I want a home server, where to start...

[Deleted member 209350]

Recently had the idea of building a home server, where I can backup all my media files and send them there. Not to mention all the other benefits a server has such as being able to access it anywhere in the world (with an internet connection).

The possibilities seem pretty endless in what you can do with it, and seems cool to experiment around and see what can be done.

But I really have no idea where I would even need to begin, or the costs or anything.
Also is a server something I can upgrade over time without losing data? For example, if I want a better CPU or perhaps more drives or replace HDD with SSD, would that be possible? (I assume it depends on the server itself, but i just want a broad idea first)

 

[Deleted member 77746]

Research first, having a home server can be challenging when things go wrong. If you are playing with high amount of data then data loss is a potiential problem. First thing I would do is say to myself could I afford to lose it if there was a problem. If the answer was yeh then I wouldn't bother with a server an external drive would be just as good. If you can't lose this data then there may be other solutions like cloud storage somewhere over two systems. Having a home server for big amount of data can be costly.

 

[Stephanie Peterson]

Do you want to get involved with the setup and nuts n bolts of it or just buy something to put files on and not worry about how it works.
If its the latter then get a Nas, if its the former then a good place to start is a second hand HP microserver.

But if you go down the route of the home lab setup you will need IT skills to call upon.

 

[BongoHunter]

You might be better getting a Qnap or Synology NAS maybe, many of the modern ones run all kinds of extra services, and should help protect your data.

You could also build your own, there's some great cases out there with hotswap drive bays etc, and you don't need amazing hardware to run a very capable system, there's dedicated OS's available like unraid and freenas that really do great job at making it all quite easy from a setup POV

What's your budget, and how much storage do you need?

 

[moogle]

I got a cheapey HP machine and upgraded the CPU and RAM (it's DDR3 so it was cheap and ECC). Bought unRAID Basic (£40) after using it for the trial period and found it to be really nice compared to what's out there.
It's a bit noisy as it's a HP machine and the cooling for the drives isn't great, but it was a cheap way to start up. I like the docker plugins/apps unRAID has, and it can be extended if you wanted to create your own docker image for addons.

All the ready built ones seemed so expensive for what performance you got. They do look way better though, but I run a VM on the server and Plex and many other things. Didn't initially need one but just trying it out I've made uses for it.

Downsides are it's a full tower machine, no hotswap bays unless you spend more on it which is fine if you don't plan on changing drives much. It's a HP machine so can't upgrade the internals easily, however it does me fine for the time being. It can transcode Plex videos and run some VMs, docker addons and serve files just fine for now.
If you want to upgrade it over time then it sounds like a custom server/PC is what you're looking at.

I managed to upgrade my drives as I got more storage and the unRAID system handled it fine. I didn't need to copy data off to another drive then back after setting up again. Just added a new drive and off I went!
Although with unRAID your new drive can't be larger than the Parity drive (the disk that's used to recover data), so that's slightly longer but still no losing data.

I've stuffed mine under the stairs where the networking stuff is so it's always connected and accessible over the net via a VPN. There's more docker addons for unRAID to set up your own private cloud and webserver and stuff but I haven't gotten that far yet

 

[Deleted member 209350]

Research first, having a home server can be challenging when things go wrong. If you are playing with high amount of data then data loss is a potiential problem. First thing I would do is say to myself could I afford to lose it if there was a problem. If the answer was yeh then I wouldn't bother with a server an external drive would be just as good. If you can't lose this data then there may be other solutions like cloud storage somewhere over two systems. Having a home server for big amount of data can be costly.

Hmm, im still debating over what im going to get. Cloud server is going to cost too much I think, its mostly media files.

Do you want to get involved with the setup and nuts n bolts of it or just buy something to put files on and not worry about how it works.
If its the latter then get a Nas, if its the former then a good place to start is a second hand HP microserver.

But if you go down the route of the home lab setup you will need IT skills to call upon.

I was thinking more about building a new PC (I have some spare parts already, and will just need to buy a couple extra bits) and then essentially turning that into a server with some extra drives.

You might be better getting a Qnap or Synology NAS maybe, many of the modern ones run all kinds of extra services, and should help protect your data.

You could also build your own, there's some great cases out there with hotswap drive bays etc, and you don't need amazing hardware to run a very capable system, there's dedicated OS's available like unraid and freenas that really do great job at making it all quite easy from a setup POV

What's your budget, and how much storage do you need?

Thats good to know! Im thinking of basically having a secondary PC turned into a home server as I have a few spare parts. All ill need is some extra storage and maybe some more RAM.

Im on about 6tb atm on 1 drive, and thats pretty much full. Going to upgrade to a NAS raid set up (4 drives maybe 3tb each) but im still not sure exactly yet, but there'll always be the future option to upgrade.

I got a cheapey HP machine and upgraded the CPU and RAM (it's DDR3 so it was cheap and ECC). Bought unRAID Basic (£40) after using it for the trial period and found it to be really nice compared to what's out there.
It's a bit noisy as it's a HP machine and the cooling for the drives isn't great, but it was a cheap way to start up. I like the docker plugins/apps unRAID has, and it can be extended if you wanted to create your own docker image for addons.

All the ready built ones seemed so expensive for what performance you got. They do look way better though, but I run a VM on the server and Plex and many other things. Didn't initially need one but just trying it out I've made uses for it.

Downsides are it's a full tower machine, no hotswap bays unless you spend more on it which is fine if you don't plan on changing drives much. It's a HP machine so can't upgrade the internals easily, however it does me fine for the time being. It can transcode Plex videos and run some VMs, docker addons and serve files just fine for now.
If you want to upgrade it over time then it sounds like a custom server/PC is what you're looking at.

I managed to upgrade my drives as I got more storage and the unRAID system handled it fine. I didn't need to copy data off to another drive then back after setting up again. Just added a new drive and off I went!
Although with unRAID your new drive can't be larger than the Parity drive (the disk that's used to recover data), so that's slightly longer but still no losing data.

I've stuffed mine under the stairs where the networking stuff is so it's always connected and accessible over the net via a VPN. There's more docker addons for unRAID to set up your own private cloud and webserver and stuff but I haven't gotten that far yet

Im currently using Plex actually, but I also want access to the PC/server itself, so I can remote into it from wherever I need.

 

[Deleted member 77746]

How much data are you talking about here?

 

[Deleted member 209350]

How much data are you talking about here?

Currently on 6tb, looking to upgrade to 12-20tb.

Im thinking of turning a secondary PC into a server and attaching a NAS drive to it

 

[Stephanie Peterson]

If you want to play with servers dont bother with an old pc imho - go for one of the hp microservers.
~40w and 4 drive bays with a choice of cpu depending what version. I use mine for VM's.

 

[Deleted member 209350]

If you want to play with servers dont bother with an old pc imho - go for one of the hp microservers.
~40w and 4 drive bays with a choice of cpu depending what version. I use mine for VM's.

What if I have an old PC thats actually quite decent spec wise? Talking a Ryzen 2nd gen CPU with 8gb of RAM?

Or would you still recommend going for a HP microserver

 

[Bug One]

Just stick with what you got for now. You can always move the main drive to another rig when you want to upgrade.

I'd recommend doing everything you can to make it as quiet as possible.

 

[Deleted member 209350]

Just stick with what you got for now. You can always move the main drive to another rig when you want to upgrade.

I'd recommend doing everything you can to make it as quiet as possible.

Okay cool. I got some spare parts here and there so im thinking of getting a cheap microserver and then possibly upgrading that with parts I have now.. But its nothing urgent so im going to wait and see whats up first.

 

[Conan257]

From my own experience of going through operating systems...

I've played with Windows, Linux, FreeNAS etc.. I ended up on Unraid and it's been by far the best O/S for this. There's little learning curve (google easily solves any issues I've had). It's rock solid, stable, and has some element of protecting your data from loss due to drive failing.

 

[TangoEchoAlpha]

Also decided to build my own. Got a 600mm 4U rackmount server case ordered from Bezos, which will take a spare ATX PSU I've got. The one I've ordered has space 8x 3.5" drives and 3x 5.25" drives - which is going to monstrous! My plan is to put it in the loft in a server rack, assuming the bugger will go through the loft hatch

As well as using it for a NAS, I plan on using it as home CCTV server. Undecided whether to have IP cameras recording straight to the NAS, or whether to find some other solution such as a Linux based CCTV/NVR solution (Shinobi looks like a possible) or a second small machine running BlueIris.

Was going to go FreeNas, not sure if any CCTV/NVR plugins exist for it? Will also look at Unraid as above, heard OpenMediaVault mentioned also?

 

[Stephanie Peterson]

Your going to put it in the loft? A part of the house that get monumentally hot in the summer?
Not the best place imho.

 

[WJA96]

Your going to put it in the loft? A part of the house that get monumentally hot in the summer?
Not the best place imho.

I keep seeing people posting this line of advice. I've yet to actually experience any extreme heating in the loft.

What sort of air temperatures have you actually measured? 30C, 40C, 50C?

I have six systems installed in loft spaces, and I always install a remote temperature monitoring solution because of the perceived fire risk and I've never seen more than 30C in any loft space. That's warm, yes, but not monumentally hot.

 

[DomBruv]

Currently on 6tb, looking to upgrade to 12-20tb.

Im thinking of turning a secondary PC into a server and attaching a NAS drive to it

wow thats a lot of porn

 

[TangoEchoAlpha]

I have six systems installed in loft spaces, and I always install a remote temperature monitoring solution because of the perceived fire risk and I've never seen more than 30C in any loft space. That's warm, yes, but not monumentally hot.

I'm thinking of putting it in the loft because I intend to record home CCTV footage onto the NAS. There's not a lot of point putting said storage where any burglar could steal the NAS as well, so putting it in the loft negates that. Not to mention I won't have to put up with the noise from it next to my own rig.

 

[Stephanie Peterson]

Well i dont know about every loft, but all the ones i have ever been in have been monumentally hot in the summer 40+ easy.

Now ok thats not new builds with more insulation on the actual roof but heck i wouldnt put anything electrical up there i wanted to keep working.
I am sure there are lofts that are decent temps though.

 

[TonTom]

My loft gets hot in the summer.

Re OP. I’m also thinking about using some old parts to build a server. I’d pefer to use what I have rather than go the micro server route