 9 Sep 2008 at 20:07

Yeah, I much prefer watching the tv shows through the PC. I've archived my DVDs and sleeves and binned the cases - definately less clutter now.

What sort of price did your custom NAS come to?

Greenlizard0 · 9 Sep 2008 at 22:02

Odd question - I can't find the answer to this on OcUK's main site - but how big are the fans?

Kalsius · 9 Sep 2008 at 22:02

Code:

GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC)
Sony NEC Optiarc AD-7200S 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Silver) - OEM
Thermaltake VA8003SWA Aluminium Armour Super Tower - Silver
Icy Dock MB-455SPF 5-Bay Internal SATA Drive Enclosure
Gigabyte GA-MA74GM-S2H AMD 740G (AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard 
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4600+ 2.40GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail
Maxtor Diamondmax 20 80GB SATA-II 2MB Cache - OEM (STM380215AS) 
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic SP1 64-Bit - OEM (66G-02141)
Zalman ZM500-HP Heatpipe Cooled 500W Modular PSU 
*4 Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103UJ)

Plus some other bits and pieces that came to £850 from OcUK. The SATA RAID card was another £200 from a popular auction site although the one I have retails for 450. Now to add another 2.7TB I just need a cage at £65 and 4 1TB HDD's, the card is good enough to allow me to dynamically allocate new drives into the existing array easily so I can add whenever I want.

If you look at some of the other pre-built RAID NAS systems, you get can end up with a custom Linux build with bespoke apps and issues with support etc. It may be running Vista Basic but I have everything I need on there and it runs iTunes like a dream. The ATV downstairs works seamlessly and I'll be adding in two Airport Express to the house to replace the current Wifi and give me two additional remote speaker points, all controlled wirelessly by an iPOD touch. Nothing quite like sitting in the dining room and remotely picking some romantic music for the wife without having to get up or have a sound system or speakers visible

Kalsius · 9 Sep 2008 at 22:06

Greenlizard0 said:
Odd question - I can't find the answer to this on OcUK's main site - but how big are the fans?

Which fans?

On the IcyDock it comes with an annoyingly loud 80mm fan. I used a 120-80 converter like this and modified the existing fan shroud to act as the connection to the back of the cage. It took some squeezing in but I now have a 120mm Yate Loon on the back blowing over the HDD's in the cage keeping them nice and cool.

The stock fans on the Thermaltake are okay but I have some spare Yates and Xilence around so I can reduce that even further. I still have the stock AMD cooler on so thats getting replaced with a TRUE and a Xilence to get rid of the last small high RPM fan.

Greenlizard0 · 9 Sep 2008 at 22:09

I meant the Icy Dock's one. Was considering getting one of these and then replacing them. How odd that it appears they use SATA connectors, but 2x older 4 pin ones for the power.

DIABLO · 9 Sep 2008 at 23:20

Use what you got and underclock and undervolt the cpu if your mobo supports it.