Home server questions - unraid

[gupott]

I posted on the forums earlier in the year regarding building a home server with Unraid being a popular suggestion. Due to one thing or another, mostly financial, I could not build at the time however the Unraid server idea has stuck with me - and I do like to tinker, so I am back to try again!

I have recently been shuffling kit around the house and I have a machine which might do the job, its specs are

• CPU - Intel Core i7-9700K 3.6GHz (Coffee Lake) Socket LGA1151 Processor
  
• Mobo - Gigabyte Z390 UD Intel Z390 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX
  
• GPU - none - onboard graphics
  
• RAM - Corsair Vengeance LPX Black 16GB (2x8GB) 3200
  
• CASE - Pure Base 500 Midi Tower Case
  
• HDD - 240GB SanDisk ULTRA II PLUS 2.5" SSD
  
• Cooling - Noctua NH-U12A x2 fans
  
• PSU - Be Quiet Pure Power 11 300W 80 Plus Bronze

I also have Synology 918+ NAS which has 4x WD HDDs in it, three 8tb and one 10tb. I am thinking of pulling the 10tb and adding it to the above PC as a start. I could then buy a replacement 8tb to go into the NAS if I was going to keep it. Alternatively, I could grab all the drives for the Unraid server from the NAS and decommission it and then sell it. I could then perhaps backup to the Unraid server and then also to the cloud for critical things, thinking photos etc. I currently use Synology C2 for the NAS for main files and photos but not for media (too big).

I also have a gaming PC, running Linux, but I think I would keep as is, i currently back stuff to the NAS. Plus then the usual assortment of mobiles, laptops etc. Running Orbi mesh across the house, with most static stuff conneted via ethernet.

I am interested in running

• NextCloud
  
• Plex media server - replacing NAS
  
• Pihole - replacing pi3b??
  
• Roon server
  
• Scynthing - (might not need with next cloud??
  
• HQ Player (although server may not be powerful enough)
• Sonarr
• Radarr
• Bitwarden
• Notes - probably joplin
  
• Calibre
• VPN - probably 24/7

In terms of power, I used a online power calculator and it estimates around 100w, and the CPU has a TDP of 65W.

Should I consider replacing/changing the kit, and if so, to what? Any thoughts on the power draw of the server? I intend to add it to my UPS, which also runs the NAS. Any other software to consider? Any thoughts on how to shuffle drives from the NAS to the Unraid without loosing anything? I have about 11TB currently.

Happy for any feedback/comments. Thanks for reading!

 

[gupott]

Thank you for the response, it is much appreciated.

What’s the connection speed?

Not fast unfortunately, around 80 meg down, 20 up. Fibre to the cabinet and copper to the house.

Server spec is overkill,

Its just what I have available really. I need two PCs in the house, but have enough bits and bobs for three fortunately. The other processor I have is an i3 6100, so I thought underpowered.

Teracopy or similar to move data - it’s only 11TB

Thanks, I will look into it!

If you’re using parity on UnRAID, it needs to be the largest drive. If you aren’t running parity, that’s not going to end well sooner rather than later

Yes, I would be using parity, so the 10tb drive then as parity.

Your power estimate is ridiculous

This gave me some pause. I assume you mean its too high. I will look again.

buy a PlexPass

Yes, I have one already.

I havent had much time yet to think through, so I will spend some time doing this over the weekend I think. Any other comments welcome. Thanks!!

 

[gupott]

I was doing a bit of 'practice' over the weekend and I managed to install Ubuntu Server, HQ Player and Roon server. This is a large step for me, its the first time I have managed stuff (albeit fairly simple) and run a server like this. I have run rpi's, routers etc headlessly but not a server. Anyway, the i7 is needed when I run HQ Player (msuic software DSP engine - I think thats how I have seen it described) which is very demanding depending on what filters and modulators you choose.

I think Unraid is still the way to go, but in the end I thought I needed to spend some money, essentially for the drives and a few other bits (a case maybe), so I thought this was a good way to get going with a server. Next step, move the server from under my desk into the server cupboard (this is very grand desciption) where I need to see how things fair tempreture wise.